"literally a walking simulator with no mechanics other than walking"

Wait, what? Literally no other mechanic? Whoa.

It doesn't even have "frobbing" or some-such to open doors or read books?

I don't mind some "walking simulators"; but I don't think I've played a "pure" one with no other mechanics. Kinda piques my curiosity...

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Got fixed?

I just tried it and had no problem finding it via "dear" on both the homepage and the "Games" listing (I didn't read this thread earlier so I don't know if it was a bug that affected me or not back when first noted...)

Nope, it's very much pure walking :)

Somehow it doesn't seem to matter, though. The game's all about exploration and atmosphere, and anything too "gamey" would just get in the way of that. It doesn't mean that there's nothing to see beyond some pretty scenery - it's one of those games that manages to deliver story through details in the environment, like markings on the walls, objects that you see in the landscape, etc. If you played "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" then you might remember details like the tipped-over pot of paint where the paint on the ground had formed into a certain familiar pattern. That sort of thing, which makes you stop and look, and doesn't need any clicking on or a caption to be able to tell a story.

That said, there are some hidden collectables (4 of them, IIRC) which I somehow managed to miss all 4 of when I played through the game on PS4 - and I thought I had explored very thoroughly. Apparently not :)

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture has at least a little more. You can run (well, sorta), you can watch and listen to some activities playing out through voice acting. In Gone Home, you can pick up things, explore and also some minor physics interactions with a story.

Dear Esther... well, pressing w for 20+ minutes at a time isn't what I would consider something for myself to do. Same with Visual novels where you click 'next' over and over for 20+ minutes at a time.

You know if it was a new thing, sure I would enjoy the novelty of it. But I'd get bored in 10 minutes and never touch it again. As I said, I'm disappointed in this title. I can't be annoyed they have brought it to GoG since it does have a place, it's just not one I'd ever consider getting.

Then there's The Stanley Parable where the master genius of the game is the narrator and excellent writing, and things actually change and react to you too.

It's worth noting because it may affect how potential customers feel about this developer and their games, and ultimately whether or not they want to support them with their money.

Personally I was mildly interested in Dear Esther, but changed my mind after finding out about this little incident. Apparently some of the devs from TheChineseRoom have a habit of engaging in public asshattery.

Guess I'll just stick with terrible sexist games such as Witcher 3.

I own the original on HB, does that mean I should have the Landmark Edition in my library? It's not there.

Hope never dies!

Since we got Bethesda, LucasArts, Bandai Namco. Hell we even get more EA and Activision titles nowadays...
We also got 2K, so worry not, they WILL come eventually!

2K being here isn't enough for the Blair Witch games. The license-holder will have the final say.

It's intensely atmospheric. If you have good visuals and sound on your system, it conveys the desolation and beauty of the island quite well. The path is linear overall but offers a lot of room to move and explore. It's not like you're trapped in a corridor. The narrator isn't meant to be open and accessible, so people's reaction to him depends on their tolerance for intentionally obscured meanings.

It's an art project. If you're open to what they're trying to do, it's deeply immersive and meditative. If you find it pretentious after walking around for an hour or two, there's nothing else hidden in the game to change your mind. There's no wrong reaction to it, although gaming purists don't make a compelling case when they ask it to be fun in ways it never intended. The whole point is to try to evoke various thoughts and feelings through the player's slow movement around the island, nothing more complicated. Projects like this one deserve respect for the effort and quality of what they put into it, without requiring anyone to like or hate the end result.

Still has to be added.

True, they didn't have to, yet did in a very selective way, and none of their arguments as to why they went about it like this is remotely convincing. Not mad, but not inclined to hand them my money either.



Based on what they've communicated, you shouldn't, and should also not expect it to happen.

Like it was said: it is not and probably will not be added to your library. However with the DRM-free version you should also have received a steam key and there the game should be in your library. If you don't want to use steam because you don't want to use any DRM (and in this case the game does not even start without having steam running) you are probably out of luck. I wrote back to the devs but did not have received another reply yet so I guess they don't want to talk about it anymore. I bought the game on humble too because of the DRM-free option so I really can understand how you feel.

Well, if The Chinese Room can neither be bothered updating the DRM-free port with the remake nor making a Linux version of a Unity (!) game, I can't be bothered to buy any of their games ever again, tough luck. I guess they can do without my money as much as I can do without their games.

They can ride the offendedness bandwagon as much as they want, I don't like 'em anymore anyway.

This is for you.

I cannot say that I don't understand you.

Yes, it was fixed since yesterday :)
You mean that fish-eye lens effect, when you start walking, as I saw on some videos?
You should be able to turn that off too.

Try google it out.
Maybe Sweet FX has taken care of that as well.