The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Ce jeu nous prévient dès le départ : il ne nous dira rien. De fait, si vous attendez des indices, de l'aide, des explications ou même une simple carte, vous n'en aurez pas. C'est la particularité de ce jeu que j'ai trouvé agréable à parcourir. Il vous faut tout chercher vous-même, tout deviner. Ainsi, vous allez vous arracher les cheveux, revenir sur vos pas, tenter de comprendre la mécanique. Une fois celle-ci comprise, tout devient plus simple et le jeu peut sans doute se faire assez rapidement. Encore faut-il y penser ! Nous sommes dès le début plongés dans un univers magnifique qui n'a aucun sens. C'est à nous de remettre les morceaux plus ou moins dans l'ordre pour tenter de comprendre où est Ethan et le retrouver. La seule chose qu'on sait, c'est qu'il a disparu et que nous sommes à sa recherche. Très vite, on comprend que quelque chose de terrible s'est produit au sein même de la famille. Crime ? Possession ? Magie ? C'est au joueur de se faire ses propres conclusions et d'avancer dans l'histoire. L'ambiance est prenante, gore sans être terrifiante (a part le passage dans la mine qui m'a tendu comme un arc) et on peut se promener dans ce paysage "golden hour" sans trop de crainte. Le jeu ne souffre d'aucun bug, ni d'affichage ni de technique, ce qui est assez rare pour être souligné. Bref, j'ai apprécié le jeu, j'ai apprécié l'intrigue, j'ai apprécié son apparente simplicité, j'ai apprécié l'ambiance sonore et visuelle. En fait, la seule chose que je n'ai pas aimé, c'est la fin. Je ne l'ai pas trouvé crédible vu tout ce qu'on a vu avant. En partie, du moins. Ou bien je n'ai pas tout compris. Quoi qu'il en soit je l'ai trouvé un peu "faible" par rapport au reste du jeu. Mise a part cette révélation finale un peu décevante à mon goût, TOUT est super. J'ai passé un excellent moment. Je recommande !

In one hour of my playthrough i managed to: - be obducted by alien spaceship after chasing an astronaut in a forest - find out about some an evil demon - listen to the most cliche pseudophilosophical monologue I've ever heard - skip tutorial, which was so hidden it almost seemed like the developers didn't want me to understand the mechanics The plot didn't grab my interest at all, so I decided to drop it. I really wish it was a more linear walking simulator, because the world is utterly stunning. Unfortunately, The Astronauts decided to add annoying "detective mode" and generic enviormental puzzles. I think it's a game "you're supposed to like" as a open-minded player, but in reality it falls short when compared to great walking simulators such as Dear Esther, Hellblade, or even games as simple as Shelter. Steam didn't let me review the Redux version, since my very short playtime.

TL;DR: Stunning visuals and atmosphere. Thin, trivial story, very easy puzzles, laughable ending. Stunning visuals and a great atmosphere created by the developers , and… that’s pretty much it. The fact that the game doesn’t “hold your hand” is intriguing at first, but you soon realize it doesn’t mean much. The puzzles are very easy (with maybe one or two exceptions). Gameplay mostly revolves around visiting locations, solving clues by putting them in chronological order (very very low complexity level), and finding items usually placed somewhat randomly around the environment. As for the story, I’d call it a very trivial, American-style narrative. The main character’s thoughts at the beginning briefly touch on potentially interesting themes, but nothing is explored in any depth(any!). The story remains extremely thin, and the ending is laughable ( perhaps acceptable for middle-school teenagers). Music: I eventually had to turn it off and found the game a bit more immersive without it. If you’re looking for similar titles with a much deeper and better-integrated narrative, I’d recommend SOMA, Painscreek Killing, Routine or Dear Esther instead.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a short walking sim set in the beautiful countryside of...somewhere. As a detective, you search for young Ethan Carter and try to piece together what happened to his family. The game is very short - I played the Redux version, which Steam did not let me review for some reason, so I am leaving the review here. It took me about 3 hours to finish, and that is with a bit more exploration and also being AFK for a short time, so it may even be a bit shorter for some. The game is beautiful, has a nice soundtrack and good atmospheric sound effects, though some of them are a bit buggy and cut off rapidly when you look in certain directions. The game also had a few other bugs I experienced, but nothing too major or detracting from the experience. I will say that, while TVoEC is, at it's core, a walking sim, there are a few puzzles, some of which optional, that range from nice to annoying, but they can all be solved rather quickly and are just there to mix up the gameplay a bit. The story was decent and the ending, while a bit unexpected, makes sense and ties up the story neatly. I had a good time with TVoEC overall, but I thought it was a bit short and flat, with the gameplay being too infrequent and "random". Sure, it's a walking sim at it's core, but the moment you introduce some sort of gameplay into a walking sim that goes beyond, well, walking and looking at stuff / reading notes, it should be somewhat engaging, which I think TVoEC slightly misses the mark on. My biggest complaint, though, is the sound mixing in this game. With the default settings, voices are WAY too quiet, environmental sounds are jumpscare-level loud and the music, while nice, blares into your ears. It takes a bit of fiddling to get everything to a good level, but the default should be mixed well enough in advance and not be left up to the player. Overall, though, you get what you expect - a short, nice romp through a beautiful environment with good music and a decent story, interrupted by some okay puzzles and some sound issues and bugs. Still a good recommendation, but wait for a sale.

I played it back in 2016, Very enticing story and beautiful atomsphere and graphics. great game to get.

Beautiful graphics and great open game-flow, puzzles well-constructed, great creepy feel to it all..enjoying it immensely thus far.

I played for several hours but honestly felt like I made zero progress. The game just keeps throwing you into the same repetitive loop without giving even the smallest hint about what to do next. I explored the roads, checked every house, looked around carefully… but nothing ever seemed to push the game forward. At some point I completely lost the motivation and patience to continue. If I wanted to follow a full walkthrough on YouTube, I would’ve done that already. I just needed a tiny clue from the game itself. Also, I don’t know if it’s just me, but the game occasionally stutters, which slightly hurts the experience. The only thing I genuinely enjoyed was the atmosphere/graphics. Overall a 2/10.

I completed the Redux version of the game: Pretty amazing detective story with spooky vibes that doesn't hold your hand.