The Lotus Holidays
- October 18, 2023
- Sad Mask Party
Get on Steam"The Lotus Holidays" is an experimental adventure game that features a trippy and surreal world with an intricate, interactive story. As the winner of a free weekend at the luxurious "Lotus" spa resort, you find yourself trapped and infected with a mysterious virus. The game offers exploration, decision making, and a variety of gameplay styles, including first-person shooter and dating simulator. Uncover the secrets of the "Lotus" while navigating a deeply personal and immersive experience.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a compelling and complex story with multiple endings, encouraging exploration and replayability.
- Visually stunning with a unique art style that enhances the surreal atmosphere, making each location feel like a work of art.
- The sound design is immersive, with music and sound effects that contribute significantly to the overall experience.
- The game can feel restrictive at times, with forced adherence to the story that limits player choices and exploration.
- Some technical issues, such as bugs affecting gameplay and achievements, detract from the overall experience.
- The pacing can be uneven, with moments of frustration due to sudden shifts in gameplay style or unexpected challenges.
- story30 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as intriguing and complex, featuring a compelling plot with unexpected twists, a large cast of characters, and multiple branching choices that lead to different endings. While the narrative is immersive and enhanced by stunning visuals and atmospheric music, some players feel restricted by the game's linearity, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite these limitations, the combination of storytelling and aesthetics creates a captivating psychological horror experience that encourages player engagement.
“This game has it all: a compelling plot full of twists that you won't see coming, but they still make perfect sense for the narrative, stunningly artistic visuals, fun characters, interesting and challenging puzzles, and surprising scares.”
“The story is much more complex and much easier to follow, with different characters, branching choices, and even 7 different endings that can be unlocked depending on the choices you made, the relationships you established, and most importantly, your spirit of observation.”
“A horror thriller experience that abounds with great aesthetics, detailed animation, and beautiful atmospheric music that complements the plot progression.”
“Sigh...this could have been a really cool game, but the forced adherence to the story ruins it.”
“Things you can choose (like opening a door that's unlocked) can suddenly be prevented in order to keep you from straying from the story route the game makes you follow.”
“It's more story-driven than Mango, but still leaves a lot of things to the player's imagination.”
- graphics20 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 35 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The game's graphics are praised for their stunning artistic style, featuring a soothing pastel palette and a minimalist texture that creates a visually captivating experience. Reviewers highlight the detailed animations and vibrant color combinations that make each location feel like a unique painting, enhancing the overall atmosphere and complementing the compelling narrative. The visuals, combined with atmospheric music, contribute to a memorable and immersive horror thriller experience.
“A horror thriller experience that abounds with great aesthetics, detailed animation, and beautiful atmospheric music that complements the plot progression.”
“- The graphics are much more coherent, even though they still maintain a deliciously 'artsy' style that continuously strikes the eyes of the player with crazy combinations of colors, shapes, and surfaces, to the point that each location feels like a painting inside which you have the honor to move freely.”
“The visuals feel less like an art student's enthusiastic, but seemingly first attempt at creating a scene in Unity.”
“The graphics are much more coherent, even though they still maintain a deliciously 'artsy' style that continuously strikes the eyes of the player with crazy combinations of colors, shapes, and surfaces.”
“Sporting a soothing pastel style, textured in a minimalist manner, the visuals are softer.”
- music12 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The music in the game is praised for its atmospheric quality and ability to enhance the overall experience, seamlessly complementing the visuals and plot progression. However, some users note that the music can be sporadic, leading to moments of silence that make its sudden reappearance feel jarring, akin to a jump-scare. Overall, the soundtrack contributes significantly to the game's unique and memorable ambiance.
“A horror thriller experience that abounds with great aesthetics, detailed animation, and beautiful atmospheric music that complements the plot progression.”
“This is exactly the formula that, combined with the gorgeous visuals and the fantastic music, makes this game a unique and unforgettable experience, much like its predecessor.”
“Upon entering its world, cheerful elevator music starts playing.”
“The music is equally charming but so sporadic that when it starts to play after a long period of silence – it’s almost a jump-scare of its own.”
“Just runs out of music sometimes :)”
- humor8 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game effectively blends surrealism, horror, and humor, creating a unique narrative experience that can shift unexpectedly between these tones. While most endings maintain a consistent pace, some abrupt changes may surprise players, leading to mixed reactions. Overall, the humor is woven into the experimental nature of the game, offering a quirky and unpredictable journey that may not suit everyone's taste.
“Narrative adventure combining surreal, horror, and humor energies all at once.”
“It mixes several narrative genres (from funny to scary) in the big boiling pot of wacky surrealism, and it serves it to you as the chef intended – some things may be way beyond your palate, but you can’t tailor the dish to your liking; you can skip it and go for the next one instead.”
“Most of the endings will simply continue the narrative-set pace and will take you to either horror- or humor-land, but there were a few that popped up with such an unexpected action (action-light, really, but still) or timed section (that, according to developers, isn’t a 'real' timer – see their comments on the forum) that I was taken aback by such sudden change.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users express that the game evokes a sense of emotional flatness or lack of depth, describing their experience as feeling "pedestrian" and unremarkable.
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its stunning aesthetics, intricate animations, and evocative music, all of which enhance the horror thriller experience and effectively support the narrative.
“A horror thriller experience that abounds with great aesthetics, detailed animation, and beautiful atmospheric music that complements the plot progression.”
- gameplay2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Gameplay is characterized by a sense of discovery and surprise, keeping players engaged as they navigate through unexpected elements and challenges.
“I was happy to simply get to the bottom of things, although that bottom brought an element of surprise to the gameplay in more than one way.”
