You are Stanley. You work in an office complex pressing buttons. One day, no instructions come through your computer and everyone is gone. Wanting to find out what happened, you leave the office and begin your unpredictable journey in, what is quite possibly, my second favorite game of all time.
On the surface, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe comes off like a simple walking simulator with a narrator that could lead to either heavy drama or horrors beyond imagination. But, the moment you start playing, you’ll see that this is far from the truth. In fact, saying anything about this game would spoil the beauty and creativity of what’s in store for you. What I can say is that I had a big smile the whole time I was playing it, along with some legitimate bouts of laughter at parts, some of which caught me off guard and some due to the absurdity of what I was witnessing. What really helps elevate this game from being a simple walking-sim is the sheer charm of the narrator, voiced by Kevan Brighting. Without him, I don’t think this game would be as charming and quite as memorable as it is now. Everything from his lengthy in-depth descriptions to his small little quips over anything you do adds this charm to the game that really helps elevate it above other games of its type.
For example, don’t worry this is very early in the game so this isn’t spoiling anything: On your journey, you come across two doors and the narrator will say that you took the door on the left. But, if you choose the door on the right, the narrator will react and mention how Stanley took that door instead, wanting to check out the employee lounge, which leads to the narrator saying that after he was done, he went through the door on his left to get back on track. Again, you can do that or you can keep going straight and explore in that direction and, once again, he’ll react and make a quip about Stanley. It’s moments like these that really help make this game charming and enjoyable and it’s why reviewing this game is hard. There is so much about this game I want to talk about and why it’s up there as one of my favorite games ever, but I don’t want to spoil anything about this game to anyone who hasn’t played it.
If I do have any complaints, it would be that Stanley’s movements are a bit slippery at times. Like, when you come to a stop, it’s not instantaneous but, rather, he sorta slides an inch forward before stopping. It doesn’t really hurt the game or anything, it’s just something I noticed and it did come into play in a few areas. I will also say that the requirements for some endings are a bit obtuse and a puzzle unto themselves and, as of this review, I only got a few of them as most of these I’m still trying to figure out how to pull off. Otherwise, I really don’t have much in the way of complaints about a game, which is rare if you ask me.
It is rare for a game to come along and be considered one of my favorite games ever. It’s even rarer for said game to be something as simple as a walking simulator, but that is where The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe shines through. It may be simple but it does its simplicity well ten-fold and I can not help but praise the game for it. I really don’t have much else to say, other than you need to play this game.
