Albino Lullaby: Episode 1

I'm only posting a negative as a warning that there is only Episode 1 and if you pay for all three without researching that it came out in 2015 and there is still no episode 2 and 3 you will be angry that you spent so much money for a 5 hour game. It's a great game but just buy episode one if you want to play, don't buy the season pass or other episodes.

It's been 7 years since episode 2 and 3 were supposed to be released but they're still being sold as pre-orders

We've had *three* different sitting U.S. presidents since the first episode was released. Think about that for a second. Justin Pappas' LinkedIn indicates he's still working on games- just not on this personal studio. Full season pass still available for episodes 2 and 3 that will never be released. On top of that, this game has almost never been on sale. It's a buggy mess that, in retrospect, was never worth the positive reception it received. Plenty of higher quality surrealist horror experiences are available right now for much less or even free. You should not buy this product regardless of what you think you'll get out of the experience on the principle that this guy has had more than enough time to fix the problem and won't. Not can't- won't. Don't allow this grift to continue. Watch a video of someone else playing it if you have to, and move on.

Abandoned by the dev. Waited for many years to see the continuation of the story, but it's extremely frustrating to see a game with so much promise get scrapped for no reason.

this game is cool, don't buy it. don't play it if you get it for free either, ape law is a hack

The scammer who made this "game" and is still attempting to profit off the sales he has no intention of delivering has now registered a new company (Ape Law II) as of June 1st, 2023.

[h2] The Controversy:[/h2] I suppose I can't talk about Albino Lullaby without covering the controversy surrounding it as a goal made by the developer to release episodes 2 and 3 in 2016; before that, players can pre-ordered these games with a Season Pass. As of the writing of this review, none of the extra episodes had been released, still in development with episode 2 close to being released this summer (hopefully), as announced by the developer in the video and community post. [u]Here's the trailer for episode 2 if you missed it:[/u] [url]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T748xc3SAiw[/url] So 9 years have passed, and players are still patiently waiting to receive the next episode, some of whom have already paid for it. For the season pass to still be promoted despite episodes 2 and 3 being way overdue by their expected deadline is a bit scummy, I'm not going to lie. Until recently, this Spring, it had been changed, so you can't pay for episodes 2 and 3 in advance until they are released, which is good going in the right direction, but it should have been done a lot sooner. I'm going to be a bit charitable and say that at least the developers are trying to get the release project done and release it as they promised (never later than never). From what I've seen, maybe they were too ambitious with the next game they didn't plan for the budget constraints, and personal life sort of got in the way, pushing the game back further than usual. These things happen, which is understandable, but stuff like the season pass or the release date should have been changed a long time ago to help clear some communication; sometimes action is better than words. Any players affected by this have every right to be angry from feeling misled after all these years. I just hope eventually people get the game they paid for or refunded by contacting the developer because all of this isn't fair to them. I, for one, wasn't affected by this as others were. For one I only played this game recently, never purchasing the full season pass, only this game for nostalgia sake after re-remembering seeing a clip of it a while ago. Sadly, I have to feel inclined to start this review like this because of the reputation this game holds which can't be ignored. I just have to be up and front of what's going on behind the scenes. [h2]About the game:[/h2] After all of that, does Albino Lullaby warrant all of this drama? No, it doesn't. As a stand-alone linear horror game, it's pretty short but it does offer something new with a haunting experience where you have to escape from these sausage-worm-looking beings, the ones that look a lot like the finger bodyguard or whatever they are from The Spy Movie. Yay, the one that gave you nightmares. Well, expect more nightmares playing this one with the way they are chasing after you like helicopter parents wanting to force you to try that dress they got you 10 years ago. Even the atmosphere is eary with the way these beings are saying and whispering creeping things they would do to you, like "making you dance like a monkey". Not many horrors can make me this uncomfortable and paranoid to not get caught so kudo to the developer for that. As for the level sections, there are 4 main types; exploring, chase sequences, stealth, and combat. Within most of these, you will be looking for switches to turn on or cables to connect to open doors, whereby you have options to gather notes, giving you an insight on what is going on throughout the underground facility with the prisoners and any important characters that may appear soon and even who you are. Whereas most of these levels were fun to play through I wouldn't say all of them are designed particularly well for this game, for example, the stealth section (which in theory I like the concept of) isn't designed great because as soon as you are spotted all the enemies are high alert making it hard to run past them if they are grouped together and the mechanic you normally see in stealth game to be hide to lower the enemies alert meter isn't built into this game which I feel it could do with. But if you can stomach through this section this game will become more fun when you can fight these creepy thumb-people. [h2] Conclusion:[/h2] If there is one thing I want people to take away from this review, is to not purchase a season pass unless the game is released or just purchase the game separately. Despite all the drama, I might still give the developer a chance and try the other episodes, depending (on how it turns out). I do like the 3D model contrast with cardboard cut-out furniture that appears 2D giving off a slicely model but dated aesthetic. There aren't many games like this and it is a shame it has negative attention from people (rightfully so) due to mismanagement and miscommunication. I just hope the developer learns from this moving forward and they can regain some trust from their fans when they release all of the other episodes. [i]WARNING:- Don't stand on the chairs, they can be glitching and fling you off the map.[/i]

Cost me 10$ in 2015 now 30$ for one episode with no future episodes in sight. Very funny. Good game though.

Almost 10 years and literally no new content, don't buy this

After many years they still have not released the other episodes. But the game itself is really interesting. Just don't expect yourself to play the next episodes. I want to know what happens next!