When comparing Superhot vs The Stanley Parable, the Slant community recommends The Stanley Parable for most people. In the question“What are the best singleplayer games on Steam?” The Stanley Parable is ranked 20th while Superhot is ranked 24th. The most important reason people chose The Stanley Parable is:
One of the main themes of the game is the illusion of choice that's presented in games. While a player can make a vast number of decisions in the game, the narrator reminds the player he can only make decisions that the game allows him to and how the game manipulates the player into making them. The narrator points out that not just common choices such as what path to take to get from point A to point B, how to approach a certain situation or what ethical choices are available are limited to the game's designers having thought of and implemented those aspects of the game, but decisions such as purposeful suicide, not taking action, disobeying instructions and even turning off the game are only there if the game allows them to be there.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Creative and good plot
The concept of Superhot is very easy to grasp and so are the controls. The stoty is also very interesting, with a plot that has never been done before. Would give it a 10/10.
-Minty Prion
Pro Minimalistic yet beneficial art style
The art style in the game is very cool and minimalistic while actually serving to make the game easier to understand and play. The gameplay in Superhot relies on you being able to react properly to your environment, and the art choices make it really easy to understand what is going on around you.
Pro Tons of unlockables
There are many different modes and secrets to unlock in the game, also small easter eggs and references everywhere, adding some replayability to this game.
Pro Awesome time-based mechanic
In Superhot time only goes forward when you move. This turns the gameplay into something closer to a puzzle game as you need to be very calculated with every move you make.
Pro Lets you roleplay matrix-like battles
The coolest thing about this mechanic is it essentially lets you role play matrix-like battles with you dodging bullets, slicing bullets out of mid-air with a katana and an assortment of other badass things to do.
Pro Discusses the illusion of choice in games
One of the main themes of the game is the illusion of choice that's presented in games. While a player can make a vast number of decisions in the game, the narrator reminds the player he can only make decisions that the game allows him to and how the game manipulates the player into making them. The narrator points out that not just common choices such as what path to take to get from point A to point B, how to approach a certain situation or what ethical choices are available are limited to the game's designers having thought of and implemented those aspects of the game, but decisions such as purposeful suicide, not taking action, disobeying instructions and even turning off the game are only there if the game allows them to be there.
Pro Exceptional narration
Excellently crafted, hilarious writing delivered by a well spoken, charismatic British narrator. Kevan Brighting has become somewhat of a cult success since the game due to its cult like status which just shows how deserving he is due to how well done the narration of the game is done.
Pro The game has a lot of different endings to find
There are numerous ending to the game that appear to play out even when the player makes the same choices as their last playthrough.
Pro Insightful commentary on state of game design
The game tackles topics such as ludonarrative dissonance, choice in games, narrative limitations, etc while mostly focusing on the relationship between the game and the player in terms of storytelling in a very meaningful, educated and entertaining way.
Pro Points out narrative limitations in games by encouraging breaking narrative structure through gameplay
The game encourages players to explore decisions that would change the meaning of the presented story. What if you took a left turn where the game asked you to take a right? What if you decided not to push a big red button needed to continue playing because you didn't agree with pushing the big red button? What if you died in a boss battle? How would that affect the narrative of the game?
The game rewards you for not following the "intended" narrative structure of the situation in order to point out how the structure is unavoidable in games as a whole. The process of attempting to break the structure can be highly satisfying in The Stanley Parable and can help you better notice limitations of narrative in other games.
Pro A few nods to other games can be seen throughout the game
References to other games including Half-Life 2, Portal & Minecraft can be found throughout the game.
Cons
Con Short story mode
Although there are plenty of other modes with a lot of variety, the story mode can typically be beaten in around 2 hours.
Con More an interactive story than an actual game
The Stanley Parable is not much of a game in the strictest sense but more an interactive story or interactive "art".