The piano parts on “Twenty One” and “The Bones of Jakobson” subtly clash both harmonically and rhythmically. This ambivalence, this refusal to deliver emotional resolution becomes the Dear Esther soundtrack’s defining and most intriguing characteristic. Some soprano lines add a sense of spirituality, but certainly not redemption. But these lingering notes manage to create a spellbinding, fascinating aural landscape that catapults listeners – as long as pay close attention – into Dear Esther‘s dream-like world with remarkable ease. The piece consists almost entirely of otherworldly, elusive string chords. Listen to the nine-minute “Always (Hebridean Mix”) to witness the stunning effects that Curry’s approach yields.
Curry is content to move Dear Esther along at an often glacial pace, working only with a few instruments – string quartet, two pianos, a female vocalist and sound effects – to create minimalist, sometimes nearly ambient classical music that seeks to make its mark through haunting, often dissonant textures. That was a crucial task, given that Dear Esther‘s challenge-free gameplay doesn’t reward the player with a sense of odds overcome, but instead must satisfy gamers by delivering a memorable experience.Īnd that’s something that the Dear Esther soundtrack most definitely achieves, if through somewhat unexpected means. Her aim was for the music “to add an emotional dimension” to the game. A co-founder of Dear Esther’s developer The Chinese Room, Curry was closely involved in the game’s creation from its inception. Curry’s body of work before Dear Esther included arts installations, film soundtracks and cross-media projects. Encouragingly, this experiment in digital storytelling received significant critical acclaim and was a commercial success as well.ĭear Esther also launched the game music career of composer Jessica Curry. With no threat of death and no tasks to be fulfilled, Dear Esther instead aims to capture gamers’ intrigue simply by letting them figure out – or just interpret – the fragmented narrative, hinting at a tragedy that precedes the events in the game. Meanwhile, a male voice-over reads out random letter fragments to a woman named Esther. Players find themselves on a barren island in the Hebrides and are left to explore the surroundings. One of these games, Dear Esther, was initially a research project at the University of Plymouth.
It seems fair to say that it’s usually indie video games that push the boundaries of the medium and have gamers and audiences asking “But is it a game?” (“Is it art?” being a close second).
Dear Esther Soundtrack, Jessica Curry, 2012