Envelope

**SPOILERS** I found this to be quite a fun experience overall! There’s a lot to like about this game, but I can also see why some people found it frustrating. Here are my thoughts: Strengths: I’d say the best thing about this game is its writing, there were many times throughout my playthrough where the dialogue made me burst out laughing: “You open the chest and inside is an axe, do you take it?” “Nah” *dies* “Why did you choose to leave the axe?” “I don’t know subversion of expectations or some ♥♥♥♥” If you enjoy that kind of irreverent (borderline ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥-y) and meta humor you’ll enjoy the writing of this game. I was interested in hearing what every character had to say and rarely skipped any dialogue. But besides the jokes this game also had some moments that were strangely sweet or otherwise not directly played for laughs but still hitting the emotional beats it needs to. It’s not this deeply moving story or anything but it’s solid for what it is. The world building through the dialogue is very satisfying to slowly uncover, including the mystery behind the driving force of the game. Admittedly, there is perhaps a bit more to be desired from the ending, some hanging questions I would’ve liked answered rather than left to the player’s imagination, but I was always intrigued about what was really going on. The other strength this game has is its exploration. You spend a vast majority of your time in one town and it is pretty well designed. It was fun to explore around and I was constantly finding new areas that I had missed before, and mixed with the unpredictable nature of the game it made it exciting to explore further and further because I really wouldn’t know what to expect next! I maybe would say that I wish the map was just a tad smaller, but the size of the world didn’t cause too much frustration for me. But I could totally see people getting annoyed from all the constant trekking back and forth. At the very least, each playthrough allows you to learn where all the objects that speed you up are, so you’re able to use that to your advantage in a way I found satisfying. Neutral: This game’s presentation is fine, though for how zany the game often gets I wish the art was pushed in a more extreme direction to match. This game looks pretty much just like any other retro styled indie horror, which isn’t necessarily bad, it’s not like it made the gameplay worse, but I think a more unique look could make the world a bit more interesting to look at. Because while the exploration is fun, the town itself is mostly just… regular suburbia. The game runs well, I pretty much never experienced any bugs and the few that occurred didn’t affect the experience negatively at all. Outside of the exploration the gameplay is decent. The puzzles aren’t too complex, but I don’t think they needed to be. With how expansive the world is, difficult puzzles would be hard to design. One could say it’s the same “Go find object, collect object, come back and use object” gameplay prevalent in the genre but it didn’t really bother me because the dialogue and exploration was the real reward. And the game introduces enough little mechanics (the dirt piles, cans, pills, energy items, etc.) that keep one engaged even when you’re just walking around and exploring. I will say though that one bit of the gameplay was particularly disappointing based on how the game is presented on Steam... Weaknesses: The way that the game was set up from the Steam trailer (at least to me) was a game where you were required to assassinate someone, and you can do it at any time, but it won’t be easy without any tools. So, you instead can do fun side quests and explore a map filled with interesting characters and objectives that help you acquire resources to be able to take down your target. I was thinking it was like a Hitman game mixed with survival mechanics and side quests. And I got about 70% of what I was looking for, but that other 30% was really lacking if I’m being honest. The game is less focused on the final confrontation with your target and is more about all the other things you need to do to get the true ending. Which was still fun! But I won't lie, I was wishing for A LOT more from the mansion. It’s built up as this super important task that won’t be easy. I was getting ready to learn my target’s route, how to sneak past the guards, and creatively take the big bad down. Instead I walked up to the side door of the house, bashed it in with an axe, walked to the adjacent room, shot him, and left. The Steam page says things like “You can do anything in this game!” which is technically true, but you’re not really incentivized to or rewarded by killing your target in any particular way. Once you understand the mansion (which only really takes like one or two attempts) you can kill your target super easily and it’s not especially satisfying. Maybe that’s the point? Maybe it’s meant to be this fruitless task since you're stuck in a loop anyways? But that’s not how the game initially presented itself and it’s unfortunate. It’s especially unfortunate because… the mansion is huge. There are so many rooms and unique assets that never make an impact. It’s just a ton of filler. To put it in another way, I wasn’t expecting a Dartmoor-level Hitman map… But I *was* expecting it to be something like Hawke’s Bay. It’s small, contained, but still plenty of ways to creatively kill your target while avoiding detection. The mansion might as well be 5 rooms with how frankly irrelevant the other rooms and areas are. One odd flaw about this game is… its UI? I’m not one to really pay that much attention to something like that but even I could spot the weird choices and inconsistencies in fonts. It took me out of the game a bit. Again why is a game as fun and zany as this is using such a bland typeface for its dialogue? And while I like the idea of the main menu, a stylized and pixelated interior of a car, it feels out of place and so does the font of the main menu. But that’s starting to get really nitpicky. I can totally see these choices as intentional, something to add to the game’s endearingly rough style and appeal , but it wasn’t really jiving with me either way. There are a few other mechanics that also just feel underdeveloped. For example, the greenhouse and the planter boxes. I love the idea of it, it’s a little bit of progress you get to keep between runs, it’s a fun side objective, and it's something you don’t have to do at all but it makes things easier down the line… except that you can only plant something once and then when you harvest it it’s just gone. This mechanic would have been so much more useful if the plant just stayed and you could uproot it if you wanted to change it out. Instead I completely ignored it because it wasn’t worth it in the slightest. Similarly, I really like the idea with the scientist who you trade plants for pills that give you buffs. But except for hyperfixation, I didn’t find any of the pills useful, at best they were a neat novelty, but I didn’t feel any reason to use them. Hopefully this review didn’t sound too negative, I want to stress that I really enjoyed playing this game and it was definitely worth my time. The dialogue and exploration are really good, it’s difficult to get a player to read so much dialogue but it was too fun to ignore, and exploration is honestly not what I come to games for usually but this game made it really fun and rewarding! And I absolutely adore the concept of this game, but I think it falls apart due to the mansion being extremely underwhelming after being built up so much. I am genuinely interested in what else this person has made and I want to see them keep improving their craft. I see a ton of great aspects to this game, and lots of potential to improve on it! Thank you for reading my review :)

