Quantic Dream offered something very unique during the Playstation 3’s lifecycle with “Heavy Rain” and “Beyond: Two Souls” – a pair of games utilizing quick-time events as the basis of its gameplay while attempting to tell profound stories usually involving murder, featuring twists aplenty & a plot holes. Though rough around the edges from a gameplay perspective and obvious flaws in terms of storytelling, “Heavy Rain” proved to be one of the most celebrated games in the PS3 library while its successor gained more praise in pushing forward the PS3’s graphical capabilities.
Gaming’s eighth generation saw Quantic Dream produce another visually awe-inspiring game full of branching narrative paths in a sci-fi, somewhat dystopian world, “Detroit: Become Human”. Learning both first-hand with “Heavy Rain” & “Beyond”, and by watching the fallout of “Detroit”, developer Interior Night – headed by former Quantic Dream creative director Caroline Marchal – wanted to create an experience unlike any other in the genre thanks to a unique art style, sprawling story in terms of years, and multiplayer options. Thanks to the power of the “Game Pass” service, I downloaded “As Dusk Falls” to see if it could live up to its predecessors or even exceed them.
Did I Complete “As Dusk Falls”?
Witnessed in many point & click adventurers before it, “As Dusk Falls” provides many decisions for the player to choose both miniscule and life-altering; and really that’s it. The presentation is that of a visual graphic novel where dialogue choices are the foundation and stuff like exploring for collectibles doesn’t exist. What make “Falls” so expansive in terms of completion is the branching plot. After each chapter or through the main menu, players can not only see their choices up to that point accompanied by global percentages showing the amount of players who too entered a particular route, but also unfilled sections that expresses the paths not taken that can be in subsequent playthroughs.
After a little over six hours (each chapter takes about an hour to finish), I finished my first playthrough while picking up a bunch of achievements including quite a few currently rare ones where the story took some interesting turns. The flowchart encouraged yours truly to plan another playthrough or more following a shocking cliffhanger that concluded the narrative; as well as the potential of full achievement completion.
Did “As Dusk Falls” Live Up to the Hype?
“As Dusk Falls” starts off vague enough with a young woman floating in a body of water, giving an inner monologue that the player can hear. Flashes of a time long past evolves into the sprawling account of a terrible night in 1998 where Vince Walker’s family got caught in the middle of a small Arizona-town robbery gone wrong during their road trip to St. Louis. The player’s choices not only change the various outcomes for all the playable characters including a young high school dropout – Jay Holt – and a push-over of a motel worker, Paul Hayes. The voice actors both large & small do a mostly masterful job in adding a level of believability and humanity to their avatars. It is through the game’s overall storytelling and narrative paths that really keeps one coming back for more because the gameplay is as bare-bones as possible even in a genre rooted in minimalistic gameplay.
The quick-time events that are associated with every action sequence usually boils down to one of four options: rotate the analog stick, mouse, or on a tablet/smart phone; swipe left, right, up, or down; tap the action/confirmation button (in the case of an Xbox controller, the “A” button); rapidly mash that same action button. There are several scenes where the player can move the cursor around to discover particular points of interests like a hiding spot. Unfortunately, due to the game’s art style, some of the hectic moments usually associated with these QTEs is lost because of the rather static presentation.
Though the gameplay is particularly uninspired, the level of choice definitely isn’t. One of the biggest issues with games in this genre is a lacking of true dialogue options where it feels like two choices actually have two different results. A small choice like Vincent trying to crack a joke to lower the tension may both be referenced later by another character in a harrowing situation and change the attitude between the Walkers and their captors. The hundreds of choices provided are well thought out, have some impressive weight even when not expected, and definitely encourages at least two playthroughs.
One of those playthroughs may be alongside others as a big hook in terms of gameplay is the ability to add up to seven players alongside the original player. Instead of using the SuperMassive Games’ multiplayer formula where players pick certain characters to control and make decisions for, Interior Night utilizes a voting system where the group is in control of every choice. There are also implementations like vetoes known as “Overrides” to eliminate a particular player’s choice. With the variety of playable options in terms of multiplayer including using controllers, a phone, or a keyboard & mouse, as well as both locally and/or online, “Falls” is, arguably, the most party-centric game in the genre to date.
Technically, “As Dusk Falls” has some big problems including frame rate drops between “motion” images especially late in the story. The UI and general cursor movement can be sluggish even after making adjustments in the menu. And, most importantly during QTEs, rotation movements struggle to register. Accessibility is a strong point in the game when it functions properly with a variety of options to help anyone who wants to experience this one can. Starting a multiplayer game online can be a tad frustrating with the host having to re-add players by sending out code-specific invites between chapters before adding every playable profile each time. The audio must be commended including licensed music that can be turned off via “Broadcast Mode” and a harrowing soundtrack in general.
“As Dusk Falls” doesn’t necessarily reinvent the wheel, but worked hard to perfect certain aspects (efficient dialogue choice options, relatable characters, consistent tension even during flashbacks) other games in the genre have fallen short in accomplishing before it; making it one of the most enjoyable digital dramas seen in years.
Should You Play “As Dusk Falls”?
“As Dusk Falls” delivers on providing a memorable narrative experience mostly thanks to some great voice acting and characterization, but has less gameplay than expected. The multiplayer options are interesting and actually works when getting a lobby started. The art style may not be for everyone, and there is definitely some technical issues that could ruin someone’s intended decision. The biggest negative in terms of playing “Falls” is the asking price. At thirty dollars USD, “Falls” may come across as a bit steep in terms of price. Thankfully, it’s on “Game Pass”, and if the first couple of chapters catch you, there’s no reason not to support to the developers. No matter if you’re playing it on “Game Pass” or putting down dollars to own it forever, be ready to make some quick decisions and don’t think about the pizza you’ll never eat.
