The Lotus Holidays

You can read my [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/magerama/recommended/1458690?snr=1_5_9__402]Mango review[/url] if you want. Sad Mask's games can be rather impenetrable on a rational level, that's why I resort to the broad strokes approach. My business is to plant the seeds of curiosity, not to impose personal speculations. Now, watch me misinterpret the whole thing! For a premise, our protagonist once entered an online contest for a ticket to a free weekend at a luxury spa resort 'Lotus'. And won, which is already suspicious to some of us who perceive losing as the norm. Just like Mango, the place has a distinct identity. The games diverge in every aspect but the basics, yet there's an elusive artistic throughline that unites them. While Mango was janky and abrasive from the start, drowning you in its hurting world, Lotus weaponizes its liminality less aggressively. Sporting a soothing pastel style, textured in a minimalist manner, the visuals are softer. Like a silky-smooth piece of soap that inexplicably draws saliva. You know the kind of mimicking poisons in appetisingly crusty wrappers. Here, they all smell like the omnipotent lotus flowers. Water flower, life flower, dream flower. It can mean a lot of things. I know it as a Buddhist symbol, albeit, I don't remember Buddhism being [i]that[/i] shady. [h3]Down with the Sickness[/h3] The game is divided into levels or days and reliably autosaves in-between to different slots for your convenience. It does so during the levels, too, whenever it feels like it. Either way, you can't lose that much progress and can go back to any part of the game's story. Upon entering its world, cheerful elevator music starts playing. It ends soon, followed by the sound of a cocking gun. The game does that periodically throughout, leaving you alone with echoing steps, and I can't always tell what's unintentional and what's just cheeky, which fits the theme. For some reason, I thought the resort was on a boat for the longest time. Befuddling. You're presented with a deceitfully cheerful approximation of an already flimsy agreement of reality where people resemble figurines. Some state mundane gibberish about fancy hats and whatnot, some creep on you, some tell you exactly what to do while being strangely particular about it. After wading through all the unbelievable luxury and finally reaching the advertised spa, you try to relax... and all hell breaks loose! The world turns inside out in creatively terrifying ways. This time, only for a minute. The radio dishes are onto you. What have you ever done to them? Such whiplash defines the whole thing. Wake up, an inappropriately dressed nurse claims that you have some sort of disease they refuse to extrapolate on. That there's a research facility dedicated to treating it somewhere downstairs, that you're quarantined for 5 days. In the meantime, you're given a rather useful map for your exploits. Very refreshing after getting lost in Mango. I didn't mind it there, it was part of the equation. But Lotus is a non-linear space with a complex layout. Things are as polite as they are fishy out here, but at least you're free to roam the gradually opening premises, gawking at cool pictures, yanking door knobs, and meeting other patients. Most of them are as clueless as you are, sometimes strangely friendly. The staff is either patronising or hostile, which would feel normal if you've ever been to a hospital. F#ck Nina and the cook. Carlos is the man. Your captors really want you to eat these pills like a good boy, don't they? There's no other way but to swallow, the 'virus' won't kill itself. Play your cards wrong and you'll die a slow death. I'm not kidding, mind your manners. Play your cards right and see 7 better endings. I got 3. So the funky dream unfolds, petal by petal, as you fumble for a switch to light up the room. Day by day, you wander, [strike]killing and snitching[/strike]learning your lessons in violence and conformity. At this point, you're probably still trying to make sense of anything I've written to have the game defined clearly. Is it a walking sim? Or an adventure game about a culty science experiment? It would be reductionist to bring this author's works to a common denominator. Sorry, it was pompous of me to say that. You got me, it is a comedic horror escape-the-room adventure of an atypically large scale! Calling it a walking sim would be a stretch, though. A gawking sim? Whatever it is, there's a faint scent of oldschool genre-defying weirdness all over it. Perhaps a trace of Agatha Christie's most confined murder mysteries, Starship Titanic, or Doctor Moreau? I always feel like I'm missing something when playing these games, which leaves their purpose perfectly ambiguous. What I know is that strange cocktails they serve send cerebral ripples, stimulate one's amygdala, and break hearts. Leaving a surreal hangover to linger, only the part in which you wake up to the pristine clarity of a baby's mind and don't yet know what you've done. The more I say, the less sense I make, dammit! That's enough Dada for today. P.S. Make notes. My curator [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/35305390-Big-Bad-Mutuh/?appid=262060]Big Bad Mutuh[/url]

Bizarre and beautiful game with strange characters and mysterious things going on. On my list of favorite games!

