The Stanley Parable is... is... wow...

[Somebloke]

I really love the arguments people bring to not buy an awesome 10 dollar game.

- It was free back when it contained less contend and looked worse. UNACCEPTABLE!
- One of the thousand jokes isn't funny. UNACCEPTABLE!
- The boring story, that nobody cares about, only takes about 2 minutes. UNACCEPTABLE!

No no, it is perfectly valid to not like what you and I like. Everybody are not entertained or challenged by the same things -- especially in scenarios where, for example, the thing is a truism or repeat experience for them (You've already seen film B, that does thing X better, so, in your mind, what's so good about film A? ...even if film A did X first and possibly inspired film B).

I have one memory etched into my mind, where I was watching an episode of Blackadder and was having a wicked laugh at a particularly nasty remark, wrapped in the usual convoluted metaphor, from Edmund to Baldrick. The person next to me does not find that sort of thing entertaining and didn't see the joke - at all, but chuckled along politely and offered: "Yes, those are funny hats, that they are wearing, aren't they..?"
Not a stupid person; just different tastes, values, and/or points in life.

Some are just trolls, of course, trying to get a rise out of you -- once uncertains have squandered one chance to prove themselves actual debaters: Ignore.

I'll admit that I am taking one piece of base satisfaction from all this: Back when Dear Esther went commercial, there were some people who tried to use The Stanley Parable as a weapon against the former, and any these people who may be doing a forum round this time as well, now find themselves on the receiving end of pretty much their own old arguments.

 

[smokingplane]

So let's look at RPG's now. Particularly western ones. Oftentimes they will offer you branching pathways in a very straightforward manner. In say, a dialogue choice. Is making that decision not a part of gameplay?

In the rpgs that spring to mind (skyrim, dishonoured, mass effect,..) I don't consider the dialog options gameplay. They just pause the game, usually freezing time in the gameworld so that you can mow your lawn before you choose to continue playing. That's not a game mechanic, it's a pause button, where the resume play button is hidden under some dialog.
Mostly you can spot the 'wright' answer (the one that progresses the game) but you have the ability to dick around with other pieces of dialog untill you get the one you want/need.

The story and dialog might be a (big) part of the game, it should be there to give context to the game, but it's not gameplay, just as in an old arcade 'on rails shooter' the part where you move to the next scene once everthing killable is dead isn't gameplay (you drop your gun and relax for a sec untill the game starts rolling again). You need those things to get a good game but that part is not gameplay.

Another analogy, tv/movies use multiple camera angles in conversations to get their story told in a visually pleasing way. Would you consider the swapping between viewing angles a part of the story, or just a technical trick to visually get a better scene, thus enhancing the story, without being it a part of the story?

The problem is the definition of gameplay for different people I guess. So I'll try to define what I see as gameplay.
I think gameplay is the part of the game that gets harder if you adjust the difficulty.
This doesn't need to be adjustable by the player, I think we can all agree that every mario game for example could be more difficult by just adding opponents (or make them faster) there is still an adjustable difficulty, it's just fixed by the devs.
If there is no difficulty to adjust, there usually is no gameplay to speak off and then I don't call it a game, it's something else.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Besides the highly pretentious ending that thinks you are too stupid to understand the point of the game, I am enjoying myself so far. I haven't played too much yet but one of the endings was very depressing. I really did want to stay and enjoy the colourful room with the narrator but didn't really want have the game going forever. Maybe he knew that if I actually stayed with him forever, I would have to waste away at my computer chair and die. His voice sounded so sad when I made my final crash down. I would like to believe that he really did want me to be happy but I'm not sure. Haven't seen such a depressing moment in a video game for quite some time.

 

[Olas]

I'm sorry but I just can't pay money for this. The Stanley Parable is a terrific "game" but it's just not long enough or substantial enough to be a commercial product. It makes Portal look epic by comparison.

So I caved and bought it. Oh well, it was actually pretty good. I'm going to try and milk value out of it by convincing my friends to play it and seeing their reaction. The Stanley Parable is more of an experience than a game, and this is the definitive version of that experience.

 

[Olas]

I'm sorry but I just can't pay money for this. The Stanley Parable is a terrific "game" but it's just not long enough or substantial enough to be a commercial product. It makes Portal look epic by comparison.

So I caved and bought it. Oh well, it was actually pretty good. I'm going to try and milk value out of it by convincing my friends to play it and seeing their reaction. The Stanley Parable is more of an experience than a game, and this is the definitive version of that experience.

]

I hope you'll enjoy The Stanley Parable, once it comes around at a pricepoint that is suitable to you.

After watching this...


... I think $0 is a fair price point for this bad joke of a game, assuming I'd ever want to play it.

So... because it contains a silly easter egg that no one in their right mind would find, it's worthless. Noted.

