As Dusk Falls

As 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]

With 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]

While 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.