I love walking simulators in general, so I knew I'd eventually have to honor the game that popularized the genre by playing it. While I have been moved more by the games Dear Esther has inspired (Firewatch, What Remains of Edith Finch, and the Vanishing of Ethan Carter are all easily in my top ten) this one certainly holds up. An intriguing setting paired with a pensive story and a writing style that draws you in, makes for a thought-provoking few hours well worth the time spent

Overall, this game is great. Fun mechanics, an engaging enough story, and challenging and original boss battles, really has everything you could ask for from a game in this genre. While it has a few rough edges (like why can't I remap the controls to the d-pad or why do I stop running when I enter another room?), the positives of this game easily outshine them, making me excited to see what might come next in the series

Yeah I get why people have sunk 100s of hours into this. The perfect game to just turn your brain off and play