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Released in 2013, The Stanley Parable (HD Remake) was a revolutionary title in the “walking simulator” genre of adventure titles. Its biting commentary of video game tropes and the theme of freedom in narrative was combined with a mix of sharp-witted comedy and amazing writing. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe further expands the original game with more content, and for those that haven’t experienced this game yet it’s a perfect entry point.

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe has you control the titular Stanley who arrives in an abandoned office as an offscreen narrator narrates the story. Should you follow the narrator’s instructions completely, you’ll be able to breeze through the game in a matter of minutes. The game functions as a modern adventure title where you can walk and interact with various objects as you explore the abandoned office.

Of course, there’s much more than meets the eye, and after you get the first ending there are a variety of other actions you can do in order to change the narrative. Choose the right door instead of the left during the first big choice of the story and you’ll get a divergent branch of other endings. Maybe you don’t even want to participate in the events that will transpire? Don’t worry, there’s an ending for that too.

Any further discussion of the story would delve into spoiler territory, but there are nearly two dozen endings to experience, many of them which are exclusive to this expanded release. The original title was a social critique on gaming tropes back in the early 2010s, and Ultra Deluxe further delves into the subjects of sequels and remasters within the gaming industry. The fact that this game exists on the Switch is even a plot point!

While the pedestrian nature of The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe should make for a boring experience (after all, you’re just walking and interacting with objects), what sells this experience is the narrator and quality of writing. The narrator is an unreliable character, but in a world with a mere handful of people in the cast, he does a wonderful job carrying the game forward. As he is the only speaker in the original incarnation of the game, he explains everything that’s going on quite well. From the goofy bravado of molding Stanley’s fate to his whims to the sheer anger he displays when Stanley disobeys him, there’s a great range of emotions coming from just one speaking character. I would say that in order to appreciate the meta humor, you would also need to keep track of recent gaming trends as well; it’s a (mostly) all-ages title, but older audiences would enjoy the story more.

As mentioned before, Ultra Deluxe is an expanded console and PC re-release of the original game, which features more content at a higher price point ($24.99 at time of writing). If you’re looking for something around the length of a longer visual novel, you’re going to be disappointed. I would say the whole experience lasted around 6 hours to get through the main story as well as important extra bits, though if you’re going to try and get every ending, it’ll take a bit longer. (You could also double the length due to a secret mechanic that’s unlocked in the Ultra Deluxe version which alters every single ending save a couple.) The game looks as good as it did in the original version, and it ran smoothly even in handheld mode. The voice acting was top-notch, and the sound design worked well to highlight the different moods of the game, from a creepy abandoned office to a silly room full of extra content.

If you already played the original, you can skip around and get to the extra content first, but I think going through the original campaign is recommended even if you already played the original retail edition. That said, I did find it cumbersome to get through endings which required myself to replay 5-to-10-minute chunks of the game again and again; it’s a minor inconvenience, but it’s apparent when there are some parts of the game that will allow you to immediately take another choice while some paths require a full reset.

While The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is rated E10+, there are a few sections that parents might need to consider. The game has a few instances of the words “h***” and “d***”, with a reference to hookers in a one-off joke. The narrator also blasphemes a few times as well. Violence and violent actions are implied, but aside from an ending where Stanley’s lifeless body is found, there is no gore or objectionable scenes of that nature. Finally, the game does encourage the player to actively rebel against the narrator by not following his directions. This is acknowledged by the narrator, who also teases Stanley in some paths. That said, throughout the title, it’s shown that the narrator is not the purely good character we’re led to believe, and more than one ending has Stanley disobeying in order to survive.

Even after nearly a decade, The Stanley Parable holds up relatively well. The Ultra Deluxe version adds content that justifies the console version and price tag, and those who haven’t experienced the original are in for a real treat.