- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
- Release Date: Jul 19, 2022
- Also On: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Aug 1, 2022As Dusk Falls exceeds all expectations and is a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining experience for single and multiplayer alike.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is a stellar example of the narrative adventure genre. A fantastic cast of characters are used brilliantly throughout, with twists and turns galore. The sheer breadth of choice and consequence mean there is scope for several playthroughs, and even when we’re bouncing between characters there’s cohesiveness to the story rarely found in gaming. Top it off with a stunning art style and soundtrack and we have not only one of the best examples of the genre, but one of the best titles of the year so far.
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Jul 26, 2022It’s rare to find a debut game as confident as As Dusk Falls. It’s rarer still to find one that unerringly finds your belly for an emotional gut punch like this one does.
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Jul 19, 2022As Dusk Falls is gripping from start to finish and has a lot to say, becoming one of the few games where your choices actually can upend the story.
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Jul 19, 2022Dusk Falls brings a branching narrative that takes full advantage of the style of animations in comic book form, which gives us the opportunity to fill the empty space with our imagination - and this works in such a way that it makes the experience even more impressive, with its many multiple choices combined with the emotional intensity of its expressive voice cast. A masterpiece of the genre.
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Jul 19, 2022As Dusk Falls is the kind of game that Xbox Game Pass was made for, in the best possible sense of such a compliment; it’s a narrative thriller and adventure that’s easily worth the price of admission, and more importantly, it’s absolutely worthy of your time.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls delivers a tense, dramatic and thoughtful story. Its narrative is always engaging and player choices feel impactful. While some moments can feel rushed or resolve too conveniently, many others are surprising, moving, and hard to forget. Thanks to a compelling story and characters, As Dusk Falls is one of the best interactive dramas in recent memory.
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Jul 18, 2022It ends up telling a story that brilliantly grapples with a lot of under-explored, or even unexplored, themes in video games. Like a lot of my favorite games, it left me with a lot to think about, such as the roles we choose or reject, the hardships we inescapably inherit from family, and how trauma casts a dauntingly long shadow, but how forgiveness, should we choose to show it, may just let the light in.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is a cracking crime thriller and feels like the exact thing we should be seeing on a regular basis from Xbox Game Studios on Game Pass. Its 6-8 hour length feels just right for a game of this nature, and that also makes it feel right at home on Xbox's subscription service. Oh, and the fantastic storyline that never let us wriggle free of its grip? Yeah, that's not a bad reason to play it on Game Pass either.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls can be framed as an interactive movie as well as a TV series. History will make us live in constant tension. Each character will awaken a special feeling in us. Its audiovisual section is unique, with the height of a Hollywood production.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is a captivating narrative-focused game that grounds itself in human experiences and captures the hallmarks of prestige TV with its acting, writing, and style. A true evolutionary experience in games.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls caught me by surprise, taking a genre of game that's become a bit too familiar and injecting it with a tense crime drama and a singular flair. My hat goes off to Interior/Night and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they do next.
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Jul 18, 2022For players interested in the progress of interactive narrative frameworks, it’s a laudable success. But even for someone who never plays games, it works. That’s because good characters and storytelling make for a universal experience, and this is a project that has both.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls offers a great new take on the adventure genre, focusing on a story that feels grounded in the real world, made all the more impactful through its stellar artwork. The multiplayer works fine and is fun, but I found myself wanting to play without others. Satisfying narratively regardless of your choices, As Dusk Falls is weighty and serious, surprising with great writing, realistic characters, and plenty of twists. Highly recommended.
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Jul 25, 2022As Dusk Falls is a well-made interactive adventure that has appeared in a long while. Its tightly woven story and passionate performance of voice actors deliver an excellent, immersive gameplay. Also, the game succeed to put great values on player's choice, providing more fun and intense multiple playthroughs.
