Looks amazing in 4K. Love the buildings!
Oh wow, trees that look like trees in nature.
Ah no bull. I love bush walking and this is legit the best looking natural nature formations I’ve seen in a game, it’s the randomness of things that make nature look natural. These guys have done the Takashi Amano Nature thing so nicely!
I’m always on the hunt for immersive games to play that I haven’t played yet (that would most likely be a lot of them!). I’m defining my priorities as a gamer, and I’ve chosen to value games which create great experiences by utilising a great mix of action, story, RPG and open world.
A while back I reviewed a very strong story driven Indie game “Firewatch” (review here). I loved that it was so strong on narrative, and that it moved me, but it was light hearted and I’ve still been looking for a MYST or RIVEN like experience.
I think I’ve found it.
I’ve stumbled upon “The Vanishing of Ethan Carter” on Steam. It’s an adventure game that’s immersive from the second you load in. The first thing you read is that the games developers do not intend to hold your hand, and too right. I screwed up my first playthrough by starting a lot of puzzles, not finishing them and moving on the start other ones, which somehow sadly broke the game for me a couple of times, forcing me to start the game all over as the game doesn’t let you save whenever you want to (crazy!), instead it autosaves when you’ve completed a puzzle.
The game breaking, and having to start all over again a couple of times ended up being a GREAT thing! I’d say this game would be only about 3 hours short if you knew where to go and how to solve the puzzles, getting lost exploring, and having multiple attempts at the puzzles is what soaked up a lot of my time, and where I usually hate puzzles in games I absolutely loved every single one of the puzzles in this game.
The game is drop dead gorgeous too (check my screen shots above). For a $20 game I think it’s environments look more realistic than my modded Skyrim which uses 4K texture packs. I often found myself pausing to take a screen grab, enjoy the views, the sounds and fauna swaying in the wind.
The soundtrack is great as well, it builds up as you go, but I hate music in the background in games so for my 2nd playthrough I left the music off and found it was more way immersive. The sound design really shines when the music is off, especially the sound of your footsteps over different terrain.
Do give this game a go if you’re after something different (find it on Steam, it’s a small download). It’s beautiful, creepy, dark and tragic all at the same time. It’s super short (I’d say a 5hr playthrough if you do everything there is to do in the game), but that’s alright for the price. It’s also got a GREAT ending which has had me pondering way after I’ve put the game down (also, there’s a sniper rifle “easter egg” to be found in the game, must have if you’re a completionist!).
PS: If you do get lost in the game, use this guide (helped me out with the one tricky puzzle I couldn’t beat!).