V is for... The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter

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Game Information

Developer:	The Astronauts	Date Started:	11/08/2025
Platform:	Epic	Fresh Play / Continuation:	Fresh Play
Genre:	Adventure	Time Played:	2.5hrs
Theme:	Detective / Mystery	Date Finished:	13/08/2025
Difficulty Rating:	Confusing but not Difficult	Recommendation:	Yes

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When I selected this game, I had actually mistaken it for another one. I had remembered seeing some video clips of what I thought was this game, only to discover that what I was remembering was What Remains of Edith Finch. Now, it doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy this game. If anything, I appreciated this one more, simply because I knew next to nothing about it.

Now, while The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a walking-sim, I would not recommend this game to everyone. Not because it's a bad game. My main reason would be that there are scenes that might not be for everyone.

Because I had gotten the two games mixed up, I was pretty much in the dark about what the story was about this game. Moreover, the more I played, the more confused I got. I could tell there was a mystery that needed solving, but for the most part, it raised more questions than provided answers. Still, with each section I completed, I became more and more intrigued by what was developing. By the end of it, while it was not the direction I thought it would go, I can safely say that I was pleased with the end result.

The game is very easy to play. There are no dangers that will put you in a game-over state. Even the one section that involves jump scares (and I swear that was low because you don't see anyone else until this bloody section!) doesn't kill you. It merely returns you to an entrance. But! You are thrown into the deep end. When I started playing, I was confused about what I needed to do. There was no tutorial and no explanation of the mechanics. I stumbled across the first few interactable things, and it was only after I pieced some things together that I understood what I needed to do. Not so much how it relates to the whole story. That would come much, much later.

One thing that really stood out was the detail in the landscape. A lot of the time, I could happily stop and appreciate what they created. You could see that a lot of care was given to the surroundings.

This was further enhanced by the natural sounds going on around you. The birds, the crunch of leaves, the water from the dam. Most of the time, the audio was there to complement the surroundings. There was rarely any audio that was used for puzzles or gameplay mechanics. The only one I could think of was during the jump scare section, but I won't spoil it. The voice acting wasn't bad either. The dialog and delivery were quite good, even if I was still trying to wrap my head around what was happening.

Because the game isn't that hard, it didn't take me long to beat it. None of the puzzles is complicated, and the solutions are generally close at hand or easily solved. The only thing difficult is that you might not immediately know what you are doing, and you lose time trying to figure it out. But thankfully, you never lock yourself out of areas. In fact, if you missed something, you would need to return to it at some point to complete it to get the ending.

Now, if you do miss something, this is probably where things could get tedious, especially if you have to go all the way to the beginning. Or, things could get frustrating as you search through what appears to be a wide area for things to interact with. And because at first you don't know what you are looking for, you might miss things. But in truth, whenever you reach an area - generally next to a landmark - all the things you need to find to interact with are close by. You just need to search without straying too far and use the visions to help track down elusive items.

A little confession I must make is that I didn't actually buy this game. I believe I picked it up during one of Epic's weekly free game grabs. The reason I point this out is that while I did enjoy the game, I hesitate a little to recommend it at full price. It's a good game, but because I finished quickly, I would have probably been annoyed at the cost. This is why I would say it would be better to get it during a sale.

Other than that, I would say it was time well spent on the game. Sadly, I would not be able to play the game twice. Not because it's bad, but because the ending is quite particular, and as I would know what is coming, I would very likely tune out soon after starting and move to something else. But maybe when my daughter is older, it will be something she can enjoy.

For my next game in the list, I could technically go with What Remains of Edith Finch because I do have that game. However, I did have War for the Overworld already set aside, and I have put that title off for a long while.