The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Если у меня спросить, какие игры входят в музей игровой индустрии - я, без сомнений, назову два проекта, которые вот уже больше десяти лет в моем сердце - это [b]Dear Esther[/b] и [b]The Vanishing of Ethan Carter[/b]. Исчезновение Итана Картера я считаю одной из лучших игр в игровой индустрии и лучшее, что случалось с игровой индустрии. Эта игра - наглядное пособие, как нужно работать с движком игры, с графикой, с технологиями, как локация и общая графика должны быть подчинены рассказу и общему сюжету, ну и, конечно, главное - это сама история. Мне довелось возвращаться в эту игру на протяжении 12-и лет в разное время, на разных игровых платформах, с разным жизненным опытом, чтобы понять - что вообще это было. И только спустя 12 лет у меня появилась трактовка происходящего сюжета в игре и, пожалуй, самое главное - о чем эта игра: какая главная метафора у нее. Студия [u]The Astronauts[/u] сделали невозможное и создали игру лучше которой уже не будет. [h1]The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - музей игровой индустрии[/h1] Изначально, рассказывая про игру [b]Исчезновение Итана Картера[/b] стоит отметить в какое время она разрабатывалась - это был 2012 год, когда вышедшая [b]Dear Esther[/b] покорила сердца людей. В [b]Dear Esther[/b] локация была подчинена рассказу, сюжет подавался отрывками, а имеющаяся информация была настолько сложной, что целое комьюнити ломало голову долгие годы, чтобы разгадать загадки и важный посыл, самое интересное - в игре не было привычного геймплея, т.е. [b]Dear Esther[/b] сделала революцию в мире игр. Также стоит отметить, что в период 2012 - 2014 года было множество проектов, которые пытались копировать [b]Дорогую Эстер[/b], однако превзойти удалось лишь [u]The Astronauts[/u]. Творцы из [u]The Astronauts[/u] вдохновившись этим проектом решили создать свой собственный, разработка длилась 2 года, за это время 2 энтузиаста-разработчика начинали с двух компьютеров и четырех рук, ближе к середине проекта команда обросла идейными людьми - это очень важно, поскольку в этот проект людей с улицы не брали. У меня даже на этот счёт было своё собственное мини-расследование и оказалось, что вся команда разработчиков спустя время оказалась настоящими профессионалами своего дела, которые любили свою работу и все они оказались в хороших компаниях, на хороших ведущих должностях, и вообще - это очень идейные творческие люди. С таким подходом к разработке успех не заставил себя ждать. Разработчики долго рассказывали нам про процесс создания, давали всевозможные интервью, в которых говорили что процесс работы контролируется на все 100%, презентовали новейшую технологию на то время: [b]Photoscan[/b] - программа по обработке фотографий и создании 3D объектов, если в двух словах, то программа обрабатывала фотографии и создавала фотореалистичный ландшафт, дороги, здания, текстуру земли, листьев, и т.д. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3756225837 [hr] И 26 сентября 2014 года выходит одна из лучших игр игровой индустрии на мой взгляд - [b]The Vanishing of Ethan Carter[/b]. Мы играем за частного детектива и эксперта по оккультизму - Пола Просперо, обладающего сверхъестественными способностями, целью которого является поиск Итана Картера. По ходу игры мы будем разгадывать головоломки, находить обрывки писем, статьи Итана, газетные вырезки, журналы, с помощью которых(в том числе) нам подаётся сюжет и история. Также мы будем расследовать преступления - смерти. В игре очень много отсылок на произведения, научные труды, на фильмы, на научные теории, встречаются отсылки на психологию и т.д. То есть, порог входа в игру - очень серьезный. Я возвращаюсь в эту игру на протяжении 12-и лет, это не каждый день и не каждый месяц, а примерно раз в 2-3 года. Ещё в далёком 2014 году я понимала, что мне неподвластна эта игра и понимания её смысла, то есть, должно пройти какое-то время и появиться жизненный опыт для понимания главных метафор в этой игре. Мы, как молодые люди - можем быть достаточно эрудированными и начитанными, и понять большинство посылов, отсылок, мы можем некоторые нюансы загуглить, но мы точно не можем оказаться в теле 30+ летнего человека, чтобы понять, что такое семья, отношения в семье, отношения между мужем и женой, между детьми, воспитание детей. И только спустя 12 лет, недавно окунувшись в эту историю с жизненным опытом до меня дошло, что разработчики, когда писали 12 лет назад про "отношения матери и сына" - эта история про семью, про отношения внутри семьи, про воспитание детей, про жизнь; они её создавали такую, они её видели такую и сами это пережили. Поэтому и написали "комьюнити так и не приблизилось к пониманию главной метафоры этой игры", а комьюнити в то время разгадывало, кто такой спящий и прочие мелочи. [h2]Руководство, графика и саундтрек[/h2] Так как порог входа в игру очень высокий - нужно много знать, понимать, много думать, сопоставлять факты, перечитывать подсказки, газетные вырезки, понимать отсылки - мной было принято решение о создании руководства, которое раскрывает отсылки на литературные произведения, пьесы, научные труды, на фильмы, тонкости в диалогах, почему локация именно такая; как и многое другое с тонкостями вы найдете в моём руководстве. Однако хочется предупредить, что руководство - один большой спойлер, поэтому перед его прочтением составьте своё мнение. