Ether One is a quiet little puzzle/first-person project that has been ticking on for a long while now. It’s almost ready to spread its wings and get into your mind, with a heavy focus on the ability to get through the entire core game without necessarily handholding players or forcing them to complete complex puzzles.
The game features people who have, so it seems, been able to develop the gift to reconstruct lost memories. This is a pretty cool concept ripe for multiple job opportunities, and clearly one of them is getting into the business of mucking around in other people’s heads. Players are set to explore some of these memories, reconstructing them and bringing perhaps closure, perhaps something else.
All the same, Ether One gives off a vibe that feels a little bit chilly and creepy, a little bit mysterious and many parts understated gorgeous. The core game itself—which means playing it through and sticking to the main path—is expected to last at least five hours, while completing every optional puzzle might double that length.
The HUD is minimalistic, a good thing in our opinions, and no guiding hands means no big flashing beacon waypoint saying “COME HERE AND DO THIS. Oh, you want to wander off and do some random sidequest? Fine. I’ll keep FLASHING OVER HERE until you’re done. Hmph.” Completing these optional puzzles though will restore “life changing events” to the minds of the patients you’re diving into and “help the validation of their life.” Rather promising, that. It’s also got Oculus Rift support. We’ll keep an eye out on this.
Ether One is headed to PC on March 25th, 2014.
