The true meaning of Dear Esther

[duck]

DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THE GAME, THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS AND STUFF

my interpretation.

The man in question has died in a car accident along with paul jacobsen and mr.donnely. (esther may have died, maybe not)

how i assume this, the car accident is referenced many times in the story.
there are four wrecked ships in the entire story (mid first chapter, beginning second chapter, end second chapter, very last chapter)
each one represents how each of the four characters got to the island.
also recognize that there are three houses in which the three characters, before he had gotten to the island, had made their home before their assent to heaven.

the island he is on is his assent to heaven (his climbing to the top of the mountain to the radio tower)

lets hear your guys' opinions

[Zeno293]

sounds like a cool game

[Necro Wes]

The way I interpreted it was that the narrator and Donnelly were involved in a car crash that took the life of the narrator's wife, Esther.
The narrator seems to blame both himself and Donnelly for the death of Esther they as they were slightly drunk.
There are voice-overs that suggest the accident was caused by drinking and driving as well as voice-overs that imply both men were in some part responsible. There is also a voice-over that references Esther's and the narrators children.
I interpreted the island as a metaphor for the narrators deteriorating mental state due to guilt an grief, which finally culminates in his suicide.

I only played through the game twice so i doubt i got all the monologues, and so it is very possible that I am wrong.

[GoldfishRT]

The way I interpreted it was that the narrator and Donnelly were involved in a car crash that took the life of the narrator's wife, Esther.
The narrator seems to blame both himself and Donnelly for the death of Esther they as they were slightly drunk.
There are voice-overs that suggest the accident was caused by drinking and driving as well as voice-overs that imply both men were in some part responsible. There is also a voice-over that references Esther's and the narrators children.
I interpreted the island as a metaphor for the narrators deteriorating mental state due to guilt an grief, which finally culminates in his suicide.

I only played through the game twice so i doubt i got all the monologues, and so it is very possible that I am wrong.

You know, you're the first person that interpeted it dead on how I had. I felt it was a trip through the mental state of the narrator. It certainly felt that way to me.

[VoltySquirrel]

Dear Esther is awful.

[duck]

You ovbiously didn't do it right

[VoltySquirrel]

I'm sick and tired of that canned response whenever I say that Dead Esther is not good. "You just didn't understand it." It's pretentious as hell. I did understand the game. I totally get the message and the story it was trying to tell. However, that message isn't worth the asking price. I don't care how pretty that game is, giving me a short film that happens to have a walk button isn't worth 10 dollars. This should have just stayed as a free mod. You can't ask me to pay money for a "game" that really only makes me walk around a bit and listen to a story being told to me.The Path tried to pull the same shit. If your going to tell your story, at least give me something meaningful to do. Journey understood that, and that's why I was 100% satisfied with my purchase.