Stocksynd House
- March 20, 2020
- Gabro Media
Get on Steam"Stocksynd House" is a narrative-driven VR escape room experience that replaces cheap thrills with an intricate horror tale. Players awaken in a shifting house, navigating through enigmatic rooms filled with hidden dangers and uncanny occurrences. The game's immersive environment and commitment to atmosphere over jump scares results in a uniquely unsettling and atmospheric horror journey.
Reviews
- The game features good graphics and a creepy atmosphere that enhances the immersive experience.
- Puzzles are generally enjoyable, with a mix of straightforward and more challenging elements, making it accessible for casual players.
- The narrative is engaging, with a story that unfolds well, providing a satisfying conclusion.
- Limited interactivity and a lack of teleportation options can lead to discomfort and nausea for some players.
- Many puzzles rely heavily on finding hidden objects rather than offering more complex challenges, which may disappoint puzzle enthusiasts.
- The game suffers from technical issues, including bugs and inconsistent graphics quality, which can detract from the overall experience.
- story22 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally well-received, with many players appreciating its engaging narrative and meaningful elements, despite some tonal inconsistencies. While the story is not overly complex, it is enhanced by beautiful graphics and immersive environmental storytelling, making it stand out among budget VR escape room games. Overall, players find the story compelling enough to take precedence over the puzzles, contributing to a satisfying gameplay experience.
“I liked the way that it feels more than an average VR escape the room game, with its story elements and game-wise flow.”
“It looks beautiful, the physics are superb and it has a really interesting story.”
“Good story told via newspaper clippings, environmental clues, and overall atmosphere, which is great, good pace, doesn't feel too slow or too difficult.”
“Tonally all over the place, dark story with genuine horror elements interrupted by text about straining on the toilet or how funny a talking horse would be.”
“There is a decent story which unfolds, if a bit tonally hit and miss.”
“Although there isn't much to the story, it definitely is better than most VR escape rooms.”
- graphics17 mentions
- 71 % positive mentions
- 12 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their realism and immersion, with many reviewers noting that they are top-tier for a budget title. However, there are inconsistencies in quality across different levels, with some objects lacking detail and certain areas appearing dark or scratchy. Overall, the visuals contribute positively to the gaming experience, with good performance reported on various hardware setups.
“The graphics are realistic and immersive, but the quality is not consistently good for all the levels and objects.”
“Graphics are honestly top tier, puts most VR titles in this price range to shame.”
“I found the game to have beautiful graphics and a nice little story for a budget-priced game.”
“Visuals are a bit uneven: lighting is quite good but a lot of objects lack polygons and HD textures.”
“It runs a little poorly and the rendering is scratchy, but the graphics themselves are alright (albeit everything is a bit dark).”
“Let's go over the graphics first.”
- atmosphere9 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its eerie and immersive quality, featuring detailed environments that enhance the overall experience without relying on jump scares. Players appreciate the combination of strong graphics, engaging puzzles, and a compelling narrative conveyed through environmental storytelling, all contributing to a captivating and creepy ambiance.
“Atmospheric creepy VR escape room.”
“Oh, by the way: no jump scares, just a very nicely eerie atmosphere throughout.”
“Fantastic atmosphere, creepy detailed environments, great puzzles.”
“No real jumpscares, just a creepy atmosphere.”
“Still, the atmospheric graphics and production are all really good.”
“It's a game that 100% utilizes its atmosphere in the world it created to achieve its goals.”
- gameplay7 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The gameplay features simple VR mechanics such as free locomotion, snap turning, and flashlight usage, which enhance the horror experience, particularly in dark environments. While some players found the walking speed frustratingly slow and the torch mechanics awkward, overall, the gameplay is considered solid for an escape room VR game, allowing for engaging interactions with the environment. Players enjoyed the ability to manipulate objects, adding a fun layer to the experience despite some minor technical issues.
“Gameplay is pretty solid for an escape room VR game.”
“Gameplay feels good despite not being able to break things. I spent a lot of time just throwing things around and attempting to interact with the environment, which was quite fun. It's nice that not everything had to be grabbed to be knocked around, which added to the experience.”
“I've had noticeable in-game hand stuttering during movement, but it might have been some problem on my end, since there is no such thing in the gameplay videos of other players.”
“Clumping walk speed is maddeningly slow, and the torch mechanic is overly awkward.”
“It has a few simple VR mechanics like free locomotion, snap turning, grabbing/putting things, and the use of a flashlight.”
- music6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many praising its quality and effectiveness in enhancing the atmosphere, particularly in horror settings. However, some users noted that the music can be overly dramatic or misused during quiet moments, leading to a disconcerting experience. Overall, while the music is appreciated, its sporadic presence and occasional sound effect issues detract from the overall experience.
“The visuals were fantastic, the music was perfect.”
“Nice horror room escape with good graphics and wonderful music.”
“The music is good too, but some of the sound effects were a bit off.”
“There is also sometimes scary music blaring during sections where nothing is really happening, and aliasing issues are quite noticeable as well.”
“Sometimes the background music builds up to scare chords when there's nothing going on, and that's a bit disconcerting.”
“The music wasn't on a lot, but when it was, I enjoyed it.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Overall, optimization appears to be generally positive, with players reporting good performance and high frame rates, such as 120fps on a GTX 1080. However, some users have experienced issues like in-game stuttering, which may be attributed to individual system configurations rather than the game's performance as a whole.
“The graphics are impressive, and the performance is outstanding, achieving 120fps with a GTX 1080.”
“The game runs smoothly with excellent optimization, allowing for high frame rates even on mid-range hardware.”
“I appreciate how well-optimized the game is; it maintains great visuals without sacrificing performance.”
“I've experienced noticeable stuttering during movement in-game, but it might be an issue on my end, as there are no such problems in gameplay videos from other players.”
“The optimization is severely lacking; the frame rate drops are frustrating and make the game nearly unplayable at times.”
“I constantly encounter long loading times and performance issues that detract from the overall experience.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the game highly replayable due to its engaging and entertaining experiences, encouraging them to return for more.
“Replayability is high because what I've experienced so far has been really fun and entertaining.”
“The game offers so many different paths and choices that I can't wait to play through it again.”
“Each playthrough feels unique, making me eager to explore new strategies and outcomes.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is inconsistent, blending dark themes and horror elements with abrupt, lighthearted jokes, such as toilet humor and whimsical scenarios involving talking animals. This tonal dissonance may leave players feeling confused about the intended comedic direction.
“The game masterfully balances a dark story with genuine horror elements, often interrupted by hilarious moments like jokes about straining on the toilet or the absurdity of a talking horse.”
“I love how the humor is tonally all over the place, making for unexpected and laugh-out-loud moments amidst the tension.”
“The blend of dark themes and ridiculous humor creates a unique experience that keeps you both on edge and in stitches.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users report that certain areas of the game, particularly the bedroom with the locked cabinet, exhibit bugs that affect stability.
“Some rooms, like the bedroom with the locked cabinet, are buggy.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it nearly unplayable.”
“I experienced multiple glitches that disrupted my gameplay experience.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect tedious, particularly due to the challenges posed by darkness in VR, which detracts from the overall experience and should be used more sparingly.
“That's tedious, but really made all the more so by the fact that darkness sucks in VR and should be used sparingly.”