Sad Mask Party makes some interesting games, and I feel his style of story telling is unique to him. I first found out about his games while on the hunt for surreal indie games with unique environments. I fell in love with Mango, and was excited to delve into other games created by him. The Lotus Holidays' premise intrigued me, and I decided to give it a shot. [h2] Story: [/h2] You won a stay at the Lotus, a world renown spa! It's your lucky day!..that is, until you are forced to go on lockdown, and told you caught a deadly virus that only the staff has the cure for. What happens next is up to you. Will you fall in love, or escape on your own? The choice is up to you. The Lotus Holidays has different branching endings, with one "canon" ending. This game is very much better experienced than talked about. Saying too much will ruin the beautiful absurdity of this game, but I will say that the botanical horror themes had me hooked. Botanical horror is something I feel is not explored enough in video games, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how it was incorporated into the story. Gameplay: Explore the corridors of the Lotus's facility, talking to the other infected guests, as well as the staff members. Sneak around, unlocking the secrets that are found beyond the locked doors of the labs. What you decide to do, and who you interact with, seals your fate. There are some light puzzle sections, but to me, the real fun was had in the exploration and interaction with the different people. [h2] Sound Design: [/h2] The OST perfectly encapsulates the oddness of this game. The soundtrack is described as "A collection of electronic, trip-hop, exotica, ambient and smooth jazz stylings.", which describes it's essence perfectly. The sound effects used also fit the environment, at times being unnerving, at others comical. [h2] Conclusion: [/h2] Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this game. I have a soft spot in my heart for anything surreal, and this scratched an itch I had. The environment was unique and fun to explore, and I had a wonderful time completing the different endings the game had to offer. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a surreal experience with comedy elements. https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45587585-Brinabat/

Another piece of art from Sad Mask Party. This one has multiple choices/paths and is a bit more relaxed compared to the previous game, Mango, though it can get just as intense depending on your path. I was able to find 4 of the 7 endings. Certainly recommended, but beware the horror elements you'll likely encounter.

