This review contains spoilers
Most games are interesting, a few are fun, and one isn't great. Below are my thoughts on the individual games.
Squirrel Stapler:
An interesting one. I enjoyed the gameplay, and the introduction of bearsquirrels made the game pretty scary, although that kind of went away when I discovered I could fairly easily kill them. The map might be a little too big, but I personally didn't mind walking. It let me soak up the atmosphere, notably the contrast between the peaceful nature with the birds singing and the actions conducted by the player. The ending was cool as well, with a pretty creepy build up.
Another Late Night:
I didn't find it particularly good or interesting. It had a few bugs who plagued the immersion a bit.
Acadeltra:
Not sure about this one. It plays well on the fear of the unknown and the dark, but the plot is hard to piece together and the monster was confusing and also it sounded like an upset cat for real. I liked that it didn't require me to replay the whole game to get the other ending though, that would've been a chore.
The Thing in the Lake:
I didn't finish it. I wanted to like, but it was pretty punishing and that ended up turning me off. It's frustrating to have to restart the whole chapter every time you're killed, especially when it's in an unfair way, like when the ape happens to spawns right through the exit you're trying to go through. Cool visual style though.
Undiscovered:
It's pretty okay overall. The camera being in an actual character filming you is a pretty smart, and it also made things tense at times because I couldn't control what I was seeing well.
Sucker for Love:
It was cute and interesting, doing the different rituals was fun. The lady was nice too.
Sollipsis:
It was interesting, I liked the segments where you could see the main character's face. Something about it was creepy.
To the End of the World:
It was alright-ish. I appreciate the game trying to set up a universe with a story and everything. The axe shotgun was an interesting concept too. The execution isn't the best however, and I usually games with retro graphics but this one doesn't look great, and the presentation is a bit weird at times (like the ammo boxes). Moreover there are weird texture glitches were the game uses a bookshelf texture sometimes, regardless of what the object is supposed to be. The voice acting of the protagonist is a bit cheesy too, but I suppose that's part of the charm, and it's nice that it has voice acting in the first place.
Touched by an Outer God:
The most fun out of the bunch for me. It's just very enjoyable, and it's fun to see how much the upgrades mutates the main character's body, and also how it affects the story as well. The cartoon style is also pretty cool, although I wish the levels made a bit more sense.
The Toy Shop:
Okay overall. The "twist" is fun, although I wish it was a bit more subtle at times, and the story a bit more clear. The platforming section kind of sucks because the character is hard to control and there's a bug that can make your character walk forward instead of being locked to left or right, but it's an interesting mix of genres. The chase sequence was pretty good too, it had me pretty scared. I liked that the game reused the jump upgrade for the boss as well, so it wasn't just a gimmick for one part of the game.
The Diving Bell:
Seeing the character slowly descend into madness was pretty entertaining ngl. The dead crew members talking really creeped me out. I wasn't too bothered by the "backtracking" because the map kind of changes each time. Sadly there was a bug with the controls, anytime I pressed left it also triggered the "guidance" so I think the creepy text that pops up sometimes kind of its impact. There's also a bug that lets you go in the ocean by walking through windows in the mess hall which kind of breaks the immersion.
Charlotte's Exile:
Pretty fun and original, figuring out the alphabet was enjoyable. I did NOT notice there was a monster in the background so it scared the heck out of me when it stole the box. A good jumpscare since it can only happen once in a playthrough and the rest of the game is very calm. Had to look up the solution for the last puzzle but it was nice a game.
As for the puzzle house itself, it's a nice addition. Same goes for the storyline, even if it was far from anything mind-blowing. The short comic you unlock with the tapes was okay too, although I don't particularly like comics to begin with. The ending of it was had some nice art.
Squirrel Stapler:
An interesting one. I enjoyed the gameplay, and the introduction of bearsquirrels made the game pretty scary, although that kind of went away when I discovered I could fairly easily kill them. The map might be a little too big, but I personally didn't mind walking. It let me soak up the atmosphere, notably the contrast between the peaceful nature with the birds singing and the actions conducted by the player. The ending was cool as well, with a pretty creepy build up.
Another Late Night:
I didn't find it particularly good or interesting. It had a few bugs who plagued the immersion a bit.
Acadeltra:
Not sure about this one. It plays well on the fear of the unknown and the dark, but the plot is hard to piece together and the monster was confusing and also it sounded like an upset cat for real. I liked that it didn't require me to replay the whole game to get the other ending though, that would've been a chore.
The Thing in the Lake:
I didn't finish it. I wanted to like, but it was pretty punishing and that ended up turning me off. It's frustrating to have to restart the whole chapter every time you're killed, especially when it's in an unfair way, like when the ape happens to spawns right through the exit you're trying to go through. Cool visual style though.
Undiscovered:
It's pretty okay overall. The camera being in an actual character filming you is a pretty smart, and it also made things tense at times because I couldn't control what I was seeing well.
Sucker for Love:
It was cute and interesting, doing the different rituals was fun. The lady was nice too.
Sollipsis:
It was interesting, I liked the segments where you could see the main character's face. Something about it was creepy.
To the End of the World:
It was alright-ish. I appreciate the game trying to set up a universe with a story and everything. The axe shotgun was an interesting concept too. The execution isn't the best however, and I usually games with retro graphics but this one doesn't look great, and the presentation is a bit weird at times (like the ammo boxes). Moreover there are weird texture glitches were the game uses a bookshelf texture sometimes, regardless of what the object is supposed to be. The voice acting of the protagonist is a bit cheesy too, but I suppose that's part of the charm, and it's nice that it has voice acting in the first place.
Touched by an Outer God:
The most fun out of the bunch for me. It's just very enjoyable, and it's fun to see how much the upgrades mutates the main character's body, and also how it affects the story as well. The cartoon style is also pretty cool, although I wish the levels made a bit more sense.
The Toy Shop:
Okay overall. The "twist" is fun, although I wish it was a bit more subtle at times, and the story a bit more clear. The platforming section kind of sucks because the character is hard to control and there's a bug that can make your character walk forward instead of being locked to left or right, but it's an interesting mix of genres. The chase sequence was pretty good too, it had me pretty scared. I liked that the game reused the jump upgrade for the boss as well, so it wasn't just a gimmick for one part of the game.
The Diving Bell:
Seeing the character slowly descend into madness was pretty entertaining ngl. The dead crew members talking really creeped me out. I wasn't too bothered by the "backtracking" because the map kind of changes each time. Sadly there was a bug with the controls, anytime I pressed left it also triggered the "guidance" so I think the creepy text that pops up sometimes kind of its impact. There's also a bug that lets you go in the ocean by walking through windows in the mess hall which kind of breaks the immersion.
Charlotte's Exile:
Pretty fun and original, figuring out the alphabet was enjoyable. I did NOT notice there was a monster in the background so it scared the heck out of me when it stole the box. A good jumpscare since it can only happen once in a playthrough and the rest of the game is very calm. Had to look up the solution for the last puzzle but it was nice a game.
As for the puzzle house itself, it's a nice addition. Same goes for the storyline, even if it was far from anything mind-blowing. The short comic you unlock with the tapes was okay too, although I don't particularly like comics to begin with. The ending of it was had some nice art.