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Jul 20, 2022As Dusk Falls feels like an interactive TV drama because it has all the components that make for great television. While its quick-time events and pacing can disappoint at times, what truly makes it pop is its clever writing and format which puts you right in the middle of all the drama, action, and intrigue the game throws your way no matter how you play it.
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Jul 19, 2022An exciting, interactive gangster thriller with an idiosyncratic look and great speakers.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is an emotional story with broken characters whose lives take a turn in the wrong direction simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Something that, unfortunately, can happen to anyone. This narrative introduces us to a cast of morally gray characters who must make difficult decisions with repercussions that mark their lives and the lives of others. It thus explores how people process, cope with, or try to escape from trauma. As it is practically an interactive movie, it may bore those who are looking for action. On the other hand, those who enjoy this type of experience will find it a worthwhile adventure.
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Jul 18, 2022The art style is unique and it's definitely an experience you should not miss. It takes around 6 hours to complete and is free to play as Game Pass title.
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Jul 18, 2022With a high performance, endless adjustable accessibility parameters and its predisposition to share the multiplayer experience, As Dusk Falls becomes the friendliest bet we have ever seen for people outside the medium to enjoy video games. It is an indie game treated as a triple A. A purchase that we recommend and a Game Pass title that should be a hit at family gatherings and with friends.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is an adult, dramatic adventure with unusual artistic choices, yet functional to an ever engaging narrative. Almost similar to an interactive TV series, it will keep you glued to the screen until the end, eager to discover the fate of the many realistically and often starkly delineated characters, but also to explore the many ramifications of the story. The excellent acting, moreover, succeeds in making the most of such a production. Too bad for a few technical issues lightly impacting the enjoyment of the game, but it is definitely a highly recommended experience for lovers of narrative adventures and TV crime dramas.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls tells a superb story of how two family's lives are changed forever, with great writing that leads to some huge decisions to make.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is a stellar first attempt from Interior Night and a must-play for those who enjoy interactive narrative games like The Quarry, Heavy Rain, and Detroit: Become Human. In many ways, the game feels like a playable season of Fargo and even channels other gritty crime dramas like Breaking Bad at times. Essentially, it's a playable binge drama, but one that can be enjoyed time and time again, with different endings and twists, depending on your choices...As Dusk Falls will make you hurt, and it will make you cry, but it won't let you down.
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Jul 18, 2022An engaging story that gives players a satisfying sense that they control their own destiny, As Dusk Falls is "choose your own adventure" at its best.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is an interactive drama that highlights a structure based on the choices we make and the narrative possibilities of each of them.
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Jul 22, 2022As Dusk Falls keeps you glued to the screen from the first minute thanks to the developments in the story, which you can influence by the choices you make. The multiplayer gives it an extra dimension and it pays to play the game several times, thanks to the splits in the story. However, the input registration can irritate, because it does not always do what it should, but beyond that a must play.
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Jul 21, 2022As Dusk Falls is a fun little entry into the multiplayer movie-game genre. It's neat to see a crime thriller as opposed to a horror movie and that alone lends it some charm. Unfortunately, the second half of the story meanders and is more disconnected than the first half, but it still is worth experiencing at least once. It doesn't quite stick the landing as hard as you'd hope, but it has a lot of potential as a party game.
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Jul 19, 2022As Dusk Falls comfortably exceeds the standard of its genre when it comes to plotting, characterisation, performance and the impressive malleability of the story. It’s a story about trauma and what it takes to overcome it, really; reluctant teen criminal Jay Holt stayed with me, particularly, touchingly innocent despite what he’s been exposed to in his life. Narrative games exist outside of gaming’s old technological arms race, now, and because we’re not focusing so much on how realistic they look, they’re free to tell much better stories.
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Jul 18, 2022For the most part, As Dusk Falls excels as an 'interactive drama.' With wonderfully crafted and relatable characters, superb voice acting, and unique art direction and animation style that lends itself to the story. The first few chapters alone are excellent, and they’ll have you gripping onto your controller when things are tense and utterly deflated when you’re forced into making a tough decision. The game is only let down by a weaker second act and a rushed final chapter, but overall, it’s still a great narrative adventure filled with dramatic moments, tension, and tough choices.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is an interactive drama that tells a compelling story with diverse paths and real impact of your decisions. The art style can be a bit distracting.
