Stanley once played a PC game back in the day called The Stanley Parable, but never fullly saw all the endings through. After checking out The Beginner's Guide, the follow-up metatextual narrative adventure from Davey Wreden, Stanley began to turn around to the idea of the genre. So when Crows Crows Crows announced they would be repackaging the original experience and adding new content, for a first-time console release, Stanley had to play through it to his heart's content. Upon completing Ultra Deluxe, Stanley had realized that such a game like this is quite difficult to explain without someone experiencing it for themselves.
(Okay, enough with referring to myself as "Stanley". Let's talk about this one.)

The Stanley Parable, in a sense, is a first-person adventure game with branching paths; one that invokes a sense of questioning and intrigue to the player. On paper, it sounds like it may not be a game for everyone, but it invites the average gamer in with surprises and comedy unlike anything ever seen in a video game before. And for those (like myself) who are invested in game development and the industry at hand, it is a brilliant satire for using the same storytelling and game design tropes in repetition, often invoking a sense of insanity to the player as they seek out all the possible endings and paths that lead you to them. One moment you are walking through a loop hallway, then another moment you find yourself trying to stop a nuclear bomb from going off. No spoilers, but there are a LOT of branching story beats that are sure to confuse and humor the hell out of you.
I'm not normally into games like Outer Worlds, Twelve Minutes, and many others lately that require time loops to discover new things, but The Stanley Parable does it in such a way that doesn't feel too monotonous. It really is quite hard to explain to those unfamiliar with these kinds of games, but it truly is one of the more deeper branching narratives I've seen in the genre. I found myself even charting my own paths on a piece of paper and falling down that whole rabbit hole, it's fantastic. And even after all of my hours spent, I feel like I've barely scratched the surface.

As for the Ultra Deluxe content, it doesn't branch out as much as the main content, but rather offers yet another metatextual commentary on the idea of added content and sequalizing video game franchises, even pulling in reviews from the original game at times to make a point. If you're already strapped in from the opening hour or so of the main game, this new story content is an absolutely brilliant follow-up/epilogue to the game that began back in 2011.

I laughed, cried, felt eeriness, fear, and went through various emotions with this game, and I'm sure many others will too. There's just nothing else out there like The Stanley Parable. It's a video game that plays you.
And like the loading screens say, the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the ...