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3754427118 [hr] Графика и саундтрек - сильнейшие составляющие этой игры, настолько идеально передать мир глазами ребёнка: яркое солнце, зелёную травку, лучи солнца сквозь кроны деревьев, то как ребёнок видит мир в своих фантазиях и приправить это музыкой, которая так идеально вписывается в картину повествования - это высший пилотаж, доступный только настоящим творцам. За саундтрек в игре отвечал [b]Mikolai Stroinski[/b] - Польский композитор. По сей день в мою музыкальную коллекцию входят композиции от [u]Stroinski[/u], как: [b]Valley of the Blinding Mist (credits vocal mix)[/b] и [b]Ethan's Theme - Mikolai Stroinski[/b] - идеальные две композиции подчеркивающие осеннюю атмосферу. [h2]Стоит ли покупать?[/h2] Игра [b]The Vanishing of Ethan Carter[/b] однозначно подойдет эрудированным, очень глубоким людям, любящих заниматься анализом, самокопанием, поиском скрытых смыслов и многослойных смешанных метафор. Любителям онлайн игр здесь делать нечего. Если вы глубокий, достаточно эрудированный человек, то эта игра однозначно займёт ваше сердце и встанет в один ряд лучших игр. Для игры [b]The Vanishing of Ethan Carter[/b] нужно особое состояние - состояние медитативности, когда хочется закрыться от всего мира и просто окунуться с головой в великолепный глубокий проект. Если у вас эти желания совпадают или есть периоды, когда этого хочется - игра [b]Исчезновение Итана Картера[/b] для вас. Сама по себе игра очень короткая, она займёт у вас не более 3-х часов, а повторное прохождение и вовсе будет порядка 1.5 часа. В игре нужно много думать, много видеть, разгадывать метафоры и скрытый смысл и уже разгаданные смешанные метафоры применять к сюжету игры. А если вдруг у вас возникнут трудности - воспользуйтесь моим руководством. Игра [b]The Vanishing of Ethan Carter[/b] является одной из немногих, на тему которой я всегда буду рада с вами пообщаться. Пишите в комментарии, оставляйте своё мнение и я всегда с радостью отвечу. А пока успейте забрать этот шедевр по 90% скидке. После покупки вам будет доступно два издания - оригинальное и с префиксом Redux. Redux версия - это перенесённая оригинальная игра на движок Unreal Engine 4(оригинальная на UE3), немного потеряла в картинке, объекты стали лучше но не такими ламповыми, можете пройти две версии - игра короткая, но начать рекомендую с оригинальной. https://store.steampowered.com/app/258520/ [quote=Итан Картер - Полу Просперо]- Я могу уйти? - Можешь уйти.[/quote]

This game is among one of the first games I ever bought on my steam account close to over 10 years ago soon. I never ended up touching the game until 2026! The date of writing this review. I am actually very happy I didnt end up playing it earlier as I do think having grown up and developed with life and experiences in real life really helped me truly appreciate this masterpiece. Absolutely fantastic story and ways of hinting at different things. Bravo! The game looks fantastic even in todays standards as of 2026. REALLY thought provoking puzzles with some great difficulty sometimes. Made me shout out in glee when I figured out the solutions. I REALLY like how it doesn't hold your hand at all which can get annoying after crossing the map a few times but thats about it in my experience. The extremely subtle insinuations of detail in the story REALLY played with my mind about theories throughtout the whole game! The Achievements you slowly unlock along the way were nice little crumbs of detail too. Puzzling together the storyline and in what order the murders happened in the bigger picture really got me invested in the story. The actual solving of the individual murders and piecing together the order of things puzzles were really satisfying to do. Regarding the ending and the reveal, really moved me and brought a tear to my eye. Fantastic storytelling, VERY rare to find gems like this game. A Really great thought provoking expereince regarding (SPOILERS!!! Ahead) [spoiler] Escapism and how how it's used to give our own Life and eventual death meaning, and maybe making these stories is a way of saving ourselves or hide from a reality we cannot change or refuse to accept. [/spoiler] Beautiful Game.

