Until Dawn catch all

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I have watched a couple reviews and heard some good buzz so I thought it might be worth a thread of its own.

Gametrailers review

Polygon review

Our own imbiginjapan says "Hey guys! Hey! Hey! Until Dawn is real good. Real good."

Here's my extended commentary:

The character animations waver a bit between oddly fluid and a bit jerky, and some of the shadows have that blurriness so many console specific games of the last generation have (probably an engine holdover as this game has been in development for a loooong time), but I got used to both those issues after a little while. The frame rate is steady (which in my opinion is more important than 60 FPS) and the atmosphere is really good.

Most of the game is made of Quantic Dream style events that can be performed either by stick 'n' button or optional motion controls. I'd say it would not necessarily satisfy survival horror fans because the gameplay is not skill based in the traditional sense. It's more of an interactive Choose Your Own Adventure. The characters are suitably cliche and appropriately annoying, as they are totally schlock-horror movie kids down to the part where some of them inexplicably appear to be pushing 30.
That said you get to know them pretty quickly and even the most irreedemable ones are colorful and interesting.

I'll add that one HUGE downside is that if you intend to replay it, it feels like you're going to sit through a lot of stuff you've seen before. So it's one to revisit intermittently, like re-watching a film.

... I did run into one small bug where a totem I picked up wouldn't trigger when I examined it. I had to jam the R-stick all the way to make it trigger. Maybe with motion controls active that wouldn't be a problem. Also some folks got stuck standing on a barrel somewhere in the game. No idea how prevalent such issues are... so far I haven't seen anything weird except the totem thing.

... The setup characters in the prologue died. It was a violent but not a lingering death. I know there are some elements of those [Saw] films buried here and there - from what I understand the game takes a kitchen sink approach a la Cabin in the Woods so if it's a cliche, it's in there somewhere.

The opening theme, just to get a taste of the style (methinks somebody watched American Horror Story):

I liked it a lot but the people that throw around the term "interactive movie" as an insult will hate it for obvious reasons. If you loathe QTE's don't bother.

JeremyK wrote:

I liked it a lot but the people that throw around the term "interactive movie" as an insult will hate it for obvious reasons. If you loathe QTE's don't bother.

Since the game is basically built around QTE's I think it's a different sort of monster compared to games that throw them in seemingly out of nowhere. Here the game revolves around anticipation of the events, rather than them being a distraction from the primary mechanics.

They go along great with the jump scares because you need to be attentive to hit the events and the designers can prey upon that attentiveness.

I think QTE's get a bad wrap in general. If done well and in the right type of game they can work great.

This needs a PC release badly.

Found this old 2012 trailer. It's amazing how much better the final product seems to be.
I'd love to know the ins and outs of the history of this game. It's remarkably rare to find a game that has hung around for so long that comes not only unscathed but remarkably improved.

El-Producto wrote:

This needs a PC release badly.

Not going to happen. Sony financed and Sony published.

Cross post from PS4 thread.

Warriorpoet897 wrote:

Question: is the storytelling in Until Dawn the kind of thing I might be able to convince the wife to sit and play with me? She's not into games with stories usually, but she is OBSESSED with Halloween and horror. I'm tempted to buy this game just to turn down the lights one night and force her to play with me, but it probably won't fly if the acting and storytelling aren't pretty good.

The acting is more or less on-par with anything you'll see in similarly constructed horror franchises. I'll call it Buffy level acting. The characters are generally pretty fun to watch but there are some rocky patches in the delivery and motion capture. The dialogue has a... I dunno... Final Destination-esque quality to it. Think 2000-2010 'teen' horror film... petty infighting, social media references, "witty" innuendo. It all works to invoke a certain vibe. We're talking Scream or Drag Me to Hell rather than The Others or Let the Right One In here. Don't expect high-minded horror - it's more about the roller coaster ride.

I'd like to play this, but I'm going to wait until I can get it on sale for $30 or something. So, maybe next October.

Broke down and pre-ordered this as a b-day present to myself to get the bonus chapter. The reviews I've been perusing have all been getting me excited to play. And if most of neogaf is in agreement on how fun it is, that says something.

Yeah, it says that the moment the honeymoon period wears off in a few weeks, it will be the most overrated piece of garbage ever released. :p

Aaron D. wrote:

Yeah, it says that the moment the honeymoon period wears off in a few weeks, it will be the most overrated piece of garbage ever released. :p

It won't take long, I'm sure somebody's already working on a frame-rate analysis. It's all downhill from there.

Aaron D. wrote:

Yeah, it says that the moment the honeymoon period wears off in a few weeks, it will be the most overrated piece of garbage ever released. :p

I know hating on neogaf is fun and all, and I certainly roll my eyes daily at some of the petty stuff people get up in arms about there, but once you learn to sift through that stuff, it's one of the most diverse - if not the most diverse - and active gaming communities on the Internet.

nel e nel wrote:
Aaron D. wrote:

Yeah, it says that the moment the honeymoon period wears off in a few weeks, it will be the most overrated piece of garbage ever released. :p

I know hating on neogaf is fun and all, and I certainly roll my eyes daily at some of the petty stuff people get up in arms about there, but once you learn to sift through that stuff, it's one of the most diverse - if not the most diverse - and active gaming communities on the Internet.

No doubt, but that doesn't make it any less fun to riff on its quirks though.

Well, I was going to do this:

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

I'd like to play this, but I'm going to wait until I can get it on sale for $30 or something. So, maybe next October.

