Road Map
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Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 1/10 [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 10 [1000
]
- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: 2-4 hours [Estimated Time to 100%]
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 2
- Missable achievements: None [Chapter Select]
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No difficulty
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: No
Introduction:
Dear Esther: Landmark Edition is a simple game that’s termed as a “walking simulator.” Originally developed as a mod in 2008 for the PC game Half-Life 2, this is a story-driven, first-person narrative where you are an unknown character exploring a small unnamed island off the coast of Scotland. As you roam around the island, you begin to learn about its enigmatic past; discovering clues to the previous inhabitants and learning about a mysterious woman named Esther. Who was she? What happened to her and all the people on this island? These questions and many more will haunt you as you move further into the island until you wonder, has this all been a dream…?
You will need to play through the game twice: once for listening to all of the commentaries and once for triggering all of the voice overs. Nothing is technically missable as there is a chapter select, but since the progression of these two are not tracked in the game, unless you are paying attention to your achievement tracker at the end of each chapter, if you do happen to miss something, chances are you might have to do another playthrough. Refer to those two achievements so you are sure not to miss anything.
The remaining eight achievements are simple enough; complete each of the four chapters, collect something in each chapter, die two different ways and walk 5000 steps.
First Playthrough:
Completing each of the four chapters should take you approximately 20 minutes depending on how much exploring you do. You can choose to play the game with the voice over points or with the directors’ commentaries on. When you've completed this playthrough, you should have earned at least 8 of the 10 achievements.
Play through each chapter, making sure you die two different ways (for “Stac an Armin” and “Seonaidh”). In each chapter, there is one urn to collect. Collect all four for “Tuir.” You will also unlock the four story-related achievements for completing each chapter and either “Mullach an Eilein” or “Seanchaidh,” depending on which narrative you’ve selected.
Second Playthrough:
Whether you picked the commentaries or the voice over points for your first playthrough, pick the other one for this playthrough. You will unlock that achievement when you’ve listened to the final commentary/triggered the last voice over, provided you haven’t missed any previously. Also, early on in the game, you should unlock “Man of the Rocks” for walking 5000 steps.
Mop Up:
If you missed any of the urns, commentaries or voice overs during your two playthroughs, there is a chapter select to help you. Unfortunately, there is no way to track what you might be missing other than checking your achievement tracking percentage at the end of each chapter. If you know where you may have missed something, just play through that chapter again. Otherwise, you will likely have to play through the game again, depending on what you’re missing.
Conclusion:
As boring as walking simulators may seem, you have to admit, this was a pretty easy 1000!
[XBA would like to thank bLaKgRaVy for this Roadmap]
Show completed achievements
Show secret achievements
There are 10 achievements with a total of 1000 points
Donnelley50
Finish Chapter 'The Lighthouse'
This is story related and cannot be missed. This achievement will unlock when you complete the first chapter, ‘The Lighthouse.’
- Jakobson
100
Finish Chapter 'The Buoy'
This is story related and cannot be missed. This achievement will unlock when you complete the second chapter, ‘The Buoy.’
- Esther
150
Finish Chapter 'The Caves'
This is story related and cannot be missed. This achievement will unlock when you complete the third chapter, ‘The Caves.’
- Paul
200
Finish Chapter 'The Beacon'
This is story related and cannot be missed. This achievement will unlock when you complete the final chapter, ‘The Beacon.’
- Tuir
50
Uncover 4 urns
(1)
To unlock this achievement, you must find four urns in the game, one in each chapter. They are difficult to find as they are usually found near a series of rocks and blend into the environment. To consider an urn found, look at it until the ashes are scattered (you can zoom in to look at it but it is not required).
- Chapter 1, ‘The Lighthouse’ - At the end of the chapter, you will come to a Stonehenge-type rock formation. From the center pillar, turn right and walk outside the formation and among the rocks you will find it buried in the sand.
- Chapter 2, ‘The Buoy’ - When coming down from the house on top of the big hill (along the narrow cliff with the water on your right), you will come to a set of stone steps. Instead of turning right to walk down them, turn left and walk over the rocks and grass which leads you to another overgrown path that leads to the water’s edge. Among the rocks along this edge is the second urn.
- Chapter 3, ‘The Caves’ - After you jump into the well, emerge from the water and follow the path back up to the top. Walk around the well’s edge and into a confined path with glowing mushrooms and walls. You will emerge in a cavern with a stone bridge in front of you. Cross the bridge and instead of turning left to continue on, turn right and walk down the incline. Before you get to the water’s edge, the urn will at the base of the left wall buried in the sand.
- Chapter 4, ‘The Beacon’- Near the beginning of the chapter, you will eventually be walking along the water’s edge (to your left). On your right will be areas sectioned off by very short wooden barriers, forming rows. If you look above them, in the center of these rows you will see a glowing candle on the path above. The last urn is in the row to the immediate left of this candle just before you reach the rocks.