Are you sure he's not talking about the baby game? Because while that might be terrible itself, the fact that they actually included dialogue and an entire ending for if you push the button for 4 hours is kinda awesome.

 

[Amaror]

snip

I never claimed that it wasn't ok to not like the stanley parable.
I was criticizing stupid arguments made against the game.
They are free to not like it all they want, but they shouldn't try to justify their decision with a one minute video of one tiny part of the game that they watched.

 

[XMark]

I liked the Stanley Parable. I had played the free mod before, but the new game has enough extra content and extra detail to make it worth it. It's a non-game game, kind of like Dear Esther but less pretentious, funnier, and more interactive.

Kind of wish there was more to it, though. Less than thee hours in, I think I've followed every possible path through the story.

 

[Tyelcapilu]

It was great...
but I don't feel it really accomplished much more than the original.
It just brought it to a mint shine.

Either way, it's worth $15
I'd really like to see the devs work on a different project, there's a lot of potential.
I also feel it has the perfect length. Any more and it'd honestly just be a "get every ending" completionist gambit.

Also, have there ever been any horror games in the vein of this game? I love the way it takes control from you but leaves you in control at the same time.

 

[SweetShark]

So.......I played the game for a good 4 hours, and I have only one [a lie] question:

Spoiler

The Adventure Line is still alive after the "Confusing Ending"!!!!!!!!! I saw it walking around inside an office when the game restarted!!!!!! Were the heck the Adventure Line go?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

[THeFraz]

This game is about experiencing it for yourself. Watching someone play it on Youtube can't cut it. Playing it, and being completely surprised at what the endings behold and teach you is very rewarding, and keeps you engaged looking for other ways to alter the paths you take. Would someone say to just watch The Walking Dead? There is very little gameplay in that, and you can just watch someone make the setpiece decisions on Youtube. However, without you experiencing it, the whole thing is diluted, where you could have learned things about yourself. Surprise and mystery are powerful tools of engagement, and can top even what we are comfortable with as gameplay.

 

[II2]

So, I bought it today and played through to a bunch of different endings, in the space of about 75 minutes. Kinda knew what I was getting into, but hadn't played any earlier iterations.

Kinda has an Anti-Chamber or Portal feel to it's structure by way of Douglas Adams writing. I enjoyed it well enough, but I wouldn't unreservedly say, "you've got to play this!!!" ... I can't actually say in honesty it's like 'nothing I've ever played before', but it is a quirky, fun nugget. The $12USD price point may be a bit steep for the mechanics and gameplay time it offers, though I've felt stronger buyers remorse on other things (like scratch to win tickets, mislabeled pornography or Dear Esther).

If experimental titles are your thing, than I'd suggest checking it out. Otherwise, wait for the Christmas sale.

 

[Ryleh]

Yeah, definitely reminds me of anti-chamber. And just like anti-chamber it gives me horrendous motion sickness. Does anyone else have to take anti-nausea meds to play it? Or am I just a massive loser...

 

[Mr.Mattress]

This game is making me feel like an idiot (Or a Crazy Person). Since I don't have the game myself, I keep suggesting ideas on the Steam Forums that might lead to some secrets. The problem is, every idea I've had doesn't work or doesn't do anything.

It's playing with my mind!

 

[Zenn3k]

I picked this up last night.

I loved it, I got what is called "The Confusion Ending" on my first play, and I was truly the most happy I've ever been in an video game. Everything leading up to that ending was amazing.

My only gripe is that after about 2 hours, I had more or less experienced everything the game had to offer me. So it didn't really feel worth the $12 when it came to play time, but it was cool.

I REALLY want to show it to a friend of mine very soon, he's the type of gamer that as soon as the game gives him any freedom, he runs around click on things and trying to break the game just to see if its possible...I want to not only show him, but watch him play and see what he does, it'll be fun times.

 

[AWAR]

Am I the only one who found it extremely boring? Yes, I get the whole witty writing, multiple ending, philosophical pondering about free will and such but in essence all you do is

Spoiler

follow path A, wait for narrator to finish talking so you can move on, get ending X, game restarts. Repeat with path B,C and so on for two hours.

The game is entirely story driven and there is very little interaction which makes it a bore. It also repeats itself a lot.
Yes, it's different and unique but so is Antichamber, and at least there is some thought involved in that.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

the bottom line is simply, this is a 1 hour long game

It's patently not an hour long, I put four in during my first session and I've still not seen everything. Check the hours linked from my Escapist profile.

Bottom line is you're saying it's something it's not, perhaps it's best reviewed by people who have actually played it?

you know what? i haven't timed it, but the story the game is based on under even the most convoluted path cannot take 4 hours, unless there's an 'maze ending' hidden somewhere.

There is literally an ending that requires 4 hours of playing in order to get it.