Stranger Things 3: The Game

Stranger Things 3: The Game received mixed reviews on Metacritic.^[11] Eurogamer said the maps were large and empty, and they felt the retro pixel art graphics didn't work for Stranger Things. They enjoyed some of the puzzles, but they called the game overall "a shallow recreation".^[1] IGN said it is "thoughtfully conceived" but has "thin combat and repetitive quests". They said it will likely appeal only to "the most die-hard fans of the show".^[2] Push Square said it "leaves a lot to be desired" and criticized the decision to repeat the events of the third season verbatim. They recommended people watch the show instead, calling the gameplay and presentation "terribly flat".^[10] Although they initially enjoyed sightseeing in a retro video game adaptation, which they said "emulates the '80s aesthetic well", Game Informer felt the combat and quests become boring and repetitive.^[8]

Nintendo Life similarly criticized the quests and combat, which they said could be a slog for players who are not fans of the series, but they said the game adaptation "does a fine job of capturing all the elements that have made the TV show such a phenomenon".^[9] Calling it "trash that does more harm to the property than good", Digitally Downloaded said Stranger Things 3: The Game "take[s] every major event of the television show, and turn[s] it into a mind-numbing fetch quest". They described the combat as "universally awful" and the puzzles as "painfully generic".^[12] NintendoWorldReport criticized performance problems on the Switch and wrote, "Don’t tarnish your memories of the third season by playing this."^[13]