When comparing Ether One vs Gone Home, the Slant community recommends Gone Home for most people. In the question“What are the best Walking Simulator games on Steam?” Gone Home is ranked 9th while Ether One is ranked 15th. The most important reason people chose Gone Home is:
Through interacting with objects in the environment of the game (a house) one is able to learn piecemeal the story that the game is set out to tell.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Fragmented story the player must figure out
The way the story is told matches it's overarching plot of dementia, so that the story is giving in pieces and not in order requiring the user to make the investment to piece it all together and come to their conclusion.
Pro Deeply layered
While there is little in the way of interaction, what is presented to the player is a deeply layered town with many areas to explore. It gives a sense of "realness" that makes for an experience much in the way art or music does, sometimes visceral sometimes eliciting past memories.
Pro Deep environmental storytelling
Through interacting with objects in the environment of the game (a house) one is able to learn piecemeal the story that the game is set out to tell.
Pro Interesting side stories
Besides the main story there are several side stories in the game that center around the rest of the people who live in the house. Through interacting with objects in the house one learns of the surrounding circumstances of those that live there.
Cons
Con Side quests are relatively hidden from the player
For those that go into the game blind there is little in the way of explanation that there are side quests hidden in the game that relate to certain objs=ects as one explores. This means that many players will miss a large portion of the title.
Con Details are sometimes off
The objects and dialog aren't consistent for things such as the mom's place of employment.
Con Weak voice acting
While most of the voice acting is adequate there are many moments that stick out as poorly done and lessens the experience of the game.