The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

From the very first moments, it’s hard not to admire the stunning environments and the eerie, unsettling atmosphere. Red Creek Valley is easily one of the most visually striking worlds I’ve explored in a game. Unfortunately, that’s where most of the praise ends for me. You’re dropped into a large map filled with side paths and dead ends, with very little guidance on where to go or what to do next. Finding objectives often feels needlessly confusing, turning much of the experience into an unintentional walking simulator. A simple compass or clearer direction system would have gone a long way. More than once, figuring out how to progress felt like searching for a needle in a haystack, and I eventually had to rely on YouTube walkthroughs just to finish the game. I genuinely don’t know how someone is meant to complete it without outside help. The story is certainly unique, but uniqueness alone doesn’t make it compelling. It delivers a serviceable emotional arc, but nothing particularly memorable or impactful. In that sense, it reminded me a lot of Murdered Soul Suspect a game with interesting ideas and atmosphere that ultimately settles into mediocrity. I wish I had more positives to point out, but aside from the visuals, the soundtrack was the only other element that stood out in a good way. Overall, I’d only recommend this to very patient players with plenty of free time who are willing to push through confusion in exchange for atmosphere.

This game is among one of the first games I ever bought on my steam account close to over 10 years ago soon. I never ended up touching the game until 2026! The date of writing this review.
I am actually very happy I didnt end up playing it earlier as I do think having grown up and developed with life and experiences in real life really helped me truly appreciate this masterpiece.
Absolutely fantastic story and ways of hinting at different things. Bravo!
The game looks fantastic even in todays standards as of 2026.
REALLY thought provoking puzzles with some great difficulty sometimes. Made me shout out in glee when I figured out the solutions.
I REALLY like how it doesn't hold your hand at all which can get annoying after crossing the map a few times but thats about it in my experience.
The extremely subtle insinuations of detail in the story REALLY played with my mind about theories throughtout the whole game! The Achievements you slowly unlock along the way were nice little crumbs of detail too.
Puzzling together the storyline and in what order the murders happened in the bigger picture really got me invested in the story. The actual solving of the individual murders and piecing together the order of things puzzles were really satisfying to do.
Regarding the ending and the reveal, really moved me and brought a tear to my eye. Fantastic storytelling, VERY rare to find gems like this game. A Really great thought provoking expereince regarding (SPOILERS!!! Ahead) Escapism and how how it's used to give our own Life and eventual death meaning, and maybe making these stories is a way of saving ourselves or hide from a reality we cannot change or refuse to accept. Beautiful Game.

You know, I played this game last in 2014, and every time I'm reminded of it... The story is burned into my brain, and the emotions I feel...
It's a good game, but heavy.

Interesting mytery solving game with a really depressing story

I really liked it.
The atmosphere especially carried the experience (I recommend playing in the evening around sunset, btw).
And the ending was quite interesting too. I kind of expected it to go that way, but it didn’t make it any less enjoyable :)

Replayed this as a speedrun straight after completing the Redux version to extend the experience. Awesome game. See my Redux review for further thoughts

Good game, cozy, great to finish in 1 sitting, the story was interesting and unique, the narrator was great, visuals were fantastic, the puzzles were kinda iffy, but all in all a great experience packaged into a 4hr estimated runtime.