The Stanley Parableis one ofthe most influential indie gamesever created and revived widespread interest in unique, narrative-based adventures. Now, this critically acclaimed darling is back withThe Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, a revamped version of the original title that includes new endings, dialogue, and features for new and returning players to enjoy.

RELATED:The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe - Best Additions To The Original Game

a museum-like building inside a slant-roofed, wooden house. plinths on the right hold artifacts of the game’s past, and ahead there are photos taped to the wall near a doorway leading into the next room. over the doorway is a banner that reads “The Stanley Parable."

This new versionis packed with fresh content, but the core experience is still there, making this the definitive version of the modern classic. There’s quite a lot to love aboutThe Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, but there are also a few things that still don’t work that well all these years later.

9Love: Meta-Humor

A classic piece of the originalThe Stanley Parablewas itsemphasis on meta-humor: referencing the real world and the game’s condition of being a video game. The Narrator leads this charge by providing a constant voice-over for Stanley’s actions throughout the game, even if the player decides to ignore the Narrator’s instruction.

There are endings where Stanley can even slip outside the boundaries of the game entirely.The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxetakes this to another level by directly referencing the original version of the game and the fact that what players are currently playing is a rerelease that features new content.

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8Don’t Love: Easy To Repeat Loops

The more time players spend withThe Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, themore endings they’ll get the chance to see. There’s a finite number of endings in the game, so each finished loop reduces the number of potential new experiences. This means that, as players progress through the game, it becomes easier and easier to initiate a loop they’ve done before.

It’s all too easy to wander down a familiar path inThe Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe,especially for those gamers who are playing the game over a long period of time. It’s nice that there’s an option to restart the loop at any time, but it’s frustrating how easy it is to stumble into the same ending multiple times.

the inside of a tall, watchtower with a typewriter on a desk, postcards on the windowsill, and a volunteer posted with a watchtower pictured inside a shield outline. trees and mountains can be seen outside the windows

7Love: New References

The Stanley Parablewas well-known for its references to the real-world and other video games, andThe Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxehas taken this quality to another level. One of the earliest endings players can unlock involves defying the Narrator to the point that he gives up onThe Stanley Parablealtogether and moves Stanley into another game entirely.

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a man in a white shirt and jeans lies face down on a sidewalk. a woman stands to his right holding a metal bucket in her hands

This game is Campo Santo’sFirewatch, a very different narrative-adventure game with an unmistakable aesthetic. The game includesother real-world referenceslikeRocket League, Watchmen, and a video game marketplace known as Pressurized Gas (which is a thinly veiled reference to Steam).

6Don’t Love: Poor Character Models

It might be too much to expect everything aboutThe Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxeto be an improvement over the original game, but the game’s character models still look pretty rough almost a decade later. Their stiff, lifeless appearance doesn’t do much to make them feel like actual people, which can make it harder to relate to Stanley in moments where he should be sympathetic.

On the plus side, the game doesn’t use character models very often, but this just makes their subpar quality stand out when they do show up. It’s a minor flaw, but one that does make an otherwise excellent game feel just a little cheaper.

a large, orange sign reads “please rate your experience.” under are numbers 1 through 5, each connected to a red button

5Love: Easy To Play

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxeis one of the easiest games to just pick up and play, even for a short period of time. The game doesn’t require an extensive level of thought to actually play, as the most frequent actions players will do are walking from room to room and listening to the Narrator speak.

Each loop also only takes about 20-30 minutes to actuallyplay through to completion, with a few running even shorter. It’s a great game to boot up if there’s not enough time to get invested in a sprawling, open-world adventure, essentially making it the equivalent of a breezy, half-hour TV show.

The Stanley Parable - Ultra Deluxe Test Trophy

4Don’t Love: Unclear Trophy List

There are some clever elements ofThe Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe’s trophy list, such as the “Test Trophy Please Ignore” trophy that appears to be just an unfinished asset from development. The downside of these jokes, though, is that it can be frustratingly unclear how players are meant to actually unlock these trophies.

RELATED:The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe - How To Get The “Test Trophy Please Ignore” Achievement

a large neon sign that says “new new content” points toward an open door leading into a tiled hallway

That “Test Trophy Please Ignore” trophy is one such example of this phenomenon. Players can find the machine that unlocks the trophy pretty early on in the game, but it isn’t finished yet and can’t be activated. Finding the machine a second time essentially comes down to luck, as there’s no way to ensure that the selected path is the correct one.

3Love: Substantial Amount Of New Content

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxeis marketed as the definitive edition of the classic game, featuring both the original experience and new endings for players to enjoy. The end result more than delivers on this promise with a staggering amount of new content thatgoes far beyond the boundaries of a simple remasteror port.

There are new features such as Jump Circle, a strangely alluring bucket whose allegiance is never quite clear, and even a slightly off-putting sequel that is layered over the original game. But one of the best bits of new content is the staggering amount of new dialogue for the Narrator to chew on, especially in regards to The Stanley Parable 2 Reassurance Bucket.

a large screen taking up one wall of the office building. it’s filled with cramped text, and the whole thing is titled: “the confusion ending.” There’s a timer at the bottom that is steadily counting up

2Don’t Love: No Saving During A Loop

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxerevolves entirely arounda series of never-ending loops that grow increasingly inanewith each time through. These loops don’t take much time to complete, with most of them clocking in at around 15 to 20 minutes, but there may still be times when players may want to stop halfway through and pick it back up later.

Unfortunately,The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxedoesn’t have any way of saving the game in the middle of a loop. The only thing players can rely on is their system’s native suspend feature, but those have been proven unreliable in the past. Including a suspend feature within the game would have alleviated this problem entirely.

a room that has partially collapsed. Vegetation has grown in the corner where the ceiling is open to the sky. In front of the plants is a small post with a yellow button on it with two arrows pointing right toward a single line

1Love: The Narrator

The Narrator has always been an exceptional part ofThe Stanley Parable, andUltra Deluxeonly improves his character. This revamped version of the game includes hundreds, maybe thousands, of new lines of dialogue for the Narrator’s voice actor, Kevan Brighting, to bring to life in the most hilarious and mind-bending ways.

The best showcase for this is the Skip Button Ending which features a special button that allows players to skip the Narrator’s more long-winded monologues. But this button doesn’t just skip past the dialogue, but rather leaves Stanley in a catatonic state for an exponentially growing stretch of time. The Narrator’s dialogue and Kevan Brighting’s performance in this ending are arguably the best part of this entire game.

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxeis available now for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.