The Vanishing of Interesting Gameplay

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (more precisely, the Unreal Engine 4 "Redux" release) is probably the most gorgeous game you've ever seen. Unfortunately, it's also very shallow.

To be fair, the plot of Ethan Carter is actually pretty intriguing, and it's told in a very moody, atmospheric way. But most of the time I spent with the game had nothing to do with that story -- or with anything, really. Ethan Carter leans hard into the "walking" part of a Walking Simulator, as its surprisingly-large world is mostly empty. It also employs a three-dimensional, first-person approach to adventure game "pixel hunting," and so the process of wandering around looking for a tiny clue can be just ... dreadfully boring and forever-taking.

If I was into the Amnesia-style, tense spooky thriller genre, I might be more willing to put up with Ethan Carter's tedious, uninteresting shit. But purely for its story's sake, I don't have enough patience to see this through.

Better than: Dear Esther
Not as good as: Gone Home
But god damn: if this game isn't absolutely beautiful.

Progress: Gave up at the church.