Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken

This game was okay. The art is nice, it has a lot of "polish" but unfortunately the story and writing is terrible. The combination of randomization and resource management with a puzzle/adventure game was pretty creative and so a lot of the gameplay is more like a proof of concept of a new genre and not really as captivating or engaging as hoped. It's crazy that this game came out 4 months after Blue Prince, which did this mash up 1000x times better. The dev must have been working on this long before anyone had heard of Blue Prince, so I appreciate his attempt to meld these genres (and throw in combat as well). The combat system is simple and fairly fun and probably the best part of this game, but the whole resource management structure that it depends on isn't well balanced enough to make it all work. I really enjoyed the previous game 4 Days to Survive but unfortunately this one is kind of a dud.

As someone who has been a fan of Scriptwelder games since 6th grade, I was very exited for this game. I have watched so many playthroughs of Don't Escape 4 I could probably play the game blindfolded at this point. However, I feel like this game detached from the feel of all the past Scriptwelder games, even ones like A Small Talk at the Back of Beyond. I don't know if it was the combat being too immersion breaking, the portraits on characters that I've already assigned a face to, the noticable lack of horror elements compared to other Deep Sleep titles, or just all the new characters that seem to only be there for a specific function and not much else (the librarian, the scientist, the hotel worker, etc.) If you are okay with all of this, then by all means play the game for yourself, but if you want the same feel that Don't Escape 1-4 and Deep Sleep 1-3 gave, then I just can't recommend it.

I adore Scriptwielder's games and I've been following him since way back when he made short flash games on Newgrounds. It's crazy to grow up with a small indie game creator and I think it's even crazier that, almost like Nintendo, I can expect the best out of Scriptwielder's games if and when he releases another thing. (I deeply hope he makes a like "final" game for both Deep Sleep and Don't Escape that tie the two together finally since both games borrow and share a world together.) GREAT GAME and you can play all of his stuff for like dirt cheap on Steam which is both amazing and honestly worth more than it is up for.

Do I recommend this game? Yes, with one major caveat. Scriptwelder's writing, artstyle, humor, and puzzle design is on point, providing a fitting capstone to the Deep Sleep trilogy and a delightful dance with Don't Escape 4, something that is nearly required reading for this game. The combat falls flat. It is a grindy, unpleasant mess that, even when fought through, provides no satisfaction - only the question "why did I bother?" If you're here for the combat, find another game. If you're here for the Scriptwelder experience, put on story mode without shame.

Peak game by Scriptwelder. At first i was a bit gnarly, because this game was going to shift from being a point-and-click game like the previouse installments, into now a top-down game where you move your character to explore, and also a turn-based combat mode now too, where you fight enemies?? I wanted more of the same at first, but the second i actually started playing this game, i immediately welcomed all the new changes, and found it to be a massive breath of fresh air that i needed and appreciated. Visually, the quality jump from his older games is unreal, this game looks and feels amazing. The Story is very solid in my opinion, not just because of the constant references and connected story of the previous games, but i found that this games worldbuilding is VERY compelling because if its complexity and mystery. And also the main characters story is interesting as well, now playing as Amy in this game, (the previous games main character Thomas sister), is great, but also with Amy dealing with her past regrets, and so on, was for me genuine very touching, and i found myself suprisingly invested, normally i dont read ALL the text bubbles, and books, but in this game i did. T…

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