Asylum
Critic Reviews for Asylum
After more than 10 years in the works, Asylum shows its age in some areas, but great atmosphere and an interesting narrative makes checking in at Hanwell Mental Institute a worthwhile time.
After a grueling fifteen years of development, Asylum is finally here. Don't expect a revolution, or a spectacular masterpiece that matured for years in a studio in Buenos Aires, but rather a melancholic return to the days when adventure horror games didn't try to scare you with screams in the dark but slowly worked with the player through gradual clues and moments. Asylum does almost everything well, but for this game it is maybe too late.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Asylum doesn’t reinvent the genre but pays a passionate and faithful tribute to it. With a carefully crafted atmosphere and engaging narrative, it marks a successful return for Senscape and a heartfelt homage to Scratches fans.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Explore the eerie Hanwell Mental Institute in Asylum, a chilling point-and-click horror adventure with atmospheric visuals, intuitive puzzles, and a haunting story.
While I appreciate the creepy setting, and the fact that it isn’t technically a walking simulator, this is still a pretty plodding affair that struggles to be compelling
Asylum offers a rewarding and unsettling mystery to solve, but it’s a shame that the large world and constant backtracking hurt the pacing of the puzzling. There were a few too many times during my playthrough that I found myself navigating the same corridors over and over again when trying to solve a puzzle – sure, it could be a skill issue, but it also doesn’t feel as tightly designed as similar releases in the genre. Whilst these issues didn’t stop me from enjoying the game, they did stop Asylum from feeling like a must-play puzzle adventure, especially when paired with the somewhat stilted NPC interactions. Fortunately, whilst it is flawed, there’s a genuinely enjoyable – and very spooky – time to be had in Hanwell Mental Institute.
Asylum proves that resilience alone isn’t enough. Despite a compelling plot and strong art direction born from a 15-year development, the game suffers from clunky exploration, stale puzzles, and dated mechanics. Returning to Hanwell fails to deliver the core tension expected from a horror title. While the developers' dedication is commendable, perseverance couldn't save a project weighed down by time. Sometimes, enduring just isn't enough—you have to evolve.
Review in Italian | Read full review
