Support NeoGAF

[Lutherian]

*I'm sorry if my english is terrible, I'll do my best for you, GAF.

I discovered "Walking Simulators" with Dear Esther, which bored me to death despite it's great visuals and scenery. Then I bought The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, which is a game I absolutly love, played on PS4 too.

I felt very happy to enjoy these kind of games, so I bought Everybody's Gone To The Rapture on PS4 and for the first two chapters, I had a total blast. The soundtrack (Oh My God that soundtrack), the graphics, the mysteries... then, I had problem with "the pattern".

"The pattern" started to have a very weird behavior, taking backward path, diseaparing and glitching. I then started to get lost, exploring each house without getting any clues. I restarted the game and had the same problem.

This "glitch" forced me to use a walkthrought, especially because of the terribly S.L.O.W. speed our character walk. I understand the reason Chinese Room forced this speed, but damn, after The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, I felt like playing someone dying. The poor R2 trigger on my PS4 suffered a lot during my two runs of E'sGttR. It is so slow and combine this with the pattern's problems (witch occured five times in my second playthrough).

I tried to play without looking for a walkthrough ; mainly because I hate that and the story captivated me.

Spoilers :
I was so sad for the fate of

Spoiler

the characters

I followed (

Spoiler

Father Jeremy

is my favorite, he almost made me cry) and the ending left me in a very bad feeling. I couldn't stand the fact that

Spoiler

the entire mankind was gone and

died the way they did. I couldn't accept the fact that

Spoiler

there was no hope

etc. After a while, I was happy to have this reaction ; to be disturbed by

Spoiler

the end of mankind

, it made me think about it, and I started reading about the story and the pattern.

By the way, even if I love both the H2G2 books and the movie, I felt the same way when

Spoiler

the Earth is destroyed

(not really a spoiler but still).

For everything I hated in E'sGttR, I founded one of the most gorgeous soundtrack and story in a game I played. Definitly a flawed game, one of the worst I played, but it's also one of the greatest I played.

The Best of my Worst.

 

[Hydrogen Bluebird]

This game bored me beyond belief. And the story, especially the dialogue/monologues you listen to are depressing as fuck. Also hated it for not clearly explaining gameplay mechanics to the player (what do you do when the floating light thing is around?!)

Played for a few hours only and then I didn't bother to finish it.

 

[Certinty]

Absolutely hated the game. The walking speed alone made me give up on it half way through. At least it looked wonderful though.

Such a shame as I have actually loved other walking simulators.

 

[Lagamorph]

This was one of the dullest things I ever played. After I got past the first 'level' I just couldn't stand it anymore. If the standard movement speed was about 3 times faster than the 'sprint' it might have been more tolerable.

In the end I just read the plot on Wikipedia and was glad I hadn't bothered wasting more time with it. The payoff most certainly wasn't anywhere near worth the needed time investment.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Excellent walking sim; probably still the best I've played. Being English I loved the setting (a little countryside village with red phone boxes and quaint pubs is not the kind of thing you see in games very often), the voice acting is utterly fantastic, the music is even better and I really liked the plot about

Spoiler

first contact being with this all-consuming sentient band of light

. It's flawed, obviously - movement is maddeningly slow - but for me this is probably the pinnacle of walking simulators and I really enjoyed my time with it. I really should go back and get the Platinum one day.

 

[sn00zer]

Love love this game....its got some issues, but the story and characters are incredible. The chapter end scenes are legitimately some of the most moving scenes in gaming. That said the farm area kills the pacing and I can see many people stopping at that point.

 

[Salz01]

I really didn't like this game. Played it and finished it on PS4. Its was so boring.

 

[Fat4all]

I actually really liked the build-up and pacing of most of the characters stories, but was very disappointed in the ending.

 

[tryagainlater]

I played this a few months ago when it was on ps+. I haven't played a lot of walking simulator games so I didn't know what to expect but I ended up loving it. I do enjoy depressing shit like that and the stellar voice acting really delivered it. The walking speed is very slow though.

 

[dakun]

i usually like games like this. I struggled to finish this one though.

I remember having to walk huge spaces really slowly even when going as fast as possible. The story had an interesting premise but by the end it turned out to be an almost exhausting experience to finish to the point that i didn't care anymore.

 

[KDin]

I know gameplay > all, but the graphics were so incredible that it became one of my favorite games of all time.

 

[whatever6352]

Great game. It was my favorite "walking simulator" until What Remains of Edith Finch.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Struggled to get through this.

