Maid of Sker

A competent indie survival-horror. Some people here described it as a walking sim in their reviews, and i sort of understand where they're coming from, but Maid of Sker is actually more akin to Resident Evil and Amnesia. Big gloomy manor with keys and items to collect, backtracking, secret rooms and secret passages, you know the deal. Unfortunately, it's very basic, there's only a handful of locked rooms and overly simple puzzles to solve. I really wish the progression, levels and puzzles were much more complex, but that's not a deal breaker.
What sets MoS apart is its main gimmick when it comes to stealth: enemies are blind and only rely on their ears to find you. Making any sort of noise is ill-advised, so you gotta walk slowly, and hold your breath if something makes you cough. A cool design choice for sure, but just like the rest, it's not perfect. Most of time you avoid your foes just like you would in any other similar game. But sometimes the approach gets more tricky, and that when it gets interesting. But it's still underexploited imo.
Engaging story, atmosphere and themes make that so-so game worth your time if you like horror.
N.B: do yourself a favour and disable TAA if you play this. It's horrendously implemented and makes everything blurry when you sprint or move.

Bought the game today and today i finished it also.
I dont remember the day when the game interested me this much, in a very long time, that i enjoyed it and beat it in like 2 sittings.
Amazing story and atmosphere and music. Just all amazing.
With crazy twist in the end. Just love the game.

Maid of Sker is a very interesting game that I found a bit cliche but still rewarding.

The game was a problem experience for me, having no crashes or issues.

The story is compelling enough, but I do feel that there is not enough to go on to fully understand the lore. I would like an extended version of the game that allowed for more exploration and explanation of how things came to be. While cliche, I found it still enjoyable and liked how the various endings played out.

I recommend Maid of Sker, as a puzzle-lite and quick story style game.

Maid of Sker is really two games, not one.

The first is an exploration mystery in which you try to rescue your beloved from a dastardly scheme of greed and murder. This mostly consists of working through levels which, although semi-open, are largely linear in practice. You look for the usual collectibles and lore, along with keys and McGuffins in the form of music sheets and cylinders. There are enemies scattered throughout, but the gameplay mostly depends on being patient and not getting too close to them. You have a means to heal, and one defensive mechanism in the form of a temporary stun device.

So would I call this survival horror? Not really. The enemies are your basic patrol AI, which become antagonistic if you bump a piece of furniture or run or breathe right next to them. But survival is pretty easy since apart from one miniboss, the enemy paths are regimented and so I never really felt the tension of trying to stay alive. I'd call this an exploration mystery game. It's fun, and lastly around 6 hrs, doesn't overstay its welcome. The best part of the Maid of Sker is the sound design, which is rich and very immersive.

The other game that is packaged in here is the Challenge section. I call it a whole other game for two reasons. First, the gameplay is fundamentally different. The enemy types are much more diverse and challenging, and you get weapons with which to kill them. So it's much more Resident Evil-esque. Second, there are four challenges each of which takes me about an hour for a single playthrough, and they involve navigating a reconfigured layout of the hotel to escape the labyrinthe. Each challenge enhances the difficulty, whether by having you play in the dark, fight only with a melee weapon, or get no lives (there are no saves on Challenges, so you have to do a challenge in one sitting).

In some ways, I'd say the Challenges are the more interesting game, thanks to the wider variation in enemy types and the more interesting final boss battle to escape. But truthfully both games are not varied or surprising enough to be worth the money on their own. Only together do I think they constitute enough interesting playtime.

Maid of Sker is a nice indie game for those looking for something atmospheric and tense without being particularly scary or intense. People looking for another Outlast or Visage should look elsewhere. I'd class this more in the same vein as The Vanishing of Ethan Carter or Perception or The Beast Inside. Enjoyable but don't expect too much.

---{Story}---
☐ Doesnt have (Not counting historical stuff)
☐ Something isnt nothing I guess
☐ Not greatly told
☐ Average
☑️ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ Will make you cry or smile a lot
---{Gameplay}---
☐ Try not to get addicted
☑️ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Nothing special
☐ Ehh
☐ Bad
☐ Just dont
---{ Grind }---
☑️ Nothing
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ Insanity
---{Graphics}---
☐ You forget reality
☐ Masterpiece
☑️ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Will do
☐ Bad
☐ Awful
☐ Pixel art
---{Audio}---
☐ Eargasm
☑️ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ Earrape
---{Audience}---
☐ Kids
☐ Teens
☑️ Adults
☐ Everyone
---{PC Requirements}---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☑️ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{Difficulity}---
☐ Just press a bunch of buttons
☐ Easy
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☑️ Not so easy
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{Game Time}---
☐ Long enough for a cup of tea
☑️ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☐ Depends on you
☐ Endless
---{Price}---
☐ Just buy it
☑️ Worth the price
☐ Wait for sale
☐ Maybe if you have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ Dont throw money into a rubbish bin
---{Bugs}---
☐ Never had any
☑️ Minor bugs
☐ Few bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ Ruining the game
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☑️ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

"Don't panic, they'll only kill you."
haha that's a fun fact.
+ unique story.
+ not your typical screamers
+ main focus on the storyline
thanks for a night well spent

While it is pretty tropey in the scheme of these (and I say this as someone whose own work is... well more so), it does almost everything right. The only issues we ever ran into was occasionally the AI was magical in finding you, but that happened once or twice over the course of the game. There were definitely a few frustrating points of the game, and the collectibles seem excessive at points. Otherwise though, the story was a pretty well done one, well acted and well done overall. The game controlled and played very well with only overtired minds having any difficulty. For people who don't normally like horror, my waifu and I still had a good time.