STASIS

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.

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).

First of all, if you do not like isometric games, this may not be for you. However, if you like a game full of suspense and narrative, I would definitely play this game (even if you are not a fan of isometric). This by far the best I have played in a long time. The background story, the plot twists, the atmosphere, it is just very, very good. This is what a Lovecraft story would have been like, if H.P. had written science fiction.

Stasis is the sort of game for those of us who've been longing for a dark sci-fi horror game in the vein of Alien, Event Horizon, or Sunshine, and can't contain their itch anymore. The game builds on those experiences, and aspects of somewhat similar games like Dead Space and System Shock, to create an engrossing and dark atmosphere in the depths of space amid bio-genetic engineering gone horribly awry. John is a very likable protagonist, and a believable one as well, in his quest to find his missing wife and daughter, no matter what twists and turns the ship's inhabitants - alien AND human - throw at him. The control interface is very modern and streamlined, as well as being minimalists for maximum atmospheric impact and immersion. You won't be inundated by a smorgasburg of items, and most puzzle scenarios are challenging-but-fair. Although the game's narrative is quite linear and there's only one possible ending, the journey towards reaching that ending is very filling and kinetic, constantly moving the game forward and keeping the plot fresh. Visually the game is very well done, although sometimes the isometric view can make locating certain items more difficult than need be. The level of detail is impeccable, however, and more than makes up for this. Sound design is fantastic, especially with headphones on, and the dialog and PDA entries are well-written, grammatically sound and exuding lots of character. The only possible real disappointments are (depending on how you look at them) three specific aspects of the third act, including the ending. Again, this comes down to how you interpret events in the story, and as such rewards players who actually take their time to lay inside the lore and narrative the story has set forward for them, rather than trying to speedrun wholesale. For that reason I'd definitely suggest avoiding a particular Youtube video and Steam thread until *AFTER* finishing the game of your own accord. Highly recommended.

This game reminds me so so much of sanatarium. The style, the graphics even the story (sci-fy) definately recommend you playing it especially if you liked sanitarium. Theres lots of blood every scene every where you go theres no escaping it so those of you with blood phobia dont play. great atmosphere music not offputting or overpowering just right- fits the style-horror. Theres alot to read pda's " personal data records" of dead bodies scattered about. You always know what to do next even though theres no to do list so to speak. theres no hot spots to help you but strangely enough you dont seem to need them in this game even though there are things to pick up and/or interact with. All puzzles are totally logical and if you try hard to think what would you do if you were REALLY there then you will get through each scene. my only wish was that the graphics were better and at a closer range