Review frontman12 3/5 · May 19, 2021
My Experience
My co-op partner and I tend to pick up these OnSkull escape room games almost automatically now (close to release), so it had been a while since I'd visited the store page on Steam. I must say I was surprised to see how negatively this one has been received, but I think I understand why. Personally, I felt that Escape …
My co-op partner and I tend to pick up these OnSkull escape room games almost automatically now (close to release), so it had been a while since I'd visited the store page on Steam. I must say I was surprised to see how negatively this one has been received, but I think I understand why. Personally, I felt that Escape First 2 was better than Curious Cases (which was better received on Steam), OnSkull's last offering.
The biggest issue, in my opinion, is with the Psycho Circus level. Although the Psycho Circus level was actually the best one in the first game in this series, it is the worst one in this game and unfortunately, players will likely see it first. On the level select screen, the Psycho Circus level is the first one to the left. The puzzles are just un-intuitive and not well-explained. On two occasions, we had to consult a guide to figure out what the game was asking of us (the chair puzzle, and gleaning a code from the dolls in the case). This level was miserable, and had me questioning whether I ever wanted to play another OnSkull offering.
The next level, the Escape Room Factory, is a bit better, despite the existence of a switch-box puzzle that makes no sense. We only had to consult a guide once for single puzzle, which was an improvement from our experience in Psycho Circus. In general, I feel that my partner and I are a good metric for whether a puzzle is logical. Not only have we played every OnSkull escape room game (Tales of Escape, Escape First, The Experiment, & Curious Cases), but we've played escape room-type games from other developers as well (Last Will, We Were Here, We Were Here Too, etc.). I also liked the aesthetic of the second room.
The final room, The Torture Chamber, is the best of the three. I liked its medieval setting, and the puzzles that involved shields, swords, and a battle map. Were we able to piece together all of the puzzles without consulting guides, and it therefore felt more satisfying than the previous levels.
It took somewhere around 45 minutes on average per room - and for two dollars per room, this seemed worthwhile to us. Although I wouldn't say that Escape First 2 is better than Tales of Escape or the Experiment, I'd likely OnSkull's next best offering.