Posted on: September 2, 2018

mazkirov.872

Games: 227 Reviews: 3

Wholly recommended

The game has a very high production value, but in selected instances the quality of the artwork can appear outdated (like a PS2 era 3d model in a AAA game). It does not, however, subtract from the experience, and it's limited to one or two "first person" screens: the bulk of the game is made up of very fine isometric screens (think of Sanitarium). While the game looks stunning, because of the far-off camera sometimes it has problems with conveyance, altought puzzle difficulty keeps this in mind, except in two occasions, where it wasn't very clear that certains object were supposed to be interactable. The writing of the game is consistent, and conveys the grim and gory atmosphere very well. Unfortunately, a few spokens line sound like they were recorded without telling the actor what the context was going to be. Again, this is rare, and far away from the more emotionally charged moments, where the voice acting does a very good job. The theme of the game is also pretty rare (medical/gory sci-fi horror), and one that usually gets horribly mangled in its execution. Instead, the game is consistently creepy and unsettling, has some genuinely creepy moments, and while the core of the story is not the most original, it gets developed very competently. If you're in the mood for creepy gory horror, this game is for you.

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Posted on: August 27, 2017

MotherKojiro

Verified owner

Games: 481 Reviews: 196

Great Sci-Fi Horror

Imagine waking up by falling out of a stasis pod on what seems to be a derelict spaceship with several broken ribs, among other injuries. This is not even your ship. You have NO idea how you got there. This is a GREAT way to start off a Sci-Fi Horror game, and it continues to deliver with a great mix of jump scares and grotesque psychological horror. The non-stop psychological brain-punches help to keep you disoriented, so you'll take a bit longer than normal just to come to grips with what's actually going on, which definitely works in its favor. The dark, dismal, sometimes disgusting atmosphere of the ship does a good job of keeping you on edge, as do the things that you have to see and do. In fact, sometimes, it's the things that you don't see that creep into your mind the most. A lot of the game's backstory is told through journal entries in abandoned PDAs, which is interesting, because now that smartphones are a thing (and certainly were in 2015), I don't even know if they make PDAs anymore. Of course, we went from making phone calls to sending text messages as our primary means of long-distance communication, so maybe the developers were poking fun at weird voluntary backslides in technology. The only glaring flaw is about half of the puzzle selection. You have some puzzles that are logical, satisfying and interesting, but there are more than enough that are just infuriatingly off-the-wall. Sometimes, it's not even that you don't know the solution; it's more that you don't know how the game wants you to go about the solution. Some of the things that the game thinks to be a very logical conclusion are reckless, or downright dangerous; stuff that wouldn't even work in a Tom & Jerry cartoon. I'd still recommend Stasis, though; it's a great example of Sci-Fi Horror done right, and they've built a very interesting world that would be enough for me to buy a sequel on that merit alone.

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Posted on: September 5, 2025

Seapig173

Verified owner

Games: 94 Reviews: 1

Wasted Potential

Great seed of an idea that isn't fully realized. Loved the atmosphere and the environments but the game's puzzles often become frustratingly obtuse. (In one case, you can't get out of a room until you walk around enough to trigger a body to randomly fall from the ceiling to get the item you need to get out.) Some good moments of body horror, but the 'monsters' aren't actually dealt with in th end. Additionally, the ending is just depressing and nonsensical. Could have been an outstanding sci-fi horror game with a little more effort on the writing.

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Posted on: May 2, 2019

bambuko

Verified owner

Games: 227 Reviews: 3

Unique

This is a gem, work of art. I love the visual style, minimalistic UI, climatic music, (nearly) no timed events, (nearly) no jump scares, attention to detail (unique log designs, procedural lightening, the whole surgery scene). On the flip side storyline has been delivered pretty heavy handed, some of the riddles have not been thought through (throw your best guess at the wall until it sticks, that is try every item with every interactive element of the environment), music is pretty underwhelming (especially for Mark Morgan). Lack of polish is clearly visible (every one of the log entries scattered around the ship is written in similar manner, voice acting is mediocre), but that's to be expected, since the game has been created by one man army ;) Isometric 2D point and click horror (as if that was a genre) done right. Let's see what Beautiful Desolation brings.

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Posted on: April 18, 2023

CarChris

Verified owner

Games: 171 Reviews: 86

Has its intense moments.

I played the game after Cayne. There is heavy atmosphere (strange for an adventure game!) and there are times when death is possible, so think carefully and act accordingly. Really interesting story as it progresses, while you try to find out how to escape the place and you read texts in PDAs, which both describe the past, and have important information to help you proceed further. Though the story is great, unfortunately it isn’t an actual sequel of Cayne, as it takes place many years afterwards. I would like to know what happened to Hadley. I had read about excessive texts in the game. There are many PDAs scattered for you to read but: A) they aren’t placed so densely (only 1-3 in an area), and B) each PDA doesn’t contain that much text. So, in total, you aren’t “drowned” in text, as is the case in some certain isometric RPG games that suffocate you with endless useless descriptions. Personally, I considered the texts to be interesting and I wanted to learn the staff’s little stories before all of this happened. Some complex riddles. Apart from placing items where you have to, you will also need to combine items in your inventory and also press the right buttons in terminals. Again (as in Cayne) no button to show hotspots, but there aren’t that many interactable items on each screen. There are a few cases of pixel-hunting though, and I had checked a walkthrough a few times due to this matter. In the game there are several moments where the heart beats a little faster. I give extra congratulations to the devs for the surgery sequence. Very intense moment. I had stopped playing for the day after that scene and continued on the next day… BUT NOT congratulations about another scene near the end… I was shocked and felt very sad. Odd thing: No options in the main menu! Sound, Graphics, etc., nothing! I’m certainly looking forward to the next in the series (Bone Totem).

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