[MeechMunchie]

I think Stanley Parable is an excellent demonstration of the design ideals Dear Esther lacked. We naturally want to forge our own paths and explore, and in TSP that's literally all you do. Dear Esther, on the other hand, waves its intriguing scenery and pretensions of depth in your face, but never actually gives you any freedom. Not every game needs total freedom of movement to be enjoyable, but Dear Esther absolutely did - the devs were just too insecure to give it to you.

I don't hate Dear Esther. It's not awful. It needed to be made, if only to toe the line between game and movie, and prove that games where the only objective is "Press Play" miss the point of their medium entirely.