Judgement: Recommended
View review on Steam
If you're a fan of strange and experimental indie games, STAY is gonna be right up your alley. It's full of interesting and unique mechanics, and while some do fall flat, the overall theming is well-thought-out.
STAY is a puzzle/visual novel hybrid that dives into topics of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and self-harm. It's got a very philosophical vibe to it, lots of symbolism in the chapter layouts and items. The games premise is an escape-room nightmare, where you interact with the protagonist Quinn, by giving him suggestions on how to escape.
The writing is superb, although a bit high brow and very clearly targeting a specific demographic. It's got a lot of references to 80s and 90s popular trivia that may go over your head if you weren't from that generation.
The game has lots of interesting mechanics. As you make decisions, you can monitor the effect they have on Quinn, there's status monitors for trust, emotional bond, as well as various mood indicators. Then there's the STAY/AWAY system. The games time continues even if you are away, and there are consequences for leaving Quinn alone to fend for himself.
I feel the area the game falters at, is it's puzzle implementation. I can see that the developers wants the player to struggle with the puzzles and not have instructions take the user out of the experience, but there's no hints or explanation. This works for certain puzzles where brute-forcing teaches you the mechanics. But for other puzzles like the peacock problem, if you don't have a key insight already, brute-forcing won't help you, and you will likely have to check a FAQ.
Another area that's weak is the death failure states. Quinn turns out to be an extremely squishy character and pretty much anything will kill him. After a few deaths, the game trains you to become extremely cautious about every decision, but even with changed play styles you will still die every now and then. After each death you have to replay the chapter, and there's no option to fast forward text, so it can get tedious in certain chapters with multiple death flags.
Overall the game comes highly recommended; it's got some awesome pixel art, high quality writing, and great music. By the end of the game you feel deeply connected to Quinn and his personal journey. It's definitely worth experiencing.
STAY is a puzzle/visual novel hybrid that dives into topics of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and self-harm. It's got a very philosophical vibe to it, lots of symbolism in the chapter layouts and items. The games premise is an escape-room nightmare, where you interact with the protagonist Quinn, by giving him suggestions on how to escape.
The writing is superb, although a bit high brow and very clearly targeting a specific demographic. It's got a lot of references to 80s and 90s popular trivia that may go over your head if you weren't from that generation.
The game has lots of interesting mechanics. As you make decisions, you can monitor the effect they have on Quinn, there's status monitors for trust, emotional bond, as well as various mood indicators. Then there's the STAY/AWAY system. The games time continues even if you are away, and there are consequences for leaving Quinn alone to fend for himself.
I feel the area the game falters at, is it's puzzle implementation. I can see that the developers wants the player to struggle with the puzzles and not have instructions take the user out of the experience, but there's no hints or explanation. This works for certain puzzles where brute-forcing teaches you the mechanics. But for other puzzles like the peacock problem, if you don't have a key insight already, brute-forcing won't help you, and you will likely have to check a FAQ.
Another area that's weak is the death failure states. Quinn turns out to be an extremely squishy character and pretty much anything will kill him. After a few deaths, the game trains you to become extremely cautious about every decision, but even with changed play styles you will still die every now and then. After each death you have to replay the chapter, and there's no option to fast forward text, so it can get tedious in certain chapters with multiple death flags.
Overall the game comes highly recommended; it's got some awesome pixel art, high quality writing, and great music. By the end of the game you feel deeply connected to Quinn and his personal journey. It's definitely worth experiencing.
Review posted on 03/07/2019, 15:01:00.