The Stone of Madness Review (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch & PC)

After relatively positive reviews on The Stone of Madness demo, the final title is out now on consoles and PC. Yet even with the Blasphemous team leading the charge on its development, gamers are still split in half as to whether the studio’s new title is worth playing. For one, there seem to be way too many bugs that even the most staunch real-time tactical stealth fan can ignore. But more so because of the game’s specific curation for a certain audience who don’t mind the tough-as-nails mechanics. They welcome the challenge, even if it takes multiple trial-and-error to solve. 

Despite the valid reasons why some gamers may choose to sit this one out, The Stone of Madness remains an impressive title with a unique take on its genre. Its gameplay can shockingly grip your attention through to the end. Meanwhile, the story is quite the compelling type, albeit with some mishaps in the technique and writing. All things considered, you might want to stick around till the end of our The Stone of Madness review to find out if the newest real-time tactical stealth title in town is for you. 

Right Place, Wrong Time

The Stone of Madness’s story kicks off with Father Alfredo visiting an 18th-century Spanish Monastery that also houses an asylum. The asylum is a madhouse that doubles down as an inquisitory prison. While out and about, Alfredo begins to notice disturbing events in the monastery. Everything from corruption to rampant abuse of the patients in the asylum pushes Alfredo to confront the higher-ups. But nothing goes as planned, and Alfredo soon finds himself confined to the prison he sought to dismantle. 

Right from the get-go, The Stone of Madness portrays a gripping premise surrounding mental health and religious themes. It takes place in a compelling time period, too, with the vintage art style matching up to the setting. You probably already know the story, too, adapted from The Name of the Rose, a 1980 novel about monastic life. However, while the novel focuses on a historical murder mystery in a 1327 Italian monastery, the game takes the path of a group of misfits hatching a prison break.

Escape Plan

While serving time, Father Alfredo makes new friends at the asylum. Together, they investigate the dark mystery at the core of the monastery and hatch an escape plan. But the journey toward freedom takes time and planning. Utilizing each character’s unique skills and abilities, the bandmates must sneak past guards, solve puzzles, find hidden passageways, and make it out alive. Each in-game day, relatively five minutes long, Agnes, Leonora, Eduardo, Amelia, and Alfredo scope the monastery for resources, hidden secrets, and possible escape routes. When night comes, they must return back to their quarters to lick their wounds, craft new items, and plan their next move.  

Certain areas are open-ended, thus free to explore. However, others are restricted. If found wandering about restricted areas, the guards will drag you back to the open areas and flog you publicly, which drains your health. So, evading the guards’ baton is of utmost importance if you’re to stay alive long enough to escape. There are more threats besides the guards. The Stone of Madness features environmental traps you must be wary of. Furthermore, each character has weaknesses that affect their sanity meter. Alfredo, the devoted priest, fears the dead. So, killing guards when he’s nearby isn’t ideal. Agnes, an elderly witch, cannot climb ladders and ropes. Amelia, a young pickpocket, fears gargoyles statues, which, unfortunately, flood the monastery, and so on. 

Uniquely You

Because of each character’s unique strengths and weaknesses, as well as the restriction of only being able to take three of the five party members on expeditions around the monastery, you have to be strategic in how you team them up. Because Eduardo fears the dark, for example, you may want to team him up with Alfredo, as the priest can carry a lamp to light up dimly lit pathways. The same goes for Amelia’s fear of gargoyles statues, which Alfredo can use his cross to “sanctify” them. Every character has a weakness that you can remedy depending on how you team them up, which adds an element of character and skill management to the game.

Moreover, the strengths are a significant consideration before taking a new team out on a mission. Alfredo, the priest, can blend into crowds using his priestly robes, for instance, making for the perfect character to sneak into heavily guarded areas. Meanwhile, Eduardo is a giant who can push boulders out of the way. Amelia, on the other hand, is a small child who can set traps and crawl through tunnels and prison bars. Depending on the mission, you’ll need to carefully consider each character’s skills and fears before deciding on which team of three to send out into the monastery. 

Thumbs Down

The Stone of Madness has quite a ton of gameplay features that will surely pique your interest. Its story is pretty compelling and the gameplay even more engaging. Successfully pulling off a mission feels so satisfying, given the multiple moving parts you have to consider. But even with the numerous perks the game offers, it still retains glaring issues that might put you off from completing the game. Take the restriction on the number of characters you can bring on a mission. Often, you’ll run into an obstacle mid-mission that requires a character that you left behind to get past. And because you cannot switch characters mid-mission, you have no choice but to keep busy collecting resources until you can return back to quarters and retry the mission the next in-game day. 

There’s the option to complete missions during nightfall. However, the patrolling guards will be way more than anticipated and on higher alert. Most passageways will be locked, resulting in using more resources and possibly, drawing attention to find a way through. Meanwhile, terrifying spirits roam the monastery at night. So, in the end, you’d much rather spend your nights recuperating. Alfredo the priest, will nurse your wounds while you craft new items, which also comes in handy in planning your next move. Yet, no matter how much you plan, missions will still grow trickier the more you play. 

High Difficulty

Onward into the game, the guards will begin to lay bear traps that reset with each new mission. For the life of me I cannot explain why “bear traps,” but they definitely intend to make your grind harder. Despite the skill upgrades you can equip your characters with, there’s no ability to counteract the bear traps. So, you have no choice but to use Eduardo, the giant in the group, as bait. With the bear traps resetting, though, even Eduardo will have his limits. 

Lastly, the story, while having an intriguing premise, sort of flatlines the more you play. The gameplay takes the spotlight, leaving the plot wading in the background. Part of this blandness is the writing, which barely intrigues you. Not to mention, the characters barely have voice acting, which feels like a missed opportunity for some engaging drama and character development. While the plot is meant to build up to unfold a dark mystery, the ending isn’t nearly as satisfying as one would hope. 

Verdict

The Stone of Madness is quite the charmer. Its graphics are steeped in a vintage and artistic flair, reeling you into its 18th-century time period and setting. Its packed with immense detail, the environments immersing you in a dark mystery drama about to unfold. Meeting the characters, you instantly develop a connection to their uniqueness and bold aura. They aren’t your typical game characters but rather utterly different in age and background. They also vary deeply in their strengths and weaknesses, making the choice to team them up in groups of three all the more intense. One mistake and you might have to redo a mission, over and over, until you have the right combination of characters. 

But the gameplay goes beyond character management into a careful understanding of the monastery. Hidden passageways lead to potentially useful escape routes (or they could lead to your demise). While you can pause the game to plan your next move, often it takes split-seconds to actualize your strategy. You could easily react to confrontation with violence. However, the game will increase the number of guards and their alertness, making your next steps crucial. So, violence isn’t always the solution, but neither is taking no risk at all. In that regard, The Stone of Madness is quite the gaming experience for gamers looking to challenge themselves. It’ll hardly go easy on you, especially in the latter stages. Keep at it, though, and you’ll enjoy immense satisfaction having made it through its many obstacles. 

With the present bugs, hopefully, they will be ironed out soon. In any case, fans of real-time tactical stealth like Shadow Tactics and Desperado III will likely be the most intrigued by The Stone of Madness, provided you don’t mind a compelling premise that flatlines.