STASIS: BONE TOTEM

Although I liked the first game I didn't really find any deeper connections to have with it. The main attraction of that game beyond a relatively unique presentation for the genre was that it was very grisly and had probably the most extreme form of eco-horror I've ever come across, but the characters weren't quite enough to make it much more than that, not helped by a very poor villain and an ending I was not satisfied with. This sequel, first off, immediately rectifies the big gripe I had with the gameplay of the first game, by adding an indicator as to what can be interacted with, so you aren't held back from progression by not being able to find items. Point-and-clicks always contain puzzles that feel a little unfair, but that one choice streamlined this one a lot more. In terms of the visual and story style, this one does retain the eco horror, however this time it doesn't let it feel like the focus; the characters are much more compelling, it does away with the awful villain archetype from the first one, the viscera no longer reaches into shock-value territory like the first game did a couple of times (even though there are still disturbing moments, just nothing as dark as the surgery scene or the daughter scene from the first game), and it's got a much grander scope with a more bizarre, original and interesting mystery to uncover compared to just some experiments gone wrong. It's still brutal but I was genuinely invested in the situation this time since the larger cast and complexity of the situation allows for everyone involved to be given significantly more depth. Definitely worth a play if you like body horror.

A really good point-and-click adventure game! The atmosphere is great, the enviornmental art is beautiful, the background music really sets the mood and the voice acting is stellar! This is the first game I've played by these devs, so I don't know if playing Stasis first would've helped, but I feel like the world building could've been more fleshed out. There are a lot of optional "notes" in the game, that fleshes out the story, the characters involved and the game setting itself. But while they were fun to read, I often found myself a bit lost, because there are a lot of different characters featured in these notes, and it was also a bit hard to keep track on what kind of world this game is set in (religion-wise and politics-wise). It gets better the more you play, but I'm still unsure about some of the finer details about how this world functions. This could also 100% be the dev's intentions. But nevertheless, in spite of this (or maybe because of this?) it's left me curious if I should play some of the other games set in this world, just so I could learn more about the game's setting - which should tell you enough about how enjoyable I found this :) Okay, wall of text, but all in all, I had a fantastic time. It's been really refreshing, playing a horror-themed game, without having to worry about any wonky combat, being chased by monsters, etc. etc. Of course, being a point-and-click game, it has its own problems, aka "try using every item on this puzzle, to see what solves it", but I think it was for the most part completely fine. All in all, a very nice 8.8/10 :)

Muy buen juego, lo que tenia el 1, mejorado!!