A mystery in the lake.

NOTE: Cube Escape Collection is compilation of 9 games in the Cube Escape series bundled together to survive the shutdown of flash. Due to how the story is connected, art style and gameplay being shared, I'll review the collection as a whole, but I will mention specific games when talking about things I like and dislike.

Story:

You primarily play as a detective Dale Vandermeer. You're the lead investigator in the murder of a woman, but the more you investigate the more you understand that not only she, but also you are connected in a deep mystery surrounding a mysterious location only known as Rusty Lake.

The story in the Cube Escape games is a surreal experience and more or less you will likely be lost with what's going on. There is definitely enough strands to let you grasp of what's going on with names you see often throughout each game, characters that appear constantly and notes scattered which add some context. I do have to admit that I'm still pretty lost overall, but I'm definitely hooked to keep going further with the franchise.

Graphics:

Visually the art style of Cube Escape is absolutely amazing and it's gotten a bit of face lift (although a very minor one) from the slightly lower resolution flash days. I really like the vibrant colors, bizarre world and character designs and how distinct each location in each game is. Something as simple as a house turns into a nightmare world at the flip of a coin and something about the creepy nature of the game really put me on my toes.

The animations are still a bit stiff when characters move too quickly, but when everything moves slowly it does look pretty fine. Each game does feel more refined than the other. It starts off pretty simplistic and gets more interesting visually as the games go along, but I also have give props to the third game Arles being so visually distinct from the other games, yet still having the same flair.

Audio:

This is probably the weakest aspect of the game. There's quite a lot of music and sound effects that are stock free and I've heard them a lot in other horror games and horror themed youtube videos. I won't dig at it too much considering these games were free flash games, but it's still something of note. The notable audio crunch of flash games is still there and although it's cleaned up a bit and it being a very nostalgic aspect, it's still something of note.

It's not all bad though. I do have to give props to the voice acting. There's not much of it here, but the actors do a great job with their roles and the other dialogue like reverse speech sounds great and adds another layer of creepy to the game and helps emulate Lynch just a tad bit more.

Gameplay:

The Cube Escape games are more or less a point and click adventure game and I've seen some people compare them to an Escape Room as you're often locked into a single location and have to find a way out. It's still mostly a point and click game as you pick up items and use them elsewhere to solve puzzles, but with an added layer of complexity.

So let's talk about the puzzles. For the most part they are absolutely amazing. I really enjoyed solving the puzzles and often got stumped in certain games, because the games do not hold your hand. I mentioned the complexity and I genuinely felt quite overwhelmed by the logic leaps I had to take to solve certain puzzles. Especially in the final few games and even more in the final game Cave where the puzzles in the second half feel a bit nonsensical.

Since the game is all about providing you a surreal nature it does bleed into the puzzles and that's probably the one aspect that many people might not like. You will have to make quite a few logical leaps to solve them. There's often many times where the game feels like it's using moon logic, but once you really think through it, it all weirdly makes sense which is the highest praise I can say. Also do keep an eye of everything you see as the game likes to give you something that you can use in a different game which will give you more lore.

However there's also a few issues. First of all there are some issues with frame rate dipping when switching between screens and since sometimes you will be doing that a lot it can tank into the 10's which is a bit heavy on the eyes. But the finnicky nature of flash games like item hitboxes when you pick something up being slightly off is incredibly annoying and led to a few times when I thought I couldn't interact with an item and start doing loops to look for something I missed when it was that item I needed that the game wouldn't let me pick up.

Verdict:

I loved my time with the Cube Escape games. The entire collection has gripped me to continue my dive into the Rusty Lake world and if you like the works of David Lynch and really well crafted adventure games, then you simply must check out this collection.