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Jul 18, 2022If you are looking for a game that offers a deep story, and you have no problem with a gameplay that is limited in terms of real action, but deep in its decision mechanics, then As Dusk Falls is the game for you. On the gameplay side of things I think As Dusk Falls only fails in the occasional action events. They are too simple and after doing them several times, they lose their excitement. In terms of graphics and sound the result is mixed.
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Jul 18, 2022The main objective of As Dusk Falls is to provide a narrative experience inspired by some of the most successful television series of recent years, such as Breaking Bad. The result? Well, it's a mixed bag.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is undoubtedly a better written game than all the others created by Quantic Dream. with beautiful and complex characters and a compelling and mature story.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is an impressive debut from INTERIOR/NIGHT. It tells an emotionally impactful story with some solid vocal performances. The branching storyline is cleverly implemented and the multiplayer features offer a convenient way to play with friends. As Dusk Falls is a clear indicator that the future is bright for INTERIOR/NIGHT.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is exciting, beautiful, and heavy-handed. Its more streamlined approach to narrative gameplay and its less traditional art style create an immersive experience that engages with the player’s imagination. That it can work both as a morally challenging single-player story and a party game for multiple players speaks to the confidence that its developers have. But its second half of the story undercuts some of the tension that its excellent first half builds, and a terrible cliffhanger might leave you feeling betrayed.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls blends Netflix-style prestige drama with Telltale-style game storytelling to great results.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls tackles intimate themes with intimate storytelling. It spends meaningful time with believable characters and complex personal issues. It attempts to explore answers to those relatable and sometimes unanswerable questions about ourselves. And most importantly, it doesn’t get distracted or lost along the way.
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Jul 18, 2022Normally, with a choice-driven adventure, I'm once and done, ready for a post-game water-cooler discussion. As Dusk Falls' warrants more than one playthrough, if only to see how differently things can pan out. If that open ending is any indication, there's more to come.
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Jul 18, 2022While the second half of this adventure falls short of the first, As Dusk Falls delivers a captivating story full of drama and consequence that feel true to its American setting.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is a breathtaking story that explores life lived in the margins. An intricately plotted story means that most decisions feel consequential, and fantastic writing ekes empathy from the unlikeliest of places. Although the story loses some steam in the latter half, getting to the end of As Dusk Falls will reward players with 100 ‘what if’s’ and an itch to race back to the beginning to do it all over again.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is an engrossing interactive crime drama with memorable characters. The art style and voice acting are great and the well-written, complex story branches out depending on your choices (which are meaningful, not illusory!), making the game worthy of replaying. I recommend giving As Dusk Falls a try instead of binge-watching a show on a streaming platform, but I suggest you launch the game early in the evening, because once you start it, it’s really hard to turn off the console until the end credits roll after 6-7 hours.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls tells a wonderful story that is not only thought provoking, but willing to discuss difficult subjects that aren’t often talked about. With every decision having an impact and putting the focus on characters, the story themes are effectively communicated and make you interested in seeing what happens next. Experiencing the game with your friends is also enjoyable, fostering discussions of your choices and what kind of decisions you make. While getting 100% completion for the game can be a tough journey, you are rewarded with story details that open up character motivations and keep you thinking about the characters long after you put down the game.
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Jul 18, 2022A strong story about how tragic life can be when everything goes wrong.
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Jul 18, 2022As it ran its course, I realised I quite adored As Dusk Falls. As a decades-spanning crime thriller throughout America’s western plains, it’s well acted and admirably realised. Although the cliffhanger beckons another chapter, my journey through As Dusk Falls felt whole, though I can’t wait to explore all of the possibilities on offer.
