When comparing Ether One vs The Novelist, the Slant community recommends Ether One for most people. In the question“What are the best Exploration games on Steam?” Ether One is ranked 18th while The Novelist is ranked 24th. The most important reason people chose Ether One is:
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.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
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 Longevity of gameplay though different choices
There are many different outcomes to the game, all of which can be experienced through multiple playthroughs. this makes for an extension of the time spent in the game and in so makes the game last a lot longer than a linear storied game.
Pro Difficult storytelling that can hit home
The story of the game involves a family with a learning disabled son and the trials and tribulations that occur. The father is a writer who is trying to concentrate on his newest novel, his greatest work and is torn on how to advance his career while maintaining his family. The player will choose from different options on how to balance this family life, making difficult choices that will have differing effects on the game and story. It is through these tough choices that the player will experience feeling that may have an impact on their mood and maybe even life.
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 Endings seem to obvious
The different endings in the game feel a bit too neat, to obvious for the story that is played through, something more gritty or less conclusionary would have been more fitting.