As Dusk Falls Review - New Platform, Same Pressures
There was much ado made about As Dusk Falls when it first launched in July 2022, but as someone who primarily plays games on PlayStation platforms, and in a July filled with many other games that I was also interested in, I’d been awaiting an opportunity to see what all the fuss was about on my preferred platform as a more opportune moment. It turns out that that moment as arrived, and the masses weren’t kidding, As Dusk Falls meets the hype.
There’s little that I can outline in this review that Matt didn’t capture in his 2022 review, but I was incredibly impressed by the number of differences that were visible between what Interior/Night had constructed, and the norm established by decade old Telltale titles. The many combinations of events that are underpinning any given scene are plentiful, and make for a constant engaging playing experience. With the ability for the plot to spin off in a range of different directions dependent upon who still has a pulse, who is in the hands of authorities, and based upon your choices or reflex responses, ensures that the player will be constantly riveted throughout the game’s 4-6 hour duration.
Similar to what we’ve previously seen in Quantic Dream titles, it was truly fascinating to get to the end of each of As Dusk Falls’ six chapters to then explore the various breakpoint moments that there were, and how my action or inaction influenced the path that the plot could have gone down. The presentation of the web of choices that player can make heavily incentivises multiple playthroughs to see how the events of any given scene can influence the broader narrative, who lives, who dies, and who ends up behind bars.
I must admit I was dubious about the animation style that the team implemented before properly experiencing it, and now that I have, I’m a little on the fence about it. In isolation, the style works well, but can be quite jarring when other, more fluid animation styles are implemented, such as when the camera pulls back to show a car driving down a road. In these scenarios where you experience a more normalised animation style, only to be tossed back to the more unique stylings of the game proper, it shows that the team needed to commit 100% to a style, and not tease anything else. The voicework and sound design however are top tier.
As Dusk Falls wears its influences on its sleeve, from Telltale Games to those from Quantic Dream, and those that inspired its many awesome accessibility features. It shines brightest in its storytelling and how your choices reverberate throughout the remainder of the game, and no level of quirky animation can diminish that. As Dusk Falls is here for a new audience, and it is one that’s well worth investigating for the new crowd. It’s an evening or two well spent.
As Dusk Falls was reviewed on PS5 with a code kindly provided by the publisher.