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Jul 18, 2022This interactive crime drama packs a unique visual style and some gripping moments dealing with mature themes. The choices you make are crucial to the fates of two families, but the impact is more keenly felt in the first act than the second.
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Jul 20, 2022As Dusk Falls is an interactive drama that soon becomes almost a virtual reality game. Its ability to put you in the skin of the characters is palpable and the story adapts to playstyle with a false sense of freedom, which little by little leads you to discover yourself in the most grotesque way possible.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls works as an intense first season of TV show who just you can't stop binge watch. Interior/Night cinematic adventure works great when tries to depict how three destinies are entwined after a dramatic moment lived together, while sometimes fails to build drama in believable way. Anyway, the strange mix between thriller, teen drama and family story delivers an empathetic narration and compelling gameplay, with some minor flaws here and there.
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Jul 18, 2022Imperfect but fascinating in terms of style and themes, the INTERIOR / NIGHT adventure wants to tell a lot, and it succeeds in a somewhat discontinuous way. The multiplayer experience is also a valid addition, on a par with what has been seen with the recent Supermassive-branded productions. The plurality of points of view, the never too obvious moral paths and the courage to change the register several times, combined with a graphic novel take, are the cornerstones of a convincing work, yet not fully amalgamated in all its parts. However, this is only the beginning for the team led by Caroline Marchal, and we are sure that the next choices that the collective will make will be more focused than those experienced in As Dusk Falls, whose story may still have something to tell us.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls tells a touching story whose universal themes (family, forgiveness, loyalty) will speak to a wide audience. Staged with talent thanks to an inspired editing and well-chosen music, the title has the good idea of alternating humor and darkness, moments of bravery and erasure. Fascinating in its first half, the software published by Microsoft struggles to find the same flashes in its last three chapters, which is regrettable. With a restrictive gameplay that will not reconcile those allergic to interactive film with the genre, As Dusk Falls shines with its many choices that cause very real consequences. Isn't that the most important for an Interactive Drama? If you have the Game Pass, it would be a shame to miss out.
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Jul 18, 2022The first book of As Dusk Falls is compelling, fast and breathtaking, while the second loses all the pace that the story had built up to that point. A great wasted opportunity, for an interactive drama with a lot of good ideas.
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Jul 18, 2022As a big fan of cinema and storytelling, I enjoyed the attempt at a mostly well told, if somewhat predictable yarn, full of plot twists and surprises, particularly with friends in tow.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is a mixed bag. The story, while certainly not out of this world, provides good characters and a fair amount of drama, but the peculiar art style doesn’t always succeed in conveying the right emotion. The voice-over, and especially the Italian dubbing, also occasionally suffers from the same issue. The multiplayer mode does make the game more engaging, but it’s still an experience with very little interaction. Enjoyment might vary wildly depending on your tastes.
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Aug 7, 2022Caroline Marshall’s first independent project may not have panned out exactly as planned, but it shows enough potential in its story telling to convince some to give it a try, and if you already own a Game Pass subscription then you are just investing your time, which will probably worth it.
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Jul 19, 2022As Dusk Falls is a very unique game with a distinctive art style. Off to a strong and gripping start, it loses its touch on the second half. A game you savor like a Netflix show that you can’t stop binge-watching.
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Jul 18, 2022While As Dusk Falls’ story is full of thriller cliches and tropes, if you can look past the unique animation style, playing around with the well-written characters’ lives can be a lot of fun.
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Jul 18, 2022A tense and dramatic interactive movie with superbly realised characters, a breathless plot, and a still-frame animation style that’s likely to prove extremely divisive.
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Jul 18, 2022We have a lot of gripes about As Dusk Falls, but we’ve still very much enjoyed our time with it. Its story will keep you hooked from start to finish, but some of its narrative gaps will leave you with questions. Should that keep you from playing? No – ultimately, this is a very well-executed narrative drama complete with excellent voice acting and a unique art style. Yes, it could have been better in many ways, but it’s still worthy of your time.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls isn’t quite the arty thinkpiece it aspires to be. But it’s a hell of a lot of fun nonetheless. This is a perfect Game Pass experience for a mellow weekend, and probably best enjoyed with an adult beverage in hand — and the company of your favorite like-minded sickos.
