The Stanley Parable

[h1]Existential Daydream[/h1] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1582812989 [i]There will be a TL;DR at the end.[/i] ~ We’ve all had those semi-lucid dreams where everything seems absolutely sensible to us, but when we look back on things after waking up - the streams of logic are so incomprehensible and unreasonable that we can’t imagine how they ever worked. The effects can range from being at school and having no pants, being forced to drive backwards on a freeway in the sky, carrying grandma’s dentures and trying to keep them from nibbling through its glass jar, looking for your pet hippogriff before your ex can kill it with their space laser - etc. The interesting aspect of these dreams and scenarios that we imagine, especially in waking, is the garish creativity and bespoke strangeness of the elements that are - effectively - so foreign to our waking mindsets that they become forcibly forgotten. It’s that sweet spot upon processing the dream that the elements within can be appreciated. The entire process is unique, fun, creative, and undeniably human. This is the power of [b]The Stanley Parable[/b]. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1582813639 Amazingly, the experience is both brief and longstanding. I don’t think anyone who has played this game will have difficulty remembering it - and all of the silly details within. The experience offered is teeming with charm, wit, character, and vibrant direction. The studio that made this clearly had a direction in mind and the conviction to see it through in spite of the challenges that comes with making any game - even a walking simulator like this one! I remember many moments played on this account - on my alt account - with friends - and seen online. The title truly stands up to its own ambition of being a trickly little [i]“choose your own adventure book”[/i] that you can walk into and truly experience firsthand. Now it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows - the most notably is the replayability and time-value of the title. You can really chew through the content quickly by merely exploring through options and having a pleasant blast with what’s on offer, but it isn’t going to be sticking around at the top of your [i]Steam[/i] Library for weeks and weeks like other excellent titles, which is the only relative concern to have. The rest is exactly what you’d expect from the occasional daydream and/or quarter-lucid recollection of a dream: a fun and inconsequential foray into human imagination. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1582813656 It’s strange, it’s bizarre, it’s nuanced, it’s original, and there isn’t anything like it around in the best of ways. It’s right up there with the late 2000’s [i]Valve[/i] original titles for creativity. Sadly, there isn’t a tone of meat on the bones and after you’ve been through most (if not [b]all[/b] of the possible situations, there isn’t a real reason to come back. Unlike some titles where forgetting subtleties will allow you to graciously experience things all over again with discovery - the novelty here is hard to forget, and isn’t the kind of thing that lends itself to high replayability. It’s absolutely worth your time and attention, just don’t come here looking for anything less than a brilliant nugget of artistic novelty. ~ [h3]TL;DR[/h3] [b]8/10[/b] [i]The Stanley Parable[/i] is a [b]Great[/b] game. A [i]”Choose-Your-Own-Adventure”[/i] with a great premise, tons of variety, adventure, and comedy. It’s well worth a spot in your library, and will likely find a spot in your memories - right beside pleasant and interesting dreams from the past.