The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe – Spotlight

“Stanley’s story is told here.” The Stanley Parable, a video game in which you take on the role of Stanley, a lowly employee at a large office building, is sure to have you repeating that line over and over again.

The irony is that those of us who spend our free time playing video games are doing the exact same thing. Because of this, it can be a little unnerving to have it pointed out to us. Even video games are simply a matter of pressing the right buttons at the right time.

If you’re not a fan of fourth-wall-breaking commentary, I recommend skipping the entire Stanley Parable. In this game, you’ll encounter a witty narrator who will constantly remind you of your role in the story, as well as numerous meta jokes and other forms of dry humour.

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe’s story is the primary reason for playing the game, so it’s difficult to review it objectively. Because the game’s twists and turns are what set it apart, discussing them would be a waste of time. How the Stanley Parable works is that it is a series of “what-if” scenarios.

What if Stanley decides to pass through here? What if Stanley decides to enter through this particular entrance? What happens if Stanley knocks on this door fifty times?

In other words, it’s your responsibility to do the research. There are a wide variety of stories to choose from, all with varying lengths depending on your choices. The beginning of almost every game is the same. In the beginning, Stanley is alone in his office and does not know where his coworkers are. It’s up to you how Stanley’s story ends from here.

This would be a disservice to what The Stanley Parable is. Now that I’ve said that, I’ll say that the execution is superb, as is the humour. Granted, I enjoy a certain type of dry humour, which is what makes The Stanley Parable so amusing to me.

For those of you who don’t know, this was a PC game that first came out back in 2013. New content has been added to this re-release, which has been dubbed the Ultra Deluxe Edition. My knowledge of The Stanley Parable prior to this point is nil, so while the majority of the new content is clearly distinct from what was there before, I’m not sure I can speak to whether or not previous players would be satisfied with the additions. At least five hours of engrossing narrative gameplay can be expected from newcomers, based on my personal experience. This may be too short for some, but quality is always better than quantity, right?

Because it’s a walking simulator, don’t expect too much. At least for me, the graphics are simple and the controls are straightforward, but this doesn’t detract from the overall experience. For me, the biggest gripe is that some endings appear to be influenced when they are not, and this leads to re-running some of the same endings.. Doing the same thing over and over again in a game where you’re already playing through a lot of the same sequences can make it feel a little stale.

For the sake of completeness, I’ll mention that the Stanley Parable is best experienced over the course of several play sessions. It’s possible that restarting the game after you’ve already played it once will alter the outcome. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe does not take advantage of the Xbox Series X’s game suspension feature. If you don’t manually close the game on the home screen, you might miss this feature. As a simple reminder, I’ll leave you with this:

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Edition is a fantastic game in every way possible. First-time players of The Stanley Parable will be delighted to learn that it is now available on Xbox, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to those who enjoy choice-based narrative games. The visuals aren’t anything to write home about, but I don’t think the game suffers from simplified visuals or controls in any significant way. It’s all about the story lines, after all.

The Narrator, on the other hand, has the power to captivate you. Taking away his own personal shout out would be a travesty of justice. As soon as I heard him speak in The Stanley Parable, I knew it was a game I had to play. The delivery and execution of his lines are flawless, and he really is the star of the show.

You won’t be let down by The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, and you’ll love the new content! It’s a great time.