Narrative adventure combining surreal, horror and humor energies all at once. It often feels railroad-y as tons of major choices are out of player’s hands, but those few that we do get to pick lead to vastly different endings, exploring which was a wild ride. This one is for fans of all things odd that don’t stick to any genre or pace and don’t mind when things turn into weird (but fun!) smorgasbord by the end. Congratulations, you just won a weekend at luxurious spa in the contest you forgot about. How often does that happen? Oh, all the time! Let’s quickly move on past the feeling of strange luck that has befallen you and dive into this relaxing pool of possibilities to soothe your mind, body and soul. Everyone’s so welcoming here, it sure is bound to be great. Here come the fluffy towels and pretty people on loungers, let’s go… What’s this alarm blaring? Why are there lasers blocking my way? Emergency exit? Wait, what happened?? Ok. Umm… Let’s…go? The next 5 days in “The Lotus Holidays” will be spent exploring the resort, finding some, let’s call them interesting, discoveries and reacting to them in various ways that will depend on your curiosity levels and desire to dig (or not to dig – that is the question, isn’t?) deeper. It is a narrative-driven adventure, all the way up to its peculiar endings, so you’ll spend 90% walking around, talking to people and generally moving from goalpost to goalpost the game has set-up for you. Since the story is rather intriguing and a couple of things that actually can take you off the main track are promising – I didn’t mind being led by the game through most of main events, even though it felt frustratingly restrictive in a few places. I was happy to simply get to the bottom of things, although that bottom brought an element of surprise to the gameplay in more than one way. Most of the endings will simply continue the narrative-set pace and will take you to either horror- or humor-land, but there were a few that popped up with such an unexpected action (action-light, really, but still) or timed section (that, according to developers, isn’t “real” timer – see their comments on the forum) that I was taken aback by such sudden change. I’ve got the “action” ending first, and it almost ruined my impression from the game due to needing to replay sections where I suddenly found myself brandishing a weapon and dying over and over… I persevered (kudos to an entertaining set-up) and found that those are the exceptions to the rule, as most of the finales will be in tune with the flow of the game. And yet, this jarring switch can potentially lead to disappointment, so it’s better to think of this as experimental indie where, in certain cases, the whole thing can turn unexpectedly action-y or scary or funny or maze-y and you probably won’t be prepared for that, but mostly (key word here) it will follow its own rules. Of course, you can always bail on the endings you don’t feel like getting and still finish the game in several ways. The visuals are delightfully quirky and fit the game perfectly. While not the necessarily an eye-candy, the picture makes up for empty-feeling locations and overall lack of details (faces are overrated anyway) by surrealistic charm and stylized boldness, wearing kookiness on its weirdly shaped and crazy-colored sleeve. People from the Capitol of Panem have nothing on staff of Lotus Spa, they can only take notes. The music is equally charming but so sporadic that when it starts to play after a long period of silence – it’s almost a jump-scare of its own. Seems like it’s responsive to key in-game actions, so if you prefer to explore the place up-and-down, like I was doing, be prepared for a journey that feels entirely too quiet. Alternatively, you can jam to your own stuff while playing this game, since there’s no VO, so pulling down headphones during an occasional cutscene for some ambient sound effects will give you as good of a time as if the tracks here were long/looping enough to fill the entire playtime. This game is as weird as you think it will be after looking at its Steam page, but delightfully weird at that. It mixes several narrative genres (from funny to scary) in the big boiling pot of wacky surrealism, and it serves it to you as the chef intended – some things maybe way beyond your palate, but you can’t tailor the dish to your liking, you can skip it and go for the next one instead. With the variety “Lotus Holidays” offers – there’s bound to be something that will tickle your senses just right. It’ll best fit open-minded lovers of all things nonsensical that are down for a narrative-driven trip where main events are dictated by the script, but multitude of smaller offshoots can offer entertaining side shenanigans which is exactly where the fun’s at.

Very unique, and incredibly fun

I think I liked this game more than I did Mango if I’m being honest. Both are fun games with beautiful crazy art and a rollercoaster ride of not knowing what you’re going to find next! I didn’t find any puzzles that strained my limited dexterity skills in this one and so that made me happy. Also, there were more people interactions and a more focused story (to me anyway) in Lotus Holidays. I loved having a map and really liked the save breakdown per level/story day for possible replays. Games by these developers are quirky, beautiful and fun and I am enjoying playing them!

I like that there is a quite visible progression in terms of vision coherence and overall quality - compared to the developer's previous game, Mango. The Lotus Holidays is tighter, more thought out, the visuals feel less like an art student's - enthusiastic, but [i]seemingly[/i] - first attempt at creating a scene in Unity ([b]even though I liked the experimenting nature of Mango[/b]), etc. [i]That being said...[/i] I still wish the game was much more polished. The video game market is flooded with low quality, low effort titles, but that shouldn't be the standard. The main developer has a good potential, so by recommending the game, I'd like to encourage him to keep up the good work and pay more attention to the quality of his products. [b]Looking forward to play his future games![/b]

The lotus holidays is an absolutely incredible experience and a must play for anyone into surreal exploration games. It has a rich cast of characters all with intricate and wild personalities all enriched by a wide range of endings and pathways some of which are almost like Easter eggs as they are so off the beaten path to get to, this adds to the experience so much as you get a heck of a lot more playtime out of it and learn a lot more about the lore and goings on of the world. It’s like the previous title Mango in terms of style but in ways it’s totally different, the extra details and paths add so much to the experience making it repayable, you really get your money’s worth here. Heart and Soul have gone into this project so much and the dev should be extremely proud to release this fantastic title i really can’t wait for the next masterpiece. I wish I could explain this more but in not good at reviews, 10/10 game overall one of my top 3 games I’ve played this year.

Finally!! A great overall gaming experience! A horror thriller experience that abounds with great aesthetics, detailed animation and beautiful atmospheric music that compliments the plot progression. But most impostantly, a scenario that really gets you into it's psychedelic world and makes you truly participate in the game's story!!