Once you have collected all four urns, the achievement will unlock. If you are having any trouble finding any of the urns, refer to the video below.
Thanks to VidGamiacUnlocked for the video:
- Mullach an Eilein
150
Trigger all directors' commentary
(2)
To unlock this achievement, you need to trigger all 59 directors’ commentaries in the game. Start a new game and on the chapter select screen, check the box next to ‘Directors’ Commentary.’ Then select the first chapter, ‘The Lighthouse.’
The commentaries look like orange pieces of paper along your path. When you trigger one, it will turn light blue, and when the commentary ends it will turn white. All you need to do to trigger these is walk through them and you will hear commentary about the games’ development. Most of these are very noticeable due to that they stand out against the environment. Around 85% of these are along the path you walk but some you must search for (and by search, I mean walking a short distance along an alternate path that generally leads to nowhere).
While your progress is tracked with the achievement tracker, individual commentaries are not tracked, so if you happen to miss one (or more), there will really be no way to know which one it is. That is why it is recommended that before you complete each chapter to check your achievement tracker to make sure you have a certain percentage before continuing. It’s really the only way to ensure you have triggered them all in a chapter.
- Chapter 1, ‘The Lighthouse’: 15 commentaries, 25% at the end of the chapter
- Chapter 2, ‘The Buoy’: 14 commentaries, 49% at the end of the chapter
- Chapter 3, ‘The Caves’: 14 commentaries, 72% at the end of the chapter
- Chapter 4, ‘The Beacon’: 16 commentaries, 100% at the end of the chapter
NOTE: At the end of the game when you reach the top of the mountain and walk through the gate, this will trigger one last commentary that does not count for the achievement.
Once you have triggered all 59 commentaries, the achievement will unlock. If you are having any trouble finding any of them, refer to the video below.
Thanks to VidGamiacUnlocked for the video:
- Seanchaidh
150
Trigger all voice over points
To unlock this achievement, you need to trigger all 35 voice over points in the game. Start a new game and on the chapter select screen, uncheck the box next to ‘Directors’ Commentary.’ Then select the first chapter, ‘The Lighthouse.’
Unlike the directors’ commentaries, there is no on-screen icon or image telling you where the voice overs are. They are triggered by walking past a preset location in the game. Most of these you will get through your natural playthrough, but like the commentaries, you must deviate from your path to trigger them all.
While your progress is tracked with the achievement tracker, individual voice overs are not tracked, so if you happen to miss one (or more), there will really be no way to know which one it is. That is why it is recommended that before you complete each chapter to check your achievement tracker to make sure you have a certain percentage before continuing. It’s really the only way to ensure you have triggered them all in a chapter.
- Chapter 1, ‘The Lighthouse’: 10 voice overs, 29% at the end of the chapter
- Chapter 2, ‘The Buoy’: 11 voice overs, 61% at the end of the chapter
- Chapter 3, ‘The Caves’: 4 voice overs, 70% at the end of the chapter
- Chapter 4, ‘The Beacon’: 10 voice overs, 100% at the end of the chapter
NOTE: At the end of the game when you reach the top of the mountain and walk through the gate, this will trigger one last voice over that does not count for the achievement.
Once you have triggered all 35 voice overs, the achievement will unlock. If you are having any trouble finding any of them, refer to the video below.
Thanks to rus199410 for the video:
- Man of the Rocks
50
Walk 5000 steps
As all of your stats carry over through multiple playthroughs, even if you start a new game, this is guaranteed to unlock if you’re completing two playthroughs of the game (one for directors’ commentaries [“Mullach an Eilein”] and the other for voice over points [“Seanchaidh”]).
- Seonaidh
50
Drown Once
This achievement can be unlocked right at the beginning of the game. From where you start (looking up the walkway to the house), turn around and just walk into the water. After about twenty seconds of not moving, you will drown and the achievement will unlock.
- Stac an Armin
50
Die from falling off a cliff once
There are many places in the game to unlock this achievement. Your first opportunity will be early on in the first chapter, ‘The Lighthouse.’
After you climb the stone stairs from the beach, you will be walking along a trail with a drop off on the left. Ahead of you in the distance will be a hill with two distinct white formations in the rock. A fence will be in place on your left side so you don’t fall off. As you are walking along, you will eventually see a break in the fence. All you need to do is walk off the cliff and fall to the rocks below. When you respawn, the achievement will unlock.
Another opportunity takes place in the second chapter, ‘The Buoy.’
After you pass the shipwrecks on the coast, continue along the path that takes you up the hill. As you approach the top of the hill, there are two paths to take here, a lower and an upper. Take the lower path and you will pass a giant sinkhole to your right. There is both a directors’ commentary and a voice over point at this location, so if you are going for both of those achievements, you can’t miss this. Just step into the sinkhole to unlock the achievement.
NOTE: If you somehow bypass this and are making your way up another hill with a house at the top, you’ve gone too far.
