This is a wonderful oldschool adventure game. It has its share of pixelhunting and somewhat illogical puzzles but for some reason in this particular Book of Unwritten Tales this is charming and not annoying. Buy this game. Play this game. So that there can be more like it and the story could go on!
I'm not sure anyone will read my late review, but I'll file it anyway because I'm disturbed and disappointed by one particular scene in Stasis that spoilde the whole experience for me. The game is basically "Sanitarium in space". Sanitarium is an old quest game with isometric view about a guy who wakes up in an asylum having amnesia. You take it into a giant spaceship (System Shock/ Deadspace style) and you get Stasis. You can check yourself; Sanitarium is here on GOG as well https://www.gog.com/game/sanitarium I enjoyed the game and was planning to write a review for 4 stars at keast but then near the end of the game I got a very unpleasant scene which made me change my mind. I’ll just say that it involves a small child. You know Stasis is a horror game and all that, but as a loving father of two beautiful girls and a man who saw some nasty things in life I sincerely believe that there are some borders there which are not to be crossed. I love games and play them to be thrilled, fascinated, a little sad, but NOT to be sick to my core. I also feel that this scene was a cheap sucker punch from game creators and I won’t buy their games so easy in the future. It’s just a sign of bad shape story-writing in my opinion So if you’re reading this and you ARE a parent listen to my advice do your research before you buy this one, you might feel robbed of several hours of your life in the end just like I did.
I’ve been waiting for the game like this ever since Fallout 2 was released back 16 years ago. I’m a 30ty years old gamer but this game gives me the same incredible emotions I felt back when I was 16. Combat system – the best I ever saw in fantasy turn-based RPG. Summon rain to wet your enemies and THEN use your spell to froze them (it’s easier when they are wet). Make them run to you and stand in the water THEN cast your lightning spell on one of them (everybody standing in the water will join the fun!) Damn. The stuff everybody talked about – Larian MADE IT HAPPEN. Characters – HUGE number of CHOICES, all BALANCED pretty well. Seriously, I’ve tried to create my own character with crazy concept and it… well it WORKED (still can’t believe fully but that is a fact). Story and dialogs – they are brilliant. You will spend a lot of time investigating undercover cult, mysterious murders, helping old cat find his love (in case you’ll learn to speak with animals) and doing tons of great story-based stuff. Graphics are perfect. Music – well I’ve downloaded the soundtrack and listen to it wherever I go. Final note. If you love deep RPGs. If you love deep characters. If you want to see what a “next generation RPG gameplay” really looks like. If you love Baldur's Gate, Fallout 1-2, Planescape:Torment or Arcanum. Leave everything else. AND GO GET THIS GAME!
(I ONLY write reviews on games which I completed after I got them on GOG) Story: Game plot is based on time-travel and fundamental environmentalism. If you are into those things you'll probably like the story. It's OK in general, but details are not so satisfying. There is often a little bit of "plastic", unreal feeling to characters behavior and events happening in the game world and their consequences. Too often you get this feeling "Are you for real?" from the game. 3 out of 5 Gameplay: This is a 2D adventure and it's pretty fun to play it most of the time. The worst things are pixel hunting (SPACE shows all active items and can help with it), not-so-fun puzzles (those can be skipped) and logic of some tasks (again "are you for real?" too often). Again 3 out of 5 Graphics: Great visuals + terrible, terrible, terrible animations. 3 out of 5 Sound and music: Simply OK. 3 out of 5 Result: Play this game ONLY if you are a 2D adventure junky and already completed all other great classics and Widget Eye Games products here on GOG. Otherwise you can skip this game without regrets, or end up buying it for pictures to see it DOES NOT stand up to your expectations...
Finished the game for the FIRST time in my life just a couple of minutes ago. The game aged pretty good for my liking - it is still a great isometric mission-based sandbox about professional killer, doing his job against some bad guys somewhere in the future. The worst things in the game: camera positioning and controls will take some time to get used to (like 20-30 minutes). If you can get through this you are going to play one hell of a game! btw - Loved the final boss - real smart, just like the rest of the game!
