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ozzie · 09-02-2010, 08:05 AM

I started playing the game some weeks ago and I'm near the end, so I won't participate, but I may post a few comments anyway.

I like the grahpics, and have no problems with the isometric point of view, though it's a shame that they were downscaled to 256 colours. They certainly would've looked better in 16-bit or so.
I'm not very much a fan of the voice acting, and I agree that the "Diagnosis: Crazy!" line ruins the atmosphere at this point, it seems inconsistent in tone in this regard, but it doesn't happen much later on.
The writing overall is quite solid and thankfully quite succinct compared to other games. Yeah, some dialogues go on for a bit too long, but I've seen much worse. So, if the endless dialogues of TLJ didn't bother you, you shouldn't have problems with Sanitarium either.

You get accustomed to the controls. It took some time for me to figure out how to open the inventory, since it's rather unusual how you do it, and I still walk a lot against walls or other obstacles, which is annoying. And the stairs...yeah, how often did I run up the stairs in Chapter 3 without wanting to do it. But they're acceptable, since you rarely have to react fast anyway. Action scenes are very few, can be repeated endlessly and are easy to master.

Sanitarium is not perfect, it has lots of rough edges. Chapter 2 especially features some pixelhunting, and in later ones you have to walk around a bit too much. Still, it's a unique experience, and I'm glad it exists.
I imagine what Dreamforge could've done next, because they really hit their stride with this title. It's by far their best game. Therefore it's a shame that the studio dissolved shortly after Sanitarium's release.

09-02-2010, 08:05 AM	#23
ozzie Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 726	I started playing the game some weeks ago and I'm near the end, so I won't participate, but I may post a few comments anyway. I like the grahpics, and have no problems with the isometric point of view, though it's a shame that they were downscaled to 256 colours. They certainly would've looked better in 16-bit or so. I'm not very much a fan of the voice acting, and I agree that the "Diagnosis: Crazy!" line ruins the atmosphere at this point, it seems inconsistent in tone in this regard, but it doesn't happen much later on. The writing overall is quite solid and thankfully quite succinct compared to other games. Yeah, some dialogues go on for a bit too long, but I've seen much worse. So, if the endless dialogues of TLJ didn't bother you, you shouldn't have problems with Sanitarium either. You get accustomed to the controls. It took some time for me to figure out how to open the inventory, since it's rather unusual how you do it, and I still walk a lot against walls or other obstacles, which is annoying. And the stairs...yeah, how often did I run up the stairs in Chapter 3 without wanting to do it. But they're acceptable, since you rarely have to react fast anyway. Action scenes are very few, can be repeated endlessly and are easy to master. Sanitarium is not perfect, it has lots of rough edges. Chapter 2 especially features some pixelhunting, and in later ones you have to walk around a bit too much. Still, it's a unique experience, and I'm glad it exists. I imagine what Dreamforge could've done next, because they really hit their stride with this title. It's by far their best game. Therefore it's a shame that the studio dissolved shortly after Sanitarium's release.