I really liked it. The atmosphere especially carried the experience (I recommend playing in the evening around sunset, btw). And the ending was quite interesting too. I kind of expected it to go that way, but it didn’t make it any less enjoyable :)

Ah yes, I recall playing this and with a little refresher... I was able to fully remember it. The sceneries were always beautiful and most of my time was spent walking around in the woods or admiring more stuff I can get lost in. I really liked the "do the timeline of this crime happening" and how it was done, regardless of me getting it wrong continuously lol. That and that maze... Let's not allow people with defunct sense of directions into that maze... D: But the story... Urk... T_T Yeah.

Klasik dedektiflik ve point-and-click macera oyunlarındaki o yorucu "ekrandaki 2x2 piksellik objeyi bulma" eziyeti, bu oyunda sadece 3D alana ve yüksek çözünürlüklü kaplamaların arasına aktarılmış. "Oyuncunun elinden tutmamak" kavramının altı tamamen boşaltılmış. Sistem; kompleks bir vaka çözme mekaniği üzerinden oyuncuya doğru veya yanlış karar verme inisiyatifi sunmak yerine, objeleri haritaya kamufle ediyor. Arayüz desteği olmadan, geniş bir alanda körlemesine saklı nesne aramak "elinden tutmamak" olarak pazarlanıyorsa, evet, oyun bu illüzyonda oldukça başarılı. Gerçek bir cinayet ve gizem analizinde asıl zorluk, toplanan veriler arasındaki mantıksal bağıntıyı kurmaktır. Burada ise zihinsel bir çıkarımdan ziyade, sistemi bir tarayıcı makinesi gibi santim santim tarama sabrınız test ediliyor. Bulunan bir nesnenin veya ipucunun üzerinde sadece yazılar uçuşuyor; size düşen analitik bir eylem yok. Tek yaptığınız, sistem size sonucu verene kadar kameranın yönünü fiziksel olarak ayarlayıp o karmaşık yazıları ekranda hizalamak. Görsel olarak kuvvetli olsa da mekanik açıdan başarısız. Neden sevildiğini anlamak güç, "pixel hunt" tarzını sevenler için gelişmiş grafikli farklı bir hazdan ibaret sanırım. [b][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32515007-s%25C9%2590%25D7%259Fn%25C9%259Fnsn%25CA%258E/][u]Kuratör Sayfamı takip etmeyi unutmayın [b]sɐןnɟnsnʎ[/b]...[/u][/url][/b] ːcozybethesdaː [b][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44359868-pixgamist/][u]Don't forget to follow my Curator Page [b]pixgamist...[/b] [/u][/url][/b] ːsteinː [b][url=https://www.youtube.com/@yusufulas81/videos][u]Youtube Sayfamı takip etmeyi unutmayın...[/u][/url][/b] ːsummercat2023ː

=== The Vanishing of Ethan Carter: 5/10 [i]*voice of a grizzled detective who smokes 5 packs a day*[/i] "What if, heh, what if your nan ran on batteries?" The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a videogame that somehow manages to be 3D while getting almost no benefit from it. I've only played a single adventure game of the old-timey point n' click variety, [i]I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream[/i], and [i]Ethan Carter[/i], when distilled, is like one-fifth as long, one-fifth as interesting story-wise, and doesn't necessarily look any better for the trouble. (it's a game that aimed for "realistic graphics" in 2014 without any other stylization, you can imagine how well that's aged) The gameplay consists of jogging at a relaxed pace though large swaths of land in pursuit of the few interactable objects that rarely stick out from the surrounding terrain, and if you don't find all of them, you don't get to progress the story past a certain point. At the end you get a vague map showing you all the individual investigations you haven't completed yet, but absolutely nothing that would help you complete them, which gets very annoying if all that's stopping you is just missing a random hard-to-spot item amidst a naturalistic backdrop. There are also a few sections where you have to arrange flashback events in order but they're easy, brute-forceable, and not even important. Ethan Carter has been described as a "walking simulator" and while that label is most often used derisively, I think this game in particular has earned it. Derisively. The auto-save system earns a negative shoutout for being stupid and useless since 1.) it only saves after you've finished a full investigation and 2.) it only saves that investigation progress, so if you had another investigation 80% done, that progress gets reset if you reload the save. The Redux version (listed separately in Steam for some reason) apparently fixes these issues, but they're the smallest part of this game's worries. The premise is simple. To quote the Steam blurb, [code]You play the game as Paul Prospero, an occult-minded detective who receives a disturbing letter from Ethan Carter. Realizing the boy is in grave danger, Paul arrives at Ethan’s home of Red Creek Valley, where things turn out to be even worse than he imagined. Ethan has vanished in the wake of a brutal murder, which Paul quickly discerns might not be the only local murder worth looking into.