I would have been furious if I had paid full price for this one.

 

[get2sammyb]

I loved it. I understand why people don't like it, but I really enjoyed all of the little soap opera stories to piece together, and growing up near to villages exactly like the one in the game helped it to really resonate.

 

[ViciousDS]

I'm pretty sure I completely skipped one whole section/chapter by accident because I didn't know the concept of the floating glowing ball

 

[ghibli99]

I wouldn't call it the worst anything, but the speed at which you moved was just laughably painful, even when "running". I liked it though.

 

[jacob armitage]

I really adored it myself, few games have given me quite so many emotional reactions. I didn't mind the slower walking speed at all as the environments were so fetching, though i imagine a repeat playthrough would be tiresome.

 

[TetraGenesis]

I'm already totally into narrative and exploration based games (walking simulators) but EGTTR really struck a chord with me. I absolutely loved it. The movement was slow but if you hold R2 to gradually speed up to a run then it's a lot more manageable. Plus, I liked strolling leisurely through what have to be some of the most gorgeous environments I've seen in a game.

I also totally get why people who don't like the genre (and even some who do!) would have problems with the game and quit before experiencing the satisfaction of the incredible resolutions to every plot thread. That's the main reason the game was so powerful for me. Without that, you're left with a hollow experience.

 

[Unspoken90]

I liked the story and characters, but this game was such a slog to play through.

I wouldn't say it is bad, but I can see why people hate these type of games.

 

[Alebrije]

You can run or improve speed while walking , but button configuration is a little tricky

Loved the game , one of the few indie games that ended.

Try also Gone Home

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

The Chinese Room's finest, and I've been a fan ever since I first wandered around in the mod version of Dear Esther.

 

[TetraGenesis]

Separate thought:

If ever there was a game that would benefit from having a retroactive VR-mode patched in, it would be this.

I honestly think the tenor of discussion on the game would generally be a lot more positive if it had launched a year later or so in tandem with VR platforms.

The gorgeous environments, the slow movement speed, the lack of interactivity -- it's perfect for it.

I know Chinese Room would never do it on their own for PC and Sony certainly wouldn't put more money into arranging it for PSVR, so it will be a longing that lives in me forever, I guess.

*sigh* Guess I'll go back to staring at brown rocks in Farpoint.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

My most vivid memory of this game is finding that bicycle laying by the side of the road close to where you start the game and just staring at it for several minutes marveling at how real it looked.

 

[Fisty]

Loved the game, had some very interesting concepts and I loved scouring the environment. They packed tons of narrative into every inch of the town, and slowly digging out the plot was a really worthwhile experience. Wish they could go back and add VR support down the line, would be a really cool way to experience it

 

[TetraGenesis]

Loved the game, had some very interesting concepts and I loved scouring the environment. They packed tons of narrative into every inch of the town, and slowly digging out the plot was a really worthwhile experience. Wish they could go back and add VR support down the line, would be a really cool way to experience it

Ditto. I'm afraid it will never happen (until they remaster it next gen maybe?) but at least their next game, So Let Us Melt, is a VR title.

Although I think it's a mobile VR game exclusive to Google Daydream? ((( Which means no one's gonna play it and it will likely never come to other platforms. And if it did, it would have to deal with lowest common denominator of cell phone VR keeping the technical artistry from EGTTR heights.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

fantastic game. i was enthralled by every minute.

 

[Eppy Thatcher]

I couldn't finish. Me and the girl have tried to play through this at least 5 different times and without fail one or both of us fall asleep before we make any meaningful headway and then when we try to pick it back up a few days later are just utterly lost.

I feel like this is the weakest of the "walking simulator" type of games I've touched. Interesting concept but bad execution for me. I also went and read up on the story when I realized I was definitely gonna delete it off of my PS4 and as it turns out we both guessed the ending after only making it to the 2nd little township area.

Some of the individual stories were sad and such but godamn... what a slog.

 

[jamsy]

My game of 2015.

Absolutely one of the most memorable gaming experiences I've ever had. Yes, it's slow, but the writing - the characters and the dialogue - are easily some of the medium's best. And the soundtrack is unbelievable. One of the few games that really stayed with me long after I finished it.

 

[Hoho for breakfast]

I also couldn't stand this terrible "game". I played it, or tried to, and kept falling asleep. I literally couldn't stay awake to play it. I would highly recommend it if you have trouble getting to sleep at night.

I didn't like Firewatch but that game is like a goty compared to EGttR.