Just finished playing Dear Esther

[Bridge]

The story itself is written so that it's a puzzle. It's not meant to be told coherently, because there are meant to be any number of possibilities of what the story is actually about. The only concrete element is the car crash, which is the emotional center of the game. Other than that it's more of a surrealist experience.

Each time you load the game up you'll encounter randomized dialogue and visual details. Many of these changes are extremely subtle. It may not be your thing, but there is a lot of content there.

Jumping, running, and crouching were removed to maintain the solemn atmosphere and to avoid people triggering voice lines too soon. They didn't want people jumping and crouching randomly, they wanted their full attention on the environment.

1. That is not good writing. My job as a user is not to write the story, it's to interpret it. You can, with no small skill, write a fully fleshed out story that can be interpreted in a thousand different ways if you wish to create an open-ended story. Stories intended to invoke a feeling of mystery and puzzlement should lay the groundwork and let the audience fill in the blanks, not the other way around. It's insulting to anybody who wishes to play it because they are almost completely ignored, forced to listen to esoteric soliloquy and not even have basic control of their character.

2. Fair enough. I'm not motivated enough to actually look for them all but I'm willing to accept that it's a dynamic experience. However, the biggest problem with randomization is always lack of focus, which was very apparent in Dear Esther. Had they told a linear story (because the game is already extremely linear) or a branching one, that is created dynamically based on the choices the player makes or the areas he visits (you know… giving the player control). There's nothing interesting about randomization at all.

3. When I walk around outside I do not get hung up on insurmountable waist-height fences and easily traversable 160 degree slopes, and my feet are not locked in rigor mortis. There are plenty of games with interesting environments that also give you "privilege" of controlling your character in any conceivable way. Don't want your players to sequence break? Place your audio triggers correctly and that won't be a problem.

Seriously, why are you guys defending these aspects of the game? Even if you like it, or even if you love it and think it's the greatest game ever, you have to admit that these are flaws. Something can be technically bad in almost every way and still be aesthetically pleasing, but that doesn't change the fact that there are flaws.