[/code] To explain why I found the story so disappointing, I'm going to take you, the Readers, on a tour of how I was thinking about the story as I played it. Full spoilers ahead. [spoiler]The very first investigation already heavily implies that Ethan was an outcast among his family for being big into storytelling, imagination, writing, and generally autistic, and even though he appears young, (9-10 if I had to guess) it's absolutely old enough for him to have taken his life as a result of the ostracization. That was my initial guess for the twist, the "most obvious" one. Throughout the game as you complete investigations (which are deaths of Ethan's family members), the mystery switches to a lovecraftian one. Ethan disturbed some ancient entity he should've left well enough alone, it drove his family mad which tried to murder him, but then ended up just murdering one another while he mostly managed to escape. My second guess was that the lovecraftian elements were just a post-factum justification. There was no eldritch ♥♥♥♥ in the air, there was just a family that believed in them and when push came to shove, they believed it to be true and it enabled them to inflict harm and murder upon one another, catalyzed by Ethan being Different™ adding fuel to the fire of tensions in the family. That was my secondary guess, the "second most obvious" twist. The investigations are split approximately evenly between trying to figure out causes for murders using our detective sixth sense nonsense, and vignettes of supernatural situations that are then revealed to be tied to short stories that Ethan wrote, and which his family ostracized him for.[/spoiler] I'm gonna put a separate spoiler for the ending and the final reveal, in case the premise captivated you somehow and you wanna go through the game yourself to figure out the truth. Or, more recommendedly, just watch a letsplay or some ♥♥♥♥. [spoiler]The final reveal is that you, Paul Prospero, the protagonist, was also a facet of his imagination. It was all just a dream fantasy dreamed up by Ethan while he was dying from smoke inhalation, after his family accidentally set fire to the ruined house he was hiding in. You could argue that there is enough foreshadowing with the Ethan fantasy sequences for the reveal to not be a complete asspull, and I'd even agree, but it still basically makes 80% of what had happened in the game completely moot. The only things that matter are the crumbs of dialogue you get at the end of the fantasy sequences, the ones demonstrating how much Ethan was ostracized and insulted by his family, and everything else is just... idk, vibes. Very Cool and Epic Detective Stuff.™ I'm sorry, but this just isn't a very compelling take on the subject of familial ostracization due to differences nad implied neurodivergence. It's too distracted by its own fantasy, to the point where at the end we know very little about Ethan's family beyond single adjective descriptions of its members. I guess they like dropping f-slurs since it's the 70s, but that's really it. I think the current reveal is kinda worse than even the first obvious twist I had in mind, because the bite is neutered by it being an accident. Your kid died after his brother and uncle called him a ♥♥♥♥♥♥, but don't worry it was just an accident, oepsie woepsie!! We did a familial ♥♥♥♥♥ wucky, you know how it goes!![/spoiler] There's just nothing interesting in here, at the end of the day. And if a videogame has neither engaging gameplay, gorgeous visuals, nor a compelling narrative... why bother? There's just nothing there. Ethan Carter done vanished, oh no. Anyone wanna get ice cream?

