I totally agree what robedits and Avalivo say about this game.

It took me 42 hours to complete the game without any use of walkthrough. Maybe I should have played it in shorter sessions, I often figured out the solution during break. But anyone finishing this game under 20 hours can consider her/him smart. The area to inspect is huge considering a vital item lie in any drawer or under any hat, and there are many of them.

What makes it even more difficult is that you don't have a clear set of goals, you have to figure out what your tasks are to complete each area and then fulfill them. But during the game I never felt afraid of totally lusing the clue. This game really tests your memory and offers use for paper and pen, you never know when you might need that note.

I would recommend this game for persistent gamers only. The more you give your time to this game and think by yourself, the more you get. I simply pity those who call this great game a walking simulator, they have totally missed everything what's great in it.

Now it's time for some sim-racing before next adventure.

Timo

I played Ether One last year. I agree completely, it was a really great experience! The scenery was beautiful and full of movement. The narration was exceptional. All of this with such a reasonable price. I went back and replayed it several times, trying different things and looking at all the scenery.

OOPS...
Ether is not the game that I played ... my mistake... sorry.

So what was this game you played?

Sounds a bit like Dear Esther to me.

Or it could have been a few others -- Montegue's Mount, or Miasmata, or Vanishing of Ethan Carter, or that other one that I forgot the name of that was more of a horror game and took place outdoors at night. They seem to have formed a new subgenre -- 1st person point-of-view, realtime 3D FPS-type movement, "realistic" graphics and animations, few if any puzzles, mostly uncovering the story through exploration.

There's no narration in Miasmata, though (it's a great game!). Dear Esther occurred to me partly due to the similarity between "Esther" and "Ether".

do you use the mouse or keyboard to move?

I believe you use the keyboard for movement.

Gamergate has Ether One on for $5.00. I do like the graphics but after reading the previous posts not sure if it's for me. My memory is so bad and I do not like to use the keyboard for movement. So must ponder this a bit.
Terri

Terri, you can use a gamepad for all the movement controls and functions in Ether One if you get sore fingers using WASD controls. I hate WASD controls but luckily many newer games also have gamepad support. Paper and pen are 'mandotory' when playing this great game. Making notes saves you the trouble of running back and forth all the time. For me the biggest challenge was remembering the industry area plan, I got lost there all the time. Ether one was one of the hardest games I have ever played, but it was worth every hour, or dozens of them to be accurate. I recommend it warmly!

Timo

Hi Timo. I had to smile when I realized you were the person posting....you've forgotten, I have a problem with the gamepad. Actually I probably need to get a new one. Mine is from 2008, a Philips, and never did learn how to use it back then either. lol
I looked at a youtube video for a few minutes and decided it wasn't for me. It looked like a lot of reading and does it always have the "directions" in the middle of the screen? That I didn't care for if so. Let me hear from you.

Thanks,
Terri

Hi Terri,

no, I did not forget, I was just too optimistic!

You've got a personal message waiting...

Timo

Timo. I only tried to use it once with Tale of Two Brothers, then got side tracked as I so often do. I will get back to it but it may be a while.
Thanks,
Terri