Final Rating:
9/10

Pros:
+ Art style is very pleasing to look at with vibrant colors and surreal environments
+ Puzzles are rather complex, yet really fun to solve
+ An intriguing storyline that is really fun to piece together
+ Games are linked in a cool way where items you find come back into play in other games

Cons:
- Some of the jank of flash games show their age
- Tons of audio is stock free

If you liked this review please consider joining https://steamcommunity.com/groups/completingthebacklog and https://steamcommunity.com/groups/ImperialReviews

A mystery in the lake. NOTE: Cube Escape Collection is compilation of 9 games in the Cube Escape series bundled together to survive the shutdown of flash. Due to how the story is connected, art style and gameplay being shared, I'll review the collection as a whole, but I will mention specific games when talking about things I like and dislike. Story: You primarily play as a detective Dale Vandermeer. You're the lead investigator in the murder of a woman, but the more you investigate the more you understand that not only she, but also you are connected in a deep mystery surrounding a mysterious location only known as Rusty Lake. The story in the Cube Escape games is a surreal experience and more or less you will likely be lost with what's going on. There is definitely enough strands to let you grasp of what's going on with names you see often throughout each game, characters that appear constantly and notes scattered which add some context. I do have to admit that I'm still pretty lost overall, but I'm definitely hooked to keep going further with the franchise. Graphics: Visually the art style of Cube Escape is absolutely amazing and it's gotten a bit of face lift (although a very minor one) from the slightly lower resolution flash days. I really like the vibrant colors, bizarre world and character designs and how distinct each location in each game is. Something as simple as a house turns into a nightmare world at the flip of a coin and something about the creepy nature of the game really put me on my toes. The animations are still a bit stiff when characters move too quickly, but when everything moves slowly it does look pretty fine. Each game does feel more refined than the other. It starts off pretty simplistic and gets more interesting visually as the games go along, but I also have give props to the third game Arles being so visually distinct from the other games, yet still having the same flair. Audio: This is probably the weakest aspect of the game. There's quite a lot of music and sound effects that are stock free and I've heard them a lot in other horror games and horror themed youtube videos. I won't dig at it too much considering these games were free flash games, but it's still something of note. The notable audio crunch of flash games is still there and although it's cleaned up a bit and it being a very nostalgic aspect, it's still something of note. It's not all bad though. I do have to give props to the voice acting. There's not much of it here, but the actors do a great job with their roles and the other dialogue like reverse speech sounds great and adds another layer of creepy to the game and helps emulate Lynch just a tad bit more. Gameplay: The Cube Escape games are more or less a point and click adventure game and I've seen some people compare them to an Escape Room as you're often locked into a single location and have to find a way out. It's still mostly a point and click game as you pick up items and use them elsewhere to solve puzzles, but with an added layer of complexity. So let's talk about the puzzles. For the most part they are absolutely amazing. I really enjoyed solving the puzzles and often got stumped in certain games, because the games do not hold your hand. I mentioned the complexity and I genuinely felt quite overwhelmed by the logic leaps I had to take to solve certain puzzles. Especially in the final few games and even more in the final game Cave where the puzzles in the second half feel a bit nonsensical. Since the game is all about providing you a surreal nature it does bleed into the puzzles and that's probably the one aspect that many people might not like. You will have to make quite a few logical leaps to solve them. There's often many times where the game feels like it's using moon logic, but once you really think through it, it all weirdly makes sense which is the highest praise I can say. Also do keep an eye of everything you see as the game likes to give you something that you can use in a different game which will give you more lore. However there's also a few issues. First of all there are some issues with frame rate dipping when switching between screens and since sometimes you will be doing that a lot it can tank into the 10's which is a bit heavy on the eyes. But the finnicky nature of flash games like item hitboxes when you pick something up being slightly off is incredibly annoying and led to a few times when I thought I couldn't interact with an item and start doing loops to look for something I missed when it was that item I needed that the game wouldn't let me pick up. Verdict: I loved my time with the Cube Escape games. The entire collection has gripped me to continue my dive into the Rusty Lake world and if you like the works of David Lynch and really well crafted adventure games, then you simply must check out this collection. Final Rating: 9/10 Pros: + Art style is very pleasing to look at with vibrant colors and surreal environments + Puzzles are rather complex, yet really fun to solve + An intriguing storyline that is really fun to piece together + Games are linked in a cool way where items you find come back into play in other games Cons: - Some of the jank of flash games show their age - Tons of audio is stock free If you liked this review please consider joining https://steamcommunity.com/groups/completingthebacklog and https://steamcommunity.com/groups/ImperialReviews