Вообще не стоит занимаемых гигабайт места, не говоря уже о паре часов прохождения. Ну вот время такое было: «нарративные» бродилки легко клепались, а там, глядишь, и критикам зайдёт, и народ оценит. Вот и истории исчезновения Итана Картера место в неуважительном перечислении где-то между Gone Home да Dear Esther и Everybody's Gone to the Rapture с The Beginner's Guide. Если хочется чего-то такого — приглашаю в [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/poraimos/recommended/383870]Фаервотч[/url] или к [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/poraimos/recommended/501300]Эдит Финч[/url], если ещё не. Круто, если сей слоп как-то приблизил контору Астронавтов к богоугодному [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/poraimos/recommended/3156770]Витчфаеру[/url], но в большом 2026 лучше просто притвориться, что не было никакого зеванишингофитанкляйн, [b]3/10[/b].

There are many people complimenting the story of this game, but in my opinion, only the plot is surprising and that's it, the buildup and journey should've been the main focus for such a game and not the destination. There are undoubtedly far better story games out there. First of all, you may need a guide, otherwise it is going to take you way longer than it should to solve some cases without excessive backtracking. But if exploration is what you like, then have fun spending at least 10 hours. A fact: only a quarter of the players actually finish the game (can tell by the achievement percentage). Mechanics are intentionally simple, explore and interact, w(+shift)+mouse1. Music and sound design were on point, the deep voice of Paul Prospero, our character, fit the atmosphere. Now, for the visuals, man you can play this game just for that as a walking simulator without solving anything. Take some screenshots, deep breaths, pauses. This is the main reason I recommend this game. During gameplay, I experienced some lags where the game froze for a couple of seconds, then continued normally. Also when I alt+tab it was always laggy. [spoiler] The Home case took me some time to solve, I wandered every inch but it didn't work, had to do it twice, you have to reach every corner of the house precisely to unlock the dialogues. At the end, to find the sniper you need to locate a grenade and throw it from the bridge, then the sniper appears. I did the first part but apparently the game reset and I had to do it all over again, traveling from nearly the end of the map back to the start, then all the way back again. To not face this, finish the game in one run. [/spoiler]

This game was an interesting one, it was a simple and fun to explore walking simulator, right up until the end when the game gained more depth than I was expecting. Quick note: this game comes with the normal version and redux edition, I played the redux one but the time didn't "count" so I had to idle in the normal version for a short time to be able to write this review. If I am being honest, as I was playing this, the story was not gripping me. It wasn’t really my thing, but I resigned myself to just enjoying the game as a walking simulator as that was what I was in the mood for anyway. I just wanted to relax, walk around kind of braindead, looking at stuff. The investigative element was a welcome addition as this felt quite unique, and I actually found it quite fun combing the map as I went along for the “areas of interest” which had the little investigative parts to them. It’s a pretty simple system, but it felt very detective-esque and I think it’s always fun when games pull that off. The text appearing like thoughts, assessing a scene, and having to deduce its chronology was novel to me. This game only really got interesting to me, and became something I enjoyed at the very end. I can’t say too much as it really is something you need to see for yourself but the game realigns itself in another perspective right towards the end which turned this game from something I was feeling [i]fairly[/i] apathetic about, to something I thought about after it ended and intrigued me enough to look at discussions about this game both in the community hub and on Reddit. It did a really good job of making me think back on the game, and rethink different aspects of it to fit the new perspective. In that sense, it was only after I finished the game that I realised the detail and effort the devs put into this game to create this experience. [spoiler] As an example, I noticed in the train station that there was a clock with one side reading 7:00, pristine, the other was broken and burnt and read around 7:05 which foreshadowed the ending. A completely unnecessary detail to add to the game but something that really added to the feeling after the ending that “the signs were there the whole time”.