I've bought this without knowing exactly what it is apart from hearing mixed emotions. Some called it bad, other claimed that this game is misunderstood. I hoped to end up in the "I liked the game" camp though sadly I did not.

First of - this is barely a game. It's beautiful, extremely so. The visual effects are just gorgeous. The models are so detailed that up to this date I'd say this is the best looking "tech demo" I've seen. But sadly it fails hardly as a game.

So why it is that? I don't really mind narrative games, I don't mind experimental ones. But this is lacking so much in game design aspect. As a player you start out at a spot with a short story introduction. A very short and not really telling you what to do. You start walking - everything is pretty but nothing is explained. I just kept walking, looking around and so on and later on learned that I've missed 3 out of 5 or six puzzles. Nothing told me that. There was also almost nothing explaining the game mechanics or even subtly prompting me to do anything. Arriving at the old abandoned village game suddenly introduces teleporting doors with some spell - why? how? How does that fit the narrative.

At this point I was confused and had no idea what to do. I walked around for little more enjoying the views and graphic quality but was bored. Honestly I thought that was it. Had to look up reviews to see there was more. And after having a read - was not really interested in actually playing. The game just lacks any game design - forcing player to explore certain areas, hinting or suggesting some actions. Or just simply explaining itself. Really shame as it is really beautiful. Can't really recommend it.

Immediately upon starting this game I got struck by its visuals. I try not to look up too much about a game before playing it, but in this case I was genuinely surprised I hadn’t seen this mentioned anywhere. Landscape wise, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter looks impressive, and I’m bringing this up first because it was, along with the minimalistic soundscape, the thing that got me immersed straight away into the game’s somewhat hypnotic tone.

From there, I got sucked into a really interesting story. It doesn’t take long for it to hook you due to its strong narration and enigmatic beats. The narrative in this game blends elements of horror, suspense and drama, and even though it doesn’t land all its emotional punches it’s still very engaging, making you want to continue playing to unravel it fully. There is also a powerful turning point that elevated the game all the more to me, although in hindsight, maybe I should have seen it coming. I also liked the puzzle mechanics, where you have to figure out how to appropriately ‘arrange’ story moments in order reconstruct past timelines and get a glimpse of the events you’re unfurling.

What I didn’t like was how much the game runs with its ‘no hand-holding’ concept. It clearly states so in the beginning, but I think it takes it too far because it highlights a design contradiction: yes, the setting is small, but it still has a clear open nature to it. Because of this, it can be frustratingly easy to miss things, since comparatively you’re working within a chunky space and there isn’t all that much to find. The lack of telegraphing for the most part that doesn’t play well with this design as it’s almost screaming at you to play with a guide, and I’m fairly certain this wasn’t the intent when they made it that way.

Still, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is well worth a gander. Its tone and story are memorable, its puzzles are solid, the narration is close to impeccable, and on the whole, it manages to step away from its problems far enough with the quality it delivers on other aspects. I enjoyed it enough to consider a second playthrough, which is something I rarely consider with these types of short narrative adventure games. 7.5/10

While playing Everybody’s gone to rapture this game was in my mind the whole time. The vanishing of Ethan Carter is also another walking simulator, genre which everybody has their own opinion. For me, this is one of the examples how good walking simulator should be, interesting story and good visuals and world that doesn’t seem like you would take forever to walk across.

You step on shoes of paranormal investigator Paul Prospero who is visiting the town Red Creek valley because of inspiring fan letter from 16-year old Ethan Carter. While on his visit in Red Creek, Paul Prospero starts to encounter dark and unsettling paranormal phenomenon and violent activities that has taken place in the town. While investigating these happening Paul starts to learn moreabout Ethan’s family dark secret…

I solely picked this game because I had heard this one was good detective horror mystery. Minus couple small jump scares (that I think wasn’t even supposed to be one. I just stupidly walked to them) I didn’t think game was scary until one part…that one fucking part…WHAT THE FUCK..this game supposed to be a slow pace walking simulator. Okay, I admit I’m not very good with any type of horror game, I get scared easily. I really like scary stories, movies, pictures etc… but games. I can’t handle those, I like horror games but when somebody else is playing and I can just watch.

Because this one asshole scary part I didn’t finish the game..

okay I did but like one month later in midday sun.

the ending was surprising and whole story kept me engaged.

9/10 (-1 because it made me scream)

P.s This game is short 4 hours approx. I’m not one to give minus points of length if I felt I got enough this one I did.