Works better when it leans more on Wreden's more personal moments (like the epilogue, which is the only full sequence I liked). It's a lot less engaging, which is what happens when you change the focus from a choice-based game to a hour and a half essay about the expectation and perception that people have of sequels/expansions/re-releases, but even taking that apart there's just nothing interesting being said here. Yeah collectibles are useless and just an artifical way of engaging the player with extra content, yes the bucket is just a sorry excuse of an expansion and the new endings are nothing more than filler to fulfill your desire of an expanded game. Yeah expansions suck. I get, you get it, we all get it, nothing new. The bucket joke feels like a sore try to the companion cube and the commentary that it's endings try to make is just... boring, shitty even.

There's a couple of funny moments here and there, but I just bored playing through, maybe I just don't find the game's humor funny anymore or it's just a lot more uninspired. It just subtracts from the base game, though that doesn't matter since it's clearly more intended as a sequel than an expansion. You could tell me "the point of the expansion is that it sucks!!!" but idk and idc.

Or hey, maybe it's actually pretty cool and I'm just mad that I payed for virtually the same game and expected actual interesting stuff and got this instead!!

So the theme here is "lovecraftian". I was expecting a lot of these to focus on the actual mythos, but they ended up going through more interesting paths, and even the ones that sticked to Lovecraft's stuff managed to be really interesting. This one also starts the tradition of the launcher itself being a game, and I personally loved it.

This was made by Shatter's devs from the previous collection and you can tell because the visuals are top notch. I really liked it, puzzles are fun but not particularly tedious so you never get stuck, the house is fun to explore and the story is a good companion to it all, I didn't particularly care about it in the previous collection but the way it's framed here really gives it some weight.

12. Another Late Night

Yeaaah I don't get where this one is going, not interesting at all and the mystery doesn't even get any cool closure or something, it just sort of happens. Could've done more with that interface.

11. The Toy Shop

This one's sort of all over the place, it never gets particularly boring and the shooting part is actually nice, but only Cosmo-D can pull off that particular asset flip aesthetic in a cool way in my book. The story just sort of happens, idk, nothing memorable about it.

10. Arcadletra

This one's like, really weird (why does it happen in an arcade???), the girl's whimpering made me uncomfortable and I got jumpscared a couple of times but that's about it, not particularly cool or anything. I feel like it takes itself a bit too seriously despite how goofy it ends up being.

9. The Thing in the Lake

I respect this one but I just didn't enjoy it, the format and the progression felt more frustrating than anything and the payoff wasn't worth it. Visuals are cool tho. I probably won't enjoy World of Horror that much I see lol

8. To the End of Days

This one is just badass and has cool gunplay, I also like how they tied it to Carthanc. Nothing special but it's just really enjoyable. It notably has the same ending as Halo Reach.

7. Touched by an Outer God

Same as the previous one, just a really enjoyable shooter, but I like how the upgrade system and mechanics tie-in with the narrative. My jaw dropped a couple of times, I wasn't expecting it to develop like this.

6. The Diving Bell

This one's just nice, everything that happens in the ocean is more or less appealing to me and I like how the story plays out. Didn't scare me or make me uncomfortable, but I really like how it progressed.

5. Undiscovered

The concept is crazy cool, a found footage but it's a film from the 40s and you play it in 2nd person. The visuals are cool, Torple Dook just knows how to do it. It does look sort of silly however, and the skeletons talking in RE4 voice lines surely doesn't help, but it's enjoyable till the end.

4. Sucker for Love

Not really my kind of stuff but it's just so well made, the art is stunning, not only talking about the designs but also the interface, and the mechanics for you to make the rituals are pretty engaging. Didn't make me go crazy (heh) but it's p cool

3. Squirrel Stapler

It's just cozy, gameplay loop is a little addicting even if it gets hard in later days and it's silly fun. Not my favorite Szymanski game by any means and I would've preferred Pony Factory as a full release, but it's concept of "lovecraftian" is a nice break from everything you see up till then.

2. Solipsis

I've hated on Daniel Mullins before, I thought he was a hack that could only make the same game over and over again, tired creepypasta ARG bullshit. Even Inscryption, which I enjoyed quite a bunch, falls victim to this after the 1st third. But this one showed me that he can actually make some really cool stuff. Looks and plays ok but it's the "rationalize" mechanic that really ties-in the game nicely, it's a concept transported to mechanics in an absolute perfect way and gives one of the most memorable moments in the series (GO MAD). This is one of the few favs from these collections that I wouldn't like as a full game, I think the way the mechanics work just lends itself for a short experience like this.

1. Charlotte's Exile

Really damn engaging. The concept on itself is cool, it's despicted in the most basic and barebones way ever with the alien language being a 1:1 to english but with different symbols, but even then it's just so fun to look for each equivalent in different pages and play detective for a bit. Would love a full-release, a fully realized puzzle-logic game about figuring out an alien language. Loved it, amazing stuff.

Definitely better than the previous one overall, the main theme being more defined allowed for more connection in-between the games, the quality of each of them is also improved with only a couple of them that I consider truly bad and the playable launcher is the cherry on top. Sets the standard for future entries, which may be a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

This one's theme is "entertainment" which I like because it's focused enough while still leaving plenty room for various interpretations. The main drawback here is that almost all devs are newcomers, which makes the game lack a big selling point since they're all unknown, but it's cool to see some different stuff.