[/spoiler] The map is “open” to an extent, the way in which I combed through the map did still make it feel fairly linear to me, and I was fortunate enough to have found everything as I went along so that I did not need to backtrack for anything. I like to think though that if I did I wouldn’t have minded, as essentially at a certain point if you missed something you are just kind of told where to go and the map isn’t that big to make it a chore. I enjoyed walking around in this game, the music and scenery is nice so I doubt it would have bothered me. There is a surreal twinge to this game, which I loved as I'm just a fan of surrealism in games. I think it makes for a more intriguing experience to think about why things feel a little “off”. You can have a very surreal experience in this game very early on, but it’s something that is missable. [spoiler] If you try to go back through the tunnel your character initially comes from at the start of the game, it lets you get to the end of the tunnel only to wind up exactly where you started.[/spoiler] This immediately made me question the world around me. Overall, I enjoyed this game more than I was expecting to. I think in the end it is a really interesting story that was portrayed in a unique and thoughtful way. You kind of need to pay attention to the details to get the most out of this game, but I think if you’re up for it, it’s a rewarding experience. I would definitely recommend anyone to try this game for themselves, but especially so if you are someone who enjoys psychology or philosophy in any sense. Even those that enjoy thinking about symbolism and what could represent what, I think would really enjoy this, as it seems like a lot of detail and thought went into this game. I don’t like adding loads of spoilers in reviews, but I do also want to share some thoughts about the game and the ending. I really do believe you should just play it so this part will be spoiler tagged so you can just skip over it if you’d rather not know. [spoiler] Going back to how this game makes you realign, I enjoyed the fact that at the end you’re told by Ethan he’d written a story about everyone. His family clearly did not support his creativity in the way of his writing, and you start to see that the stories that you find around the map can be linked to family members. In this sense if you paid attention during the game you can get a better idea of their characters by looking at them from the perspective of Ethan. For example, the story about the woman who loses her beauty after having her child is likely about his mother. That story ends with the child asking a witch to give her beauty back, which the witch does, but the child disappears. This makes you think that perhaps Ethan feels as though his mother would be happier, and get her “beauty” back, if he was gone. Notes and Interactions in the game suggest that she loses her temper with him, so he may feel that she doesn't actually want him, and resents him. A tragic thought for a child to have about their mother. The game lets you put together ideas and context like that for yourself which I found enjoyable. It was also fun to think about how Ethan’s story tied in with reality, it seems as though Ethan created his last story as he suffocated, “the sleeper” in his story is likely actually referencing himself, and it seemed the possessed family did not want to “wake” the sleeper, as that perhaps meant that Ethan would be brought out of his dream world, and be aware of his reality, before slipping away. Ethan was maybe hoping to stay in his dream world in his last moments. The detective, another character of Ethan’s, wakes him at the end, bringing the realisation to Ethan (and to us) but reassuring him and helping him come to terms with things before he passes. It’s an incredibly sad story realistically but it’s told in a really interesting way.[/spoiler] [quote]For more reviews of games with psychological, philosophical or thought-provoking themes, check out my curator page [url= https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38795895/] Psychology, Philosophy & Thought, [/url] where we review games that explore the mind, get you thinking or make you question.[/quote]

Worst fkn game of all time - i do love the visual design in this game - but apart from that - everything else made me wanna KMS - no clues - i had to circle the same place over and over again till i decided to check the walkthrough on how to pass certain sequences - the game would let you jump from the last wall to the parts you have skipped but it wouldnt let you do the reverse once you have completed the sequence you had previously skipped - 1/10 - horrible game - BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - had to complete this game regardless cz my OCD and ADHD wont let me leave things empty handed till i have completed the thing i have started - i procrastinated playing this game for so fkn long - like i remember i played this game for a bit back in 2024 and kept ignoring it till apr 2026- DAMN!!! Wouldnt recommend playing this game btw!