Maid of Sker Reviews
Atmospheric survival horror with a focus on exploration, that has spongy graphics and disappointing stealth mechanics.
Review in German | Read full review
To finish I can not stop recommending the title whether you are a user of the genre or not, because it does not invent anything new in it, but it is really entertaining. If you are a lover of that exploration with puzzles that reminds of that of the old survival horror, even saving the game on gramophones, you will enjoy touring the rooms of the Sker hotel, Leaving aside its technical limitations, it is a pleasant experience, to tour the rooms in this overwhelming atmosphere, accompanied by the great sound work that they have done from Wales Interactive. As well as its soundtrack, it is one of the great atmospheres of terror of recent years in the world without a doubt.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Overall, Maid of Sker qualifies as a discreet experience. With suggestive and intriguing initial premises, the narrative sector pays for the choice to unveil its cards too soon, which reduces the push to proceed with the exploration of the decadent Sker Hotel. Even the sense of disquiet transmitted by the Quiet Men unfortunately wanes during the adventure, mainly due to an easy-to-read AI. Implementing more firmly the excellent dynamics related to music and the need to decipher ambient sounds could have given Maid of Sker more character, for a potential that in our opinion remains expressed only in part.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Maid of Sker is an interesting game, a Survival Horror that tries to gain an audience with a little-worked next-gen conversion, but with a lot of room for enjoyment. In addition, it is not the most terrifying game in the Xbox Series catalog and I appreciate that, because the scare and tension are sometimes valued above the terror, which can directly scare more than one person with a weak heart.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Simplistic and uninspired stealth gameplay spoil the mood of investigating the melody-driven mystery of the Sker hotel. Like a singer that can't sustain a note, Maid of Sker too quickly runs out of steam.
All in all, I’m glad I got to spend time with Maid of Sker. Aesthetics, themes and those haunting siren songs that the game explores will no doubt stay with me for a long time to come. If you’re a horror fan, looking for a fun scare, would you kindly visit Sker Hotel?
While Maid of Sker delivers in the atmosphere department, it fails to execute on any of its gameplay ideas, and it results in a game that is simply not fun to play
Maid of Sker had a few jump scares here and there, but it was the tension and curiosity of the unknown that kept me invested in moving forward.
Maid of Sker is an adaptation of influential Welsh folklore and brings its own voice to the survival horror genre. That is once it gets over stage fright.
Overall, Maid of Sker is a fairly decent game that could just use a bit more polish and maybe some more varied gameplay mechanics. Is it worth a playthrough? Perhaps, if you like indie horror games. But regardless if you play or not, definitely check out the soundtrack elsewhere!
All told, Maid of Sker isn’t a terrible game, but it is a disappointing one.
Maid of Sker is a competent horror adventure where the player explores a well-designed 19th-century hotel. But its clumsy stealth, forgettable puzzles, and lukewarm scares prevent it from hitting the high notes.
We may still have a few heavy hitters of horror dropping later this year, but as of now, Maid of Sker remains at the top of 2020 for me, and hopefully, others will feel the same after spending some time with it.
Maid of Sker offers many thrills built on top of great audiovisuals, but it can get quite frustrating and a bit boring.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Maid of Sker carries a proper tune in its story and setting, but faulty AI leaves much of this horror story feeling flat.
Compelling story and a lot of missed opportunities in terms of gameplay.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Maid of Sker is a good horror game but not quite a great one.
Although it starts as a walking simulator, Maid of Sker turns quickly into a horror game that will remind you either of Silent Hills or Resident Evil or maybe of Outlast or Amnesia. No matter what your experience is with horror games, you will find their influence on Maid of Sker, which is not great, not terrible. It is a lukewarm experience, which rather frustrates than scares, and which due to its length and content can be recommended only after a serious discount.
Maid of Sker is certainly a better game now than it was a year ago, no matter what format you play it on. It’s still doesn’t quite achieve its potential though, and while there are some clear improvements on PS5, there are unfortunately more disappointments. While it’s nice to finally be able to play the game with a silky smooth frame rate and responsive controls on console, it’s a shame that to achieve that you have to opt for visuals that don’t really impress. In you’re in the mood for an atmospheric horror you’ll probably eke some enjoyment out of this improved Maid of Sker, but you’ll soon forget the experience.
With that being said, Maid of Sker is still hugely entertaining, especially for people that are aware of the literary traditions that it's tapping into. As an aesthetic, it's probably a little nuanced and subtle for its own good (let's face it, the video game sector isn't big on rewarding nuance and subtlety), but it's great and distinctive. It's just disappointing that the development team struggled so hard in their efforts to make a compelling game to go with it.