Posted on: June 13, 2023

Leovinus87

Games: 215 Reviews: 4

More experience than game, but its grand

The Bischoff Brothers have a nick for writing, so much is clear in this third outing. An outing you can play stand-alone, mind you. The atmosphere is still thick with greedy Machiavellian underhandedness, cold-blooded malice, and degenerate horror into which they place your outwardly innocent and bereaved protagonists. Thankfully (or soulcurshingly) countless personal logs and story developments reveal links of humanity that still tie us together despite the corrosive influence of Cayne Corporation. Revealing how, in the STATIS universe, most everyone is a victim one way or another. We see the game through a lens of solid art direction with an eye for detail, and with accompanying sound design and music that works really well to enhance the atmosphere. Voice acting is also strong and believable. Though if I were to nitpick, which feels unfair to a small studio like this, the 3D characters on a 2D isometric plane does give a slightly Sims like feel. And while the voice acting is strong the timing is sometimes stilted. Likely because actors were not recording in the same booth simultaneously. Small things you easily forgive and forget. As for the games puzzles, they are not difficult. And really, they shouldn't be. Removing the puzzles from Myst would let you end the game within an hour or two by pacing about and reading diaries. The lure there is in the challenge, not the story as such. Bone Totem took me neigh on 16 hours to complete on the other hand. And I spent precious little time on puzzle solving. And that wasn't because I'm brilliant. Far from it. The game helps you along at the slightest hesitation. And despite this it was 16 hours well spent exploring a well crafted, well narrated, story. And as the puzzles are generally well integrated into the world and its story, they form an extension of it. So in conclusion: A not so difficult and frighteningly well told story in the STATIS universe which anyone with a penchant for good stories should play.

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Posted on: June 27, 2023

Smalzstein

Verified owner

Games: 716 Reviews: 5

Masterpiece

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Posted on: July 20, 2023

Rob_Dyball

Verified owner

Games: 50 Reviews: 1

Awesome

This continues in BROTHERHOODS amazingly creative track record, with the same mechanics as previous outings, such as Beautiful Desolation. Incredible story telling, graphics, music, and voice acting. The puzzle challenges (mostly) made sense and could be worked out - a couple of left-fielders there that I would like to discuss over a beer or two. I look forward early to any further developments in this or other stories. I am just glad I am not these guys' therapist though - that is some messed up shit they are dealing with.

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Posted on: January 18, 2024

Feallan

Verified owner

Games: 188 Reviews: 9

They fixed all issues of the first game

Stasis had very weak voice acting, in Bone Totem it's fantastic, for all characters Stasis had a meh plot and a cartoonish villain, Bone Totem is A tier horror, which puts most movies to shame Stasis had amazing art direction, but some technical issues, like the main character standing out like a sore thumb made it look a bit cheap at times. None of that is present here Stasis was a fairly short game, Bone Totem is about twice as long The list would go on and on. The first game is very atmospheric experience and I still recommend playing it, but this one is just improved in every single way. Definitely the best point and click adventure game I've ever played.

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Posted on: February 22, 2024

guiltf33der13

Verified owner

Games: 75 Reviews: 34

Better than Stasis 1, but...

Really 3.5 stars, not 3. Stasis 2 surpasses Stasis 1 in just about every way, horror, sound, storytelling, characters, etc. But it's still not perfect. The biggest and most obvious improvement is you can now ping for interaction points rather than be left to a pixel hunt. The game now also provides a few helpful hints based on the character's thoughts. Unfortunately, the puzzles are almost just as obtuse as ever, and the new hint system isn't always sufficient. Between Act 1 and Act 2, the hints helped, and I only referred to a guide once. However, I initially felt it was on me for not experimenting with items, but in hindsight, I shouldn't have had to guess in the first place. What I was interacting with and trying to acquire was not at all made clear. The hint, "I should look elsewhere" in no way guided me towards looking at the object in the room and using a certain item on it. The problem of obtuse puzzles became glaringly problematic in Act 3, which I am currently stuck on. After running around for three hours with no progress, I've resorted to a guide for a full solution, and I'm quickly finding out I never would have noticed any of this - like a clue in the PDA system when that system had been used exclusively for flavor up to this point. Even with the guide, it's not always clear what I should be looking for. You might think "skill issue," but it's really not. I solved Riven's infamous fire marble puzzle without a guide. I solved Quern without a guide. So, trust me when I say, "this game wants you to use very specific items in specific ways, even when your way is perfectly logical." Why does it matter if I use a grenade or acid to destroy something, or a bag or pump tool to accumulate a leaking fluid? The end result would be the same either way. The game dictates otherwise, and it's a little frustrating.

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