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Jul 18, 2022As for me, my little family had a pretty good time playing a chapter each night over the course of a week. And while I doubt I’ll play again — I’m fine with how the story turned out for us — I’m pretty sure my mildly OCD daughter is already plotting to go back and fix all the things I made go wrong with my overrides. Who knows? Maybe she’ll find a way to get everyone through this chaotic criminal saga in one piece. But I doubt it.
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Jul 18, 2022With As Dusk Falls, Interior Night and Xbox Game Studios are testing the limits of what an interactive narrative adventure game can be. It's certainly odd for this to be one of the biggest Xbox exclusives of 2022, but it keenly demonstrates that there's still a lot that developers can do to innovate within a genre that seems limited at first glance.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls has a captivating story with more than a few rocky moments, but is as close to feeling “genre” as it can get. It also has a lot of shortcomings that might only be saved by the interesting multiplayer features. It’s the perfect game to pull out for any digital or physical get-togethers, but is otherwise a reminder of wasted potential.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is the non-game narrative adventure for your non-gaming family and housemates. It’s the most engaged I’ve ever seen my lapsed casual gamer partner in a videogame and that’s because it has the familiar story pacing of a six-part TV series and almost no gameplay, which means minimal barrier to entry.
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Jul 22, 2022With As Dusk Falls, a new step is taken in the transformation of classic adventure games into "narrative experiences" intended for a general audience. The INTERIOR/NIGHT studio even pushes the cursor to reach the status of interactive photo-novel, due to a singular artistic direction, based essentially on still images.
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Jul 20, 2022After each episode, you even get a chart highlighting the path you’ve taken with spoiler-free hints at the breadth of outcomes and scenes available. And even with all of that, each new twist and turn feels unexpected. As a slice of brand-new interactive choice-driven narrative drama, As Dusk Falls impresses. But it’s an experience held back by its photo-filter visuals and interactivity that never quite feels like an extension of its many dramatic moments.
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Jul 28, 2022In terms of the sheer variety of ramifications and final outcomes that this interactive drama has to offer, As Dusk Falls is very well written. But when it comes to artistic choices that have been made, for example, in the field of style and direction, it can sometimes fall far beyond your taste. As in the case of the undersigned Naturally Born Azijnzeiker.
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Aug 23, 2022Will you enjoy this story-based game? That, quite unsurprisingly, depends on whether you’re going to like the story. The plot twists aren’t great but if you’re interested in dark topics like PTSD, you could leave satisfied.
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Edge MagazineAug 11, 2022What a shame that a story whose opening promises to wade into deeper waters should resort to paddling in the shadows. [Issue#375, p.118]
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Jul 18, 2022I was hoping for As Dusk Falls to share a place with the best and most respected Netflix and HBO productions, but that would be setting the bar too high. I find it more accurate to position it as those simpler and pure popcorn series, ideal to spend a few hours of a gray Sunday afternoon. An ideal entertainment for when we only need something temporary and fun.
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Jul 18, 2022There's a lot to love in As Dusk Falls. Everything surrounding the game is thoughtful. The multiplayer aspect is very smart, the Twitch integration is well thought, and the narrative tree is well made. Unfortunately, all these great ideas serve a story that has been told many times before, relies on clichés, and misses the mark on many of its more sensitive themes.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls is a valiant attempt to tell a good crime drama where actions have consequences. The story went on a lot longer than I expected, as the tense moments at the motel spawned a lot of different threads — both flash forwards and flashbacks — that I didn’t expect. But ultimately the tale failed to move me in the way that I had hoped for. The characters were caught in circumstances where they had nothing but bad choices, and it just made me think that the dumbest thing they did was to allow themselves to be caught in those circumstances. In that way, I don’t think the storytellers succeeded in created the empathy for characters on both sides of the events that they wanted. I would like to see more from this talented studio. But so far the story feels more like a TV show than a stellar movie, and more like a soap opera than a memorable drama.
