I purchased EGTTR during the Steam Summer Sale, it peaked my interest when I saw that it came out for PS4 . I was waiting for the right price to take the plunge and at $10 I thought was fair.
Like Dear Esther, the first title I played from developers The Chinese Room, EGTTR is a 'walking simulator' with minor puzzle elements. If you are looking for deep, challenging experience, than this will disappoint you. The walking portion of this experience is at a snail's pace. If you are playing with a controller especially it'll either have you reaching for duct tape to secure the analog stick forward, or the alt+f4 shortcut. If you are familiar with Cheat Engine, I would recommend upping the speed, because the vanilla movement speed really makes the game feel like running through mud. I also felt that the camera height was very low, I felt like I had the perspective of a child. Movement aside, the save/checkpoint system is awful, at least the game is kind enough to tell you when your last game save was so you can decide whether to play on or hit quit. I hoped for more interaction with objects in the world, but that felt very limited.
It is based in the 1980s as you explore a small English village whose inhabitants have disappeared. There are more or less 6 chapters in the game and once the world loads, it 'feels' like you can go anywhere between those chapters. The story is a bit obtuse, but it becomes more clear towards the latter half.
Beautifully lit, textured and composited with the help of CryEngine. The entire world feels so familiar and nostalgic. I played this at 4K locked at 30fps, since there are no twitch reactions required, and it handled that well. You'll see the same handful of car models, books, magazines and enormous tennis balls.. but that's all minor stuff you wouldn't really notice unless you focus on it. The PBR shaders really make the world look so realistic and the weather effects really look fantastic. I noticed some areas appeared to not have any ambient occlusion, but again, minor issue.
Wonderful audio queues and voice acting. The soundtrack is so melancholy and fitting for this lonely experience. Sound effects keep you on your toes as well, walking through a forest or church alone is always creepy in game or in real life.
For the right price and with a Cheat Engine mod to increase the walking speed, I can recommend this experience as a fan of 'walking simulators'. They are like interactive audio books for me, and as someone who loves taking screen shots of beautiful worlds too, it nails those two things for me personally. If you are uncomfortable with using Cheat Engine to increase the speed and looking for a challenge, this experience is not for you. The extremely slow pace and awful checkpoint system definitely is a deal breaker if you're just not into the genre.