Envelope is a bite-sized immersive sim that, despite some jank typical of such small scale productions, impressed me with its scope and variety. The game comes in three parts; Part 1 is the prologue, Part 2 is main portion of the game where you collect items and set yourself up for Part 3, where you enact your mission to infiltrate a mansion and assassinate your target. The map for Part 2 is genuinely impressive in its scope, being much larger and more densely packed that one would initially assume. There are plenty of secrets to discover, side quests to take on, and challenges to complete. And this is not even counting Part 3, where you have a similarly large amount of options available to you to reach your target and take them out. The graphics and sound design aren’t too impressive, but the gameplay is what you will be playing this for, and Envelope does not disappoint. I highly recommend giving this little game a whirl.

A Neo-Retro Immersive Sim game. About a man who will kill someone before the day ends. There's a lot to find within Stendal. A straight forward story that does it well; a Cult with Nebulous intents using a system called Envelope to perform hits on people who have broken away. You are a victim within this Envelope system and blood will be on your hands. The opening at the gas station is a very tightly made tutorial that demonstrates most of the game's mechanics. which you can then apply to the main part of the game: Stendal. The initial Story is short, with the main mechanic being repeating the game until you unlock the true ending. Every time you beat the game in a unique way you unlock something to help you progress faster. As of writing this the wiki is incredibly weak, and if you're someone who likes to achievement hunt games casually or using a guide it will not help you at all. The game is short and sweet enough that I feel it is worth the money, especially if you enjoy searching for multiple endings. There are some locations that are a lot more shallow then i wish they were, but I never feel exasperated when I have to backtrack or re-do something because resetting is incredibly fast. Worth picking up, I will be 100%-ing the game.

Very fun! Great for people who like exploring levels and checking every inch for quests/secrets. NO SAVING, finish your run before quitting.

Игра ШИКАРНА. С первого взгляда типикал хоррор на юнити с очень скудным исполнением, но по итогу лайт иммёрсив (прям очень, очень лайт, но тем не менее) так ещё и чуть-чуть рогалик. НО. Именно этот типа рогалик лично меня дико фрустрировал. Я не понял намёка, каюсь, и два с половиной часа исследовал ВСЮ локацию, делал ВСЕ побочки, насобирал тонну денег, забил инвентарь и не понимал куда его применять. Подумал, что это вещи до следующей главы и пошёл по мейну. Меня убили. И что дальше? ВСЁ СНАЧАЛА. С САМОГО. Это очень сильно фрустрирует, поэтому имейте в виду, но игра того стоит отвечаю. Она переполнена абсурдом, немножко психоделом и немерянным количеством кеков, 7\10

Este juego te promete tensión, misterio y decisiones cruciales, pero lo único que te deja es la sensación de haber perdido el tiempo. Gráficos minimalistas demasiado cutres, una historia confusa que ni siquiera sabes si estás entendiendo, y mecánicas tan repetitivas que te hacen querer dejar de jugar cada minuto que pasa HORRIBLE

Fun and challenging game I cannot put down. Still need to finish it. worth the price I think

starting with no bullets and finding them scattered throughout the world is so cool! Turns the gun into more of an adventure-game item