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Jul 18, 2022If you're a fan of the genre, you'll probably have some fun with this, but it's hardly the revelation that the decision-based, narrative-driven genre feels like it so desperately needs.
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Jul 18, 2022As a narrative-heavy game that settles you in the director’s seat to drive these characters towards their respective resolutions, it feels like INTERIOR/NIGHT forgot to finish the story. I mean it genuinely, this game just stops. I sat in the main menu for about 20 minutes trying to work out if I had fenced myself into an abrupt ending or if there was a giant “continue” button in my blind spot. I went back to what I thought were pivotal decisions and chose the opposite to see if that would change the paths, and it didn’t.
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls has a strong start and players will find the game hard to put down for the first two chapters, like a great binge-worthy TV show. Unfortunately, its pacing issues become apparent by the end of Book 1, and it never recovers in Book 2.
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Jul 18, 2022Good characters, strong performances and well-engineered dual timeline storytelling are let down by pacing that’s utterly arhythmic and gameplay that’s fighting you at every step.
| This publication does not provide a score for their reviews. | |
| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
| These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation. | |
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Jul 18, 2022Its story engages from beginning to end and keeps the player interested in these characters whose lives fall into a spiral of chaos and self-destruction. [Recommended]
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Jul 18, 2022As Dusk Falls represents a bold new future for interactive movie games - a future where games can do away with the supernatural spectacle and thrillery whodunnits to rely on human drama to entertain us instead. And OK, this does occasionally veer into soap opera, but at other times it's gentle and deep and dark, even profound. It shows how well games can handle stories and themes like these when done with care and understanding, and how well it can pull us into the lives of others and invest us in the decisions they have to make. And that's what really stays with me about the game: stories - human stories. They are the troubled, awkward and beautiful stories I can see in the world around me, that I can relate to myself. This is a game that reflects, in many ways, our own lives. Silly as it sometimes can be, As Dusk Falls feels real, and I can't think of a higher compliment to give it. [Eurogamer Recommended]
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Jul 18, 2022With its ability to constantly pull the rug out from under you, As Dusk Falls doesn’t fade into a forgettable narrative experience we’ve seen a thousand times. Instead, it leaves its mark, with a long shadow cast by its sad but understandable characters’ hardships drawn across threads seemingly made of jagged wire. What will haunt you is whether the thread you chose really was the best one at the time. As in life, the answer will likely be: probably not. [Polygon Recommends]
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Jul 26, 2022While it was a refreshing way to play a narrative-driven game, it’s not an entirely new idea. Supermassive’s 2017 thriller Hidden Agenda similarly turned a gritty drama into a party game. But I’m hopeful more games adopt a similar approach. In the case of As Dusk Falls, playing with my wife made what would have felt like a just-OK B-movie thriller plot into a much more memorable experience. There are a lot of branching paths, too, so we have a good excuse to return to the game.
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Jul 20, 2022Even if the gameplay mechanics of As Dusk Falls remain specific to the genre, they are right on point. Its unicity comes from its artistic direction and the quality of its writing. The software leans back and forth between an interactive movie and a narrative game. The quality of the dubbing and the soundtrack are just the icing on a skilfully produced and savoury cake. With a substantial lifespan and almost infinite replayability, the title should be a well-deserved triumph. The possibility for co-op sessions or playing with one's community will certainly contribute to this.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 198 out of 278
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Mixed: 41 out of 278
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Negative: 39 out of 278
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Jul 31, 2022
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Jul 20, 2022Its a very good experience overall I dont think it deserve all the bad reviews, just look at the game like a narrative one
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Jul 23, 2022Good story game hope to see more games like this in the future keep up devs