Alice's Lullaby

This game is peak and very emotional as a psychological horror game, although it has some flaws (mostly the 1st flashback with alice and the part after that. Everything after that is the best of the best. Just wish it was longer... 9/10

Overall a superb followup. Some convoluted lore but the ending sold me on it. Only nitpick is some parts where it was unclear how to progress. Running from Buck around Pogo's house, it wasn't clear I needed to enter the operating room from the opposite side, for example. A few other spots like this snagged me, and could do with some streamlining. Playtesters can help. With those fixed, this is a certified horror classic.

I know it's hard to remove the controversy from this series, and that whether the wait was "worth it" will be super subjective. But for me it was!!! I played the first episode way back when and loved it then and now- it's something I always found myself returning to or thinking of and I'd routinely check up on the status of the series... If you loved the first episode, you'll love this one, as simple as that. There were few issues I ran into, such as falling out of the map once. The few criticisms I have mostly have to do with the audio mixing and the sub-par subtitles. I'm glad there actually are subtitles this time around, as I want to take in every bit I can and the messed up mixing makes it hard to hear what's going on. So accessibility is perhaps lacking. As for the mixing issues, there were some parts where you can barely hear the dialogue over the music, and adjusting the sound settings doesn't effect it. For example, when riding Origins I wouldn't have even known there was a narrator if it wasn't for the subtitles! However, all these things could be easy fixes in the future, and I find myself nitpicking to really find issues with it Otherwise, I have no complaints!! I personally don't even mind about the wait, I'm just really genuinely happy to be playing it at all. I bought it immediately at midnight when it released and have already completed it a few times trying to take in every little thing I can! The writing is where the game really shines, it's always so so fun. In both episodes I was always so excited to find the next note. The ramblings of these little freaks is truly music to my ears, and the voice work was quite lovely. Pogo was especially entertaining, I found her dialogue to be really comedic, fun, and frightening. The music and sound design (aside from some mixing) was really good and I found myself often thinking "hey??? this music slaps?????" so kuddos, lads!! I love this game. I love this series. I will patiently sit on my hands and wait for the next episode, and although I hope we don't have to wait THAT long, I still will gladly wait and be happy to play it whenever it comes out <3

It's pretty good. Not quite as weird as the first game, and doesn't have the same atmosphere, but the overall story is fine. A few of the reviews say they have no idea what's going on, but I think if you read the majority of the notes scattered throughout the game, and eavesdrop on conversations between characters, it becomes pretty clear what's going on. Took roughly 3 hours to complete, with reloading from the last checkpoint so I could get both endings.

The continuation of the game I've waited for YEARS. The world so colorful and dead, so beautiful and disgusting, so cozy and horrifying all at the same time. What can I say.. The story is otherworldly. Literally. I've never seen an old idea executed so.. differently. I've never seen anything remotely like this game. Scary? Yes. I was squealing in the first part, hiding behind the doors. I was squealing in the second part of the game too. No cheap jumpscares. But the world built so carefully and lovingly that it eats you alive while you there. You cannot help but to freak out the more you progress. And yet you find so many beautiful things along the way it's almost poetic. Play Albino Lullaby. Play Alice's Lullaby. You'll never want to leave. Ever. Welcome home, child.

You're a zombie with one arm who tasers tampon people

I remember watching a Let's Play of Albino Lullaby years ago and being instantly captivated by its sombre, enigmatic atmosphere, uncanny monsters, striking visuals, and storytelling. When I found out a sequel had finally been released, I picked it up during summer sale, excited to experience it. Unfortunately, I was deeply disappointed. My 50 minutes of gameplay felt more like 3 hours (not in a good way). Right from the start, the game introduces a lock-picking mechanic that simply doesn't work well. It feels intentionally confusing: it's unclear which power stations recharge your lock-picking tool, whether the tool is currently charged and where you're supposed to get power when every nearby station appears inactive. Immediately afterwards, you're thrown into a town full of locked doors and power stations, yet none of the stations seem capable of recharging your tool. This is major game design flaw and creates an odd contradiction: the game teaches you a mechanic, fills the environment with opportunities to use it, and then prevents you from actually doing so. IMO this mechanic should have been introduced after Buck's house instead, once you're actually able to use it. Exploration is also frustrating because deaths send you back through Cornelius painfully loud introductory speech with no meaningful checkpoints. Hearing the same monologue repeatedly was irritating within the first 15 minutes and genuinely gave me a headache. For a game that relies so heavily on atmosphere, it's baffling that there's no proper audio mixer with separate sliders for voices, music, ambience, and dialogue. Likewise, the absence of a mouse sensitivity option is inexcusable. The puzzles became the thing where the game completely lost me. Rather than feeling rewarding, they felt deliberately obscure. I repeatedly had to look up what I was actually supposed to do because the game does a poor job of communicating either your objective or where to go next, while simultaneously expecting very specific solutions. Without spoiling anything, I think the core design issue is that the game initially presents itself as encouraging open "exploration", but in reality it only functions through highly convoluted linear solution paths. Once I reached the second house, where you have to lure monsters into rooms using buzzers to solve another series of convoluted puzzles, I completely lost interest. Instead of feeling challenged, I felt like I was fighting the game's design, and I couldn't be bothered to look up the solution. It's a poorly designed game with some genuinely impressive visuals, but atmosphere alone isn't enough to make it enjoyable to play.

It may be worth just describing my experience. So: The first game mechanic I am introduced to is a remote that can burn out locks, but needs recharging. The first charging station I find does not recharge the remote. I am unsure if I've found a very big bug inside the first ten minutes of the game. Upon entering a building, I find a television, and at that moment, the intercom outside turns on and the TV, ambient music, and voices all blur together at the same volume and at the same clarity. Changing rooms does not muffle the TV or the intercom. The music makes the intercom impossible to hear. I experience sensory overload and search the options menu to turn down the volume on the music. Only the master volume slider works. Unsure of where I'm meant to go or do I eventually bumble my way to Buck's house and go back to the past. I see frightening things around the corner who stare at me blankly if I enter their line of sight. I lose all sense of apprehension as I realize that nearly every monster I've encountered so far has either run away from me or ignored me and I officially don't know what I'm meant to be scared of anymore. I'm told I need to search the Past-Mansion for items to escape while Buck patrols, muttering constantly. After crouching, moving slowly, sticking to carpets, and using all the stealth tricks I've learned from other games, I pick up a key off a simple wooden table on a different floor from Buck and he instantly screams in anger. Avoiding the main hall, I head for the cramped wooden passage I came from, as it seems too small for Buck to fit through or be worth his consideration. Buck meets me on the other end and I realize picking up the key gave his AI my exact location. I put the game down and don't work up the interest to play it again. Every time I consider restarting I remember the overlong narwhal sequence. I reinstall chapter one and have left the introduction area and entered the game proper and consider what a much stronger experience the whole thing is. I briefly wonder if Routine is still in development.

Tonight is the night of the party

I remember enjoying the first episode, Albino Lullaby quite a bit. Alice’s Lullaby is another case of being odd without much point and this does not carry the game through to the end. Nor is it much fun to complete the story which I am somewhat unclear what the plot was. There are a few abstract and interesting visuals along the way but that does not make up for the general lack of gameplay. I found the over-reliance on dialogue a bit of a nuisance as well. Start to finish this will only take a few hours, so not really worth the cost. It is commendable that ten years after the first episode was released Ape Law finally got this continuation out the door. But Alice's Lullaby is not a great sequel to buy. If you are looking for something quite strange to play for a few hours I think you could do better with a different indie game. Try Albino Lullaby instead and pass on this follow up installment entirely.