Luto

Wow. What a profound, impactful story of loss.

Luto has a lot of parallel with the Stanley Parable, one of my favorite games ever made. There's a lot of clever puzzles, a lot of interesting set pieces, and a lot of input from a seemingly benevolent narrator who--over time--changes to something other, something different.

I believe the strength of Luto lies moreso in its storytelling, and if you go in expecting a new-wave horror game such as VIsage or PT, you'll be constantly finding faults and disappointments due to confirmation bias. As someone who actually thought PT was underwhelming, and the games it influenced often about as deep as a puddle, I went into this very, very grateful that it quickly diverged from what started off feeling like another tired homage to one of the least spectacular 'games' I've experienced. It shares far more with Stanley Parable and In Sound Mind.

Chapter 4's layout can be a bit confusing and require some backtracking due to constant environmental changes, however it is a minor complaint in the overall totality of the experience.

Plenty of reviews online will cover the story, so I will just leave it at; I am grateful I played Luto, and The Drifter may now have a true contender for my GOTY.

🎨 Realistic and polished graphics Work well even if the art direction isn’t particularly original.

🧩 Surprising gameplay and puzzles Clever, fun, well-balanced, and very diverse. The situations are full of fresh ideas, smartly executed — definitely one of the game’s strongest points.

👻 Atmosphere and sophisticated meta aspect The game has the elegance of never relying on cheap or poorly executed jumpscares.

📜 Intriguing but uneven story Captivating at first, but eventually goes off in too many directions. It lacks personality and coherence, which lessens its overall impact.

🌀 Luto is a curious mix between P.T., The Stanley Parable, What Remains of Edith Finch, and Gone Home. Those are excellent references, but the game struggles to find its own identity and ends up with an experience that lacks real impact.

📚 With the references a bit better integrated, it could have easily been flawless.

✨ Overall, it’s very entertaining and remains a good game.