Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken

As a longtime fan of Scriptwelder's games throughout the years and especially the Deep Sleep trilogy, I was enjoying this game thoroughly. It's a great follow-up to both Deep Sleep and 4 Days to Survive, which is why this negative review gives me pain to write. The game is lots of fun but then comes to an absolute grinding halt when you reach the bosses. Considering that they all continuously spawn minions (and/or heal themselves) during their fights, they have an absurd amount of health given your character's combat abilities. Beating them requires minmaxing your stats, testing each skill/item loadout until you inevitably run out of weapons and die, trying again and again, and on top of all that getting good RNG for in-level weapon pickups. Didn't get at least 2 weapons with 3 durability each? Just abandon the dream and start over to save yourself time. Not sure what went into the design when it comes to the bosses but they honestly ruined the game for me. They turned a spooky point...

I'm currently typing this out at midnight having just finished the game. The irony of opting not to go to sleep in favor playing and then writing a review for a game [i]about[/i] sleep is not lost on me, but I think it's worth doing because I want to firmly and clearly say that I really do love this game, which is why I'm writing this in good faith and being through with my criticism. So to cut to the chase of why the red thumb is there? It's the combat. In terms of atmosphere, tone, story, the art, and the core gameplay of exploring the level and picking up bits and pieces to explore further, this game is a solid 8/10. There are some gripes I have that keep it away from a 9 or a flat 10, for example the flashlight has become functionally useless outside of the the occasional "ambushes" in the first two hotel levels and the storage room in the train station, and of course the backtracking to get what you just found to the place you actually need to use it (that's just the nature of t...

This is, by far, the absolute best game of the entire saga. The leap to 3D, the stunning art, and the rich lore I've been craving since the "Don't Escape" and "Deep Sleep" trilogies, everything about this game is exactly what I wanted and needed. The core concept itself is amazing. The ability to summon virtually anything you need gives the game a beautiful and unparalleled sense of freedom. Please, do yourself a favour and buy the complete ScriptWelder bundle. Play all the games in chronological order, and just be happy. ---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☑ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☑...

scriptwelder continues to outdo himself time and time again. An amazing game that answers questions we've had for a long time, but still leaves us with plenty of wondering to do. Lots of tricky puzzles without anything being *too* tricky, and having dream layouts change gives lots of room for replayability. I was nervous about the idea of combat, but it plays like a puzzle of its own. Overall, a fantastic addition to the series. Can't wait for whatever is next!

Not well written, not well balanced. I'll cover the writing first because it's simpler to cover. It's...weird. It doesn't feel like the normal level of writing quality you get from scriptwelder AT ALL, all the dialogue feels so...unfinished. Story beats don't logically connect, characters aren't really given any actual consistent characterization, and what we do get...isn't good. I don't like a single character in this game. Not one. Now, full disclosure, I haven't beaten the game yet. But as you can see, I have played 22 hours as of this review. I've seen most of the game but not all, for reasons I'll explain in the next part of this review. But the writing just feels low effort here, especially compared to scriptwelder's normal level of quality. Frankly, it doesn't feel like scriptwelder actually wrote any of the dialogue. At all. As someone who's played and enjoyed the rest of scripwelder's games, this doesn't feel like their work in the slightest. Now, the mechanics. The game is ...

I'd just kind of like to know where it went wrong honestly. Not like in a snarky way, but I really don't know what held scriptwelder back in this game when I so thoroughly enjoyed his other games. The story was kind of fun and interesting until the semi-free roaming segments when it just became "Oooooo the darkness, we can't explain the darkness; it's all things and nothing at once! It's evil. Oh and there are gods now too. Ummm anything else I forgot? What about some cameo appearances from some fan-favorite scriptwelder games?? That's fun right???" The combat seems to be other people's glaring issue with this game and is what's making me put down this game for good. The bosses are actually ridiculous. At this point I'd be ahead to just drop in, grind an area all the way up to the actual boss encounter, and then start over again to grind the upgrade points. Remember in the Dark Souls games how you'd grind 20 levels before every boss encounter? Yeah me neither. It's actually crazy to ...

scriptwelder = must play. I'm only a few hours in, but i can safely say the game is at least on the level of Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive. The game is insanely cheap for how good it is, and i definitely recommend playing all of his steam games (all insanely cheap !) before this one for obvious reasons. After finishing the game (and 100% it) my feelings are the same. Can't wait for another game from scriptwelder, but sadly it will probably take some time. Probably one of the best games i ever played :)

game's fun but has some flaws boons : - enjoyable, witty dialogue (CAN FEEL LIKE TOO MUCH THOUGH!!!) - strong, easy to understand gameplay - callbacks to every other game in both series' (deep sleep & don't escape) > makes you feel very included as the player - narrative is strong and has a simple direction - RPG element feels quite well-included > inclusion of amnestic pills allows for simple kit building and reconstruction flaws : - gets grindy around mid-way to the end of the game - gameplay can feel repetitive - achievement hunting is a BALL-ACHE when you have to repeat all the puzzles - some puzzles feel unsolveable besides brute force (those who know + imaginary prisons cylinder puzzle) > honourable mention FUCK that water fountain puzzle bro - game feels limited area-wise, could possibly be longer - feels semi-rushed near the end all in all this game was a solid 8.2/10 for me the game initially is an 8, but once you get to grips with it it's a 10. fo...

If you like the previous Deep Sleep games, you'll most likely like this as well. The focus on turn based combat is new, and some don't like it, but I personally think it fits, as not all enemies have to be fought if you're careful.

Heavy combat focus compared to past games in the series. Thin plot and characters, especially compared to Don't Escape 4, which remains the best Scriptwelder game. The dream settings aren't as surreal as those in the previous Deep Sleep games, and a lot of the mystery is taken out by a big infodump at the end of the second level. The gameplay is about collecting consumable weapons and levelling up skills, so that you can beat the combat encounters and get to the next combat encounter. The combat is pretty good once you get the hang of it, but it's not enough to carry the game. I got to one of the bosses and completely lost interest, I doubt I'll finish the game.