Narrative, Entry 2.

As the final video game I will cover on this blog for the foreseeable future, Dear Esther is a game that is positively dripping with emotional subtext, themes of loss, death and loneliness are perpetual companions throughout the game, as soon as the game starts, the barren, long abandoned lighthouse sits cold and desaturated in the fog around the jetty, a Lighthouse unable to shine its light makes for a powerful initial composition.

The lighting chosen for the game is every overcast, dreary day rolled into one. flicks of blue sky barred from breaking the gloom by thick misty clouds. There is a sorrowful quality to the image in its desaturated hues and dreary palette.

The objective of the players journey, the radio tower in the distance on the far side of the island puts emphasis on these feelings, from the abandoned buildings, we can see the solitary red light atop the tower, as lonely as the player, and the players inevitable destination. The bright red accent really stands out against the dreariness of the environment, acting to mirror the players solitary presence on the island. Through just the use of colour, the sorrowful nature of the eventually revealed story is palpable right from the second the game begins.