Dear Esther discussion

CONTEXT: When Dear Esther was re-released last year, Katie mentioned on Twitter the ghosts she saw and Brendan and I quizzed her about it. We moved to a G+ thread because that was the trendy thing at the time. Brendan recently asked to make the thread public, but because G+ doesn’t let you do that, I’m reposting here with permission from Brendan & Katie, only editing to remove organizational posts and unwanted metadata.

Brendan Keogh Feb 20, 2012

Right! So I only ever saw two ghosts myself.

1) Just past the tanker is a house on a hill you go up a winding path to. Just beyond that is a downwards path hugging the cliff to the beach. From that path you look to the right (opposite the back of the house) and there is a cave in a cliff face across a chasm. In there is a candle. As you watch, a ghost holding the candle walks away into the cave.

2) As you start your final climb to the antenna, about halfway up the hill, there is an outcrop ahead of you and a figure standing there. As you go down behind a rise and get to the outcrop yourself, it is gone. I thought I imagined it the first time I played through but definitely saw it the second time.

Also heard of a ghost in the final antenna fenced area and one near the crashed tanker at the start of the second chapter.

What other ghosts did you guys see? I’m curious, Katie, what ‘creepy’ ghosts you saw. Did they look different or did they just do creepy things?

Also, have we all played the game at least twice? Want to talk about some things I think are second-playthrough specific….

Zach A Feb 20, 2012 Edit

when I first emerged from the cave, my overwhelming thought was, “this is not real”. at least, part of the island is not. the part that always gets me is the lines the protag has about the shape and form of the island: it is formed out of his kidney stones. the path of his infection traces a trail like the one he walks up to the beacon. the structure of the caves – i could swear – is meant to resemble some organic process occurring in his body. (I can’t prove that and I’m probably & unfortunately wrong)

i lean towards the island being real and the protagonist physically being there at one point. he is absolutely the one who painted the rocks (with Esther’s ashes?!? ewww) but the broken leg is clearly something that happens on his last journey – he speaks of his final ascent and clearly plans to kill himself. yet the way the game demands multiple playthroughs (which as far as i can tell is not the result of a specificmechanic, just an overwhelming curiosity on my part) and the subtle changes the island goes through…

there’s too much on the island that doesn’t make sense. you break your leg on the way to the cave, but the protag does not experience any difficulty walking (or breathing underwater indefinitately, for that matter) (normally I would discount that as part of the game. but this is clearly a FPS – it uses the source engine! – and that has a clear language for expressing hinderance, pain, shortness of breath, etc. it must have been a conscious decision to NOT use those elements, for a specific purpose).

in the final chapter, on the beach, the caves contain scattered pills and a needle and some sort of medical equipment – already used – as if he had already mended his leg. there are car frames on the island – which are wildly out of place unless you take into account the protag’s specific trauma. the paper boats are still there, despite the protag speaking of watching them sink. the way you can’t kill yourself at any other point except the very end. and, of course, that monumental ending where you do not re-experience the finality of yr suicide. that + the existence of ghosts + the existence of the grim reaper… I feel that you must be dead already, haunting the place that you last experienced in numbing detail in life. it’s an abundance of detail.

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