Unlike most people apparently, I enjoyed the hub. Lacks meaningful puzzles like 2 or some well-paced dialogue like 3 and The Hunt, but the setting is pretty cool. I also really liked the monster, creepy design, very disgusting and while it becomes predictable, it's first appearances came off as a surprise for me. While The Hunt ended with a showdown against the monster, it was right at the climax and it wasn't particularly well animated or a difficult chase either. In most hubs there is no real threat, and I thought that was the same case here when the monster first appeared at the stage. But after that you see the damn thing chasing you and it becomes a different story. Gave me a couple of good scares. Honestly quite enjoyed the setting and atmosphere, story was fine too.

12. Interim

Idk what that was, kind of embarrassing lol. I think it was going for a Videodrome kind of thing but it's just all over the place and janky af, couldn't enjoy it or take it seriously.

11. Spirit Guardian

Kind of the same, I like the visuals but the nanny herself is really dumb and the way you fend her off is so stupid it loses all tension in the first couple of minuts. Puzzles are really silly too, idk, seemed more like a meme game.

10. Ludomalica

This one's a shame because the concept and ideas are really cool but it doesn't delve too far into any of them. The "you must be alone" thing gets old faster than it should and the game can't come up with anything else aside from running you around turning off the lights. The monster isn't scary at all either. Would've liked to see it build up more tension, but flopped hard quite quickly.

9. Rotten Stigma

Idk what this one was going for, it doesn't even fit the theme I think? I mean you could argue the sports center serves as entertainment but idk. Played like a mini-silent hill thing and it was actually fun but there was little aside from that, the scares were pretty silly. I had fun with it but that's about it.

8. Hunsvotti

This one was too silly but it was also fun, I wasn't expecting it to end like that lol. It's a really short game but it sets up the story nicely. Fun stuff.

7. Vestige

This one was silly too but I respect the commitment to the concept. This one gave me the most scares and the game within a game is really fun, really stupid too but it's genuinely well polished lol, I liked how it combined 2 completely different types of games. Had a good time

6. Beyond the Curtain

I've seen people shit in this one and I don't get it! There's nothing besides walking and the scenery isn't that interesting but it's quite short and keeps you on edge once the knife buddy appears. Nothing particularly amazing imo but it's well designed. Ending is fucked up.

5. The Book of Blood

Really liked the concept here but some stuff completely trivializes how it works, like the evade mechanic when the clown tries to stab you. There's also the thing with keeping your stand secure by locking the doors and looking through the windows, would've liked to see more of that, or that the game forced you more to explore the place in which it takes place. It's good tho, never drops the ball and is very focused despite the flaws, the scary factor quickly became meaningless tho.

4. Resver

The style's amazing and that's about the point I think, I can understand the general aspects of the story but it's left very vague. Still enjoyed it a lot, the visuals keep it going for a while.

3. We Never Left

This one would have surprised me more if I hadn't played Stories Untold before, although the concept is definitely explored better here, made me nervous more than I'd like to admit. One of the more polished ones for sure.

2. Gallerie

Holy shit this thing's long, I thought Squirrel Stapler was the longest Dread X stuff but this can go on for like 2 hours or so lol. I liked a lot of ideas here, didn't fully buy the asmr at first but I enjoyed how the rest played out. The "horror by stress" thing, the "trying to decipher a language" thing, the setting itself, idk, really enjoyed it. It definitely felt like too much sometimes, but the final thing feels very consistent, might be the most ambitious release in any collection.

1. Karao

I WOKE UP EARLY THIS MORNING. This one takes the cake tho, everything's just on point, looks cool, plays cool, story ends up being cool, I was expecting it to the predictable way but it absolutely delivered.

Overall, this one's all over the place. They didn't have a strict time limit like previous collections apparently so that's why you end up with lengthy and/or polished stuff like Gallerie, Karao or We Never Left and then some really short and/or limited stuff like Hunsvotti and Ludomalica. I absolutely wouldn't put it below other collections though, there's more to like than to hate here, and I think it has more to do with all devs being newcomers this time. The highlights here are really different to what you're used to in these collections by this point so the reaction is sort of understandable, but in many was I consider it superior to the previous ones. Apparently Dread XP is more focused on publishing now and this one might be the last one, at least for a good while, but I personally don't mind it. The hub story feels disconnected from previous ones but I like what it went for.

Glad I played these honestly, I enjoy little horror games but I don't usually go on hunting for them on itch or stuff, so having them delivered like this was quite the treat. It also introduced me to a lot of cool devs and made me appreciate some I knew before even know, so I'm thankful for that.

2 > 3 > 5 > 4 >> 1

They weren't joking about the pig part, huh. Like, there's a scene where the villain sends his evil pigmen to kill you while screaming "Kill him my piggies! More pig! MORE PIG!" and that's when you realise how silly this game is. The pig motif gets so worn-out it just feels like a joke and the story gets progressively more over-the-top to insane levels like an army of pigmen that want to destroy humanity and I just can't anymore. I didn't even fully understand what was the initial intention of creating the Machine. Everything regarding Mandus' children and his relationship with them is what ended up impacting me the most, and even then I feel like it's mostly because of the cool soundtrack and atmosphere rather than whatever the writing wanted to accomplish with how unnecessarily obtuse and DEEP the notes and found documents tried to be. Game tries way too hard.

The atmosphere is cool af tho. Rooms full of giant pipes, valves, steam, sealed doors, regulators and lights. That moment when you finally get to the core of the machine and see this giant room full of catwalks, pipes and faint lights is so fucking cool. Even when you go out to the streets the ost make it a really impactful moment, despite how ridiculous the whole situation is.

Anyway, kinda disappointed about the game itself but I was expecting machines and pigs and it met my expectations so I'm good.