You're right, only in that, the former does not a quarter of the latter with even equal success.
Dear Esther is not much more than a 1-hour demo that shows off some hefty artistic chops, but not much else. Amnesia is a game that values interaction; Dear Esther has none. Amnesia is open to exploration, Dear Esther feigns exploratory value with hidden walls and two paths; one that leads somewhere, and one that doesn't.
They both, of course, try for a narrative. And the acting in both is more than passable, and the stories in both are adequately told (albeit, one is a much shorter story).
Of course, Dear Esther tries to be atmospheric, and the results there are good, but have no significant build-up, because there isn't a "game" there to support such a thing.
If this were a 3 dollar game, I would hold it in high regard as a show-piece for Source engine's relevancy today despite a few ingrained hold-ups in the tech itself. As a 10 dollar product, however, it manages little in the way of justifying the cost.
And yeah, people are free to say "Oh, it's not trying to do X" but at what point is it okay to ask that it do try to do something, anything even, to justify its existence? It's a great showcase for Source, and probably (and rightly) should make people pay attention to its authors various strengths, but as a $10 dollar product that Steam champions as "Original," I ask, in what way? In that it has a narrative? Again, Amnesia, again, 100 times better.