Dear Esther is more like a work of art rather than a game because you don't have any interactions with the environment, and you don't have items or weapons or anything like that. The game also doesn't have choices, instead it focuses on the story through a linear exploration of four chapters.
You wake up on an island without knowing how you got there, without objectives to guide you, basically you're left to explore freely and advance the chapters. The only thing that will guide you is a lighthouse that you see very far away, and instinctively you will start walking towards it. The game has a narrator that speaks when you reach certain areas or gets triggered randomly and speaks of some letters to a woman named Esther. There are suggestions throughout the game that the narrator is the player and that Esther was his wife.
The more you advance, the more you will unravel the mystery of the game. The overall feel is very melancholic and dramatic. The sound effects are outstanding and combined with the overall game design and chromatic, definitely perfect the overall dramatic effect. The player also moves very slowly, in a dull way almost like he was dragging his steps.
The graphics and the artwork are incredible, each chapter has its own special design with a lot of abandoned structures and untouched nature.
To sum it up, Dear Esther is a great work of art which can be a great exploring experience.
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