ROUTINE

[NO SPOILERS] Routine is an excellent, well made horror adventure that had almost disappeared into obscurity. I first heard about this game probably around 2012 when the first teaser dropped, but then never saw it again up until 2025. I do very much recommend this game to horror fans, IF you are the kind to have patience to read some logs and prints and like to look around for environmental clues. You might expect the game would feel stuck in 2012 after all these years of assumed production troubles, but Routine holds up very well with todays standards and has most likely been modernized quite a bit along the way. The graphics are amazing, the retro-futuristic style immediately gave me Alien Isolation vibes in all the right ways, and the sounddesign is also suprisingly professional and intense. The story is cryptic, but well done over all, adding to the atmosphere if you can ignore some plot holes and whacky explanations. Routine has pretty much no UI whatsoever, so all the menuing, story and gameplay mechanic explanations have been integrated into the game world, which makes this game all the more atmospheric and creates an intense feeling of immersion. On the other hand, this means that you will have to read computer logs and texts distributed throughout the maps, and pay extra close attention to environmental clues in order to progress in the story. I had to look up one or two things throughout my playthrough, but all in all, the game did a great job of giving enough hints without completely laying everything out in front of you. The enemy encounters in the game are pretty intense, a lot of it due to the great sounddesign, but the ai can be a little bit lacking sometimes. Some enemies would just stand around where I had to go next, so triggering them to move was the only option, which felt a bit annoying. Apart from that, they tend to give you enough space to let you progress every now and then. Some more hiding spots could not have hurt. There are some jumpscares in the game, which I am generally not a fan of, but they are used sparingly and I can let them get away with that. ;) Playing through the story once took me about 7 hours. I think that's absolutely fine, and I am glad the game did not drag on much longer than it needed to. In general, throughout this time, the game offered quite a bit of variety in gameplay mechanics and environments to make you want to push forward and see whats around the corner. Definitely one of the best horror games I have played so far, and I would love to see more from the developers, even though I understand that getting this game done must have been quite a rollercoaster. In the end, all this time and effort was worth it.

just good I don't have a complaint save some early minor issues but beyond that not a dang thing

Incredible levels of anxiety and pooped pants at every corner.

Aún siendo una experiencia bastante corta, ha sabido transmitir un terror muy intenso, el miedo es muy real cuando te están persiguiendo, o cuando no hay nada pero te comes la cabeza con si estará a la vuelta de la esquina lo que sea que esté ahí, los diseños tanto de escenarios, como enemigos me parecen geniales, todo fluye en la coherencia del escenario sin desentonar. A lo mejor mi único punto negativo sería la historia, esta contada a través de diarios, correos y el escenario, cosa que me parece maravillosa pero aun con esas, no he llegado a entender nada realmente, que tenia que ver el virus con el alien raro y la visión rara esa del bebe... en general no he entendido nada, pero quitando eso, muy buen terror de muy alta calidad, mis dieces.

If you like the vibe of alien isolation youll love this game, its the same aesthetic but way more enhanced

This was a surreal experience, the visuals and atmosphere were outstanding and the story was interesting. Can't say I felt good about the puzzles though, it made me feel like a game journalist. I needed more yellow paint the way I was overthinking and losing my mind with some of the puzzles. The game doesn't hold your hand for a moment, and though you can get a vague idea of what you're meant to be doing by checking the terminals dotted around it can still be very confusing. Enemies were unique, definitely had some good scares and made me very uneasy later in the game. They aren't very smart though, don't read into that much until you give the game a try. I give this a 8/10, leaves me questioning existence a lil~

Phenomenal, polished and whole experience. This game took me a little more than 7 hours to finish and it's better than most games I have 300+ hours in. The amount of love and work the devs put into this shows on every front here - everything fits everything, no redundancy or (too much) confusion the moment you get he gist of how manual any single action here is. Both made me feel and scared the living ♥♥♥♥ out of me. 10/10, will talk about this nonstop to everyone I know. Many can learn from this game, this should be mandatory to study if you're gamedev.