Slender: The Arrival

Worst dating simulator ever

One of my childhood's favorite horror games, I'm so glad they re-made it using UE5.

If you want play a Slender game play this one,

Revisiting this with the 2023 update is... Interesting. As someone who played through back in 2013, I'll try to explain what I mean.
First off, outdoor environments in UE5 look stunning. Running at 1440P with ultra settings, there's some seriously photo-real moments to be found. The opening walk down to the house is almost a tech demo for what this engine can achieve.
But then things get.... Weird? The inner environments feel stale. They feel 2013. Then the UI and subtitles pop up, which also feel very 2013. None of them have been updated. So there's this dissonance where you walked through a 2023 forest and step into a 2013 house.
The other area where this stands out is the gameplay. I honestly loved playing this in 2013. But that was a long time ago, and indie horror (+ games in general) have evolved lifetimes since then. What I remembered as fun and scary kinda feels clunky by today's standards. The fact that the enemy models / animations haven't seen much love doesn't really help.
So, what is this then? Basically, it's the same game from 2013. No update to the UI, mechanics, gameplay... None of that. But the forests are gorgeous. Outside environments shine. You might say "great! why not?" But I think the problem with the updates is how they remind you just how old the rest of the game is. There's a weird tonal dissonance. Am I playing a 2023 horror game or a 2013 one? And the unsatisfying answer is both. At once. To wildly different effects.
Personally, I think the dev's needed to go all-in on a remake or just leave things as they were. As it stands, you end up with some lovely forests and very dated interiors and gameplay - a timeline-jumping curiosity which reminds you of what you liked about the original, gives you some screen-caps, but ultimately reinforces just how much has changed in gaming over the past 10 years. It's a reluctant thumbs up, but If Steam ever needed a neutral review option, this is the case.

he touched me

They had a chance to just sell it as a separate game and put "remake" next to it but they just made it into a update 11/10

After ten years of radio silence out of no where they decided to drop update after update for the past 2 months, with a new chapter a upcoming multiplayer AND a new game and all the new features are free unlike most games that force players to pay for dlcs. I personally think this game deserves the Labor of Love award