But (in case anyone hasn't figured it out yet) I have the worst impulse control and found myself driving past a Best Buy after the gym today. And now I own Until Dawn. The one consolation is that I told Disco the premise of the game the other day and she seemed on board with doing a couch co-op of the game. So, I guess I'll justify the early purchase that way?

Either way, looking forward to firing this up and checking it out.

CptDomano wrote:

Well, I was going to do this:

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

I'd like to play this, but I'm going to wait until I can get it on sale for $30 or something. So, maybe next October.

But (in case anyone hasn't figured it out yet) I have the worst impulse control and found myself driving past a Best Buy after the gym today. And now I own Until Dawn. The one consolation is that I told Disco the premise of the game the other day and she seemed on board with doing a couch co-op of the game. So, I guess I'll justify the early purchase that way?

Either way, looking forward to firing this up and checking it out.

I imagine it'll be a really fun "co-op" game. My poor impulse control got devoted to MGS5, so I should be good for awhile.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

I imagine it'll be a really fun "co-op" game. My poor impulse control got devoted to MGS5, so I should be good for awhile.

We're going to need a full accounting of dicks.

I've watched like five people stream this game. It's interesting to see the different outcomes and just how people react to each scenario in the game. It's probably the most times I've watched the same game being streamed other than Dark Souls. While obviously a completely different type of game in all aspects it had a similar appeal in seeing someone play it for the first time. At least for me...

Prima is giving away their walkthrough for the game, which is nice for a for-profit guide publisher.

http://www.primagames.com/games/unti...

I don't think I'm willing to spend full price on this experience but look forward to adding it to my pile in the future.

I'm watching other people play this on the youtubes (can't really justify the cost to grab it right at this moment) and holy crap....i don't know how it's possible to make Peter Stormare *MORE* creepy but they've managed it.

Good job.

Seriously though, this should be called Until Dawn: Escape from the Uncanny Valley.

I finally found time to put an hour or so into this. I think the thing that has surprised me most so far is how good this game looks

Maybe it has just been a long time since I've seen trailers, but I never got the impression that this was going to be a looker. There is definitely some major uncanny valley going on in the characters, but the environments are stunning. And yeah, Peter Stormare is super creepy...

There have already been so many things that have me wondering what would have happened if I had done things differently. None of the deaths so far have seemed to bask on the gore, so I'm quite happy about that. I'm not a fan of the Saw brand of horror.

I'm also really loving all of the character stereotypes. I already hate a couple of them.

I couldn't resist grabbing a copy even though I've already watched a playthrough to completion on youtube. Really surprised me how good it is throughout.

Dyni wrote:

I already hate a couple of them.

IMAGE(http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/359/304/0/S3593040/slug/l/until-dawn-20150822022239-1-1.jpg)

Dyni wrote:

I already hate a couple of them.

I kiiiind of hate everyone, honestly. I'm going to try and finish the game before writing out any full impressions, but it's been an interesting reaction both DiscoDriveBy and myself have had while playing this together. I've been doing my best to keep away from any reviews/impressions until we're done as I don't want to give myself a bias one way or the other.

It's a weird comparison but I haven't enjoyed watching someone else play a game for the first time so much since Dark Souls. I've seen a bunch of people stream it now and I'm still seeing new things.

Yeah! Finished my own playthrough which, even though I knew what was coming from watching it on youtube, was still a hell of a lot of fun. For the record, here's who didn't make it...

Spoiler:

Matt ended up with a hook through his throat in the mine's larder

Mike got caught in the explosion at the end because I bottled it and accidentally picked the wrong option

Josh ends up alive but trapped in the mine...I'm not sure if it's possible to actually save him from that fate or not...probably not but some of the Dr's dialogue would suggest it *might* be possible.

Everyone else survived the night. Even Jess.

More importantly...the wolf-dog survived. yay!

Anyway...REALLY cool game and I'm loving this current trend of polished "choose your own adventure" games that Telltale seem to have sparked. Hoping this sells enough to warrant a sequel or another thematically similar game by the same team.

Definitely want to go back through and try for an "everyone lives" ending...and a "everyone dies" ending

pyxistyx wrote:

Yeah! Finished my own playthrough which, even though I knew what was coming from watching it on youtube, was still a hell of a lot of fun. For the record, here's who didn't make it...

Spoiler:

Matt ended up with a hook through his throat in the mine's larder

Mike got caught in the explosion at the end because I bottled it and accidentally picked the wrong option

Josh ends up alive but trapped in the mine...I'm not sure if it's possible to actually save him from that fate or not...probably not but some of the Dr's dialogue would suggest it *might* be possible.

Everyone else survived the night. Even Jess.

Anyway...REALLY cool game and I'm loving this current trend of polished "choose your own adventure" games that Telltale seem to have sparked. Hoping this sells enough to warrant a sequel or another thematically similar game by the same team.

You certainly did better than I did, though I guess you had the Youtube stuff to go on. We'll be playing again for sure to fill in some events even though the way ending plays pretty much breaks the illusion, so to speak. That seems inevitable with this kind of game though.

Did you end up feeling like choices you made early in the game affected the way things played out later, or did you feel like it came down to a lot of choices like "pick A or B; A means this character dies, and B means this character lives".

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Did you end up feeling like choices you made early in the game affected the way things played out later, or did you feel like it came down to a lot of choices like "pick A or B; A means this character dies, and B means this character lives".

It's a little more subtle than that. They do a good job leading you to think you're making a simple dichotomous option along the lines of "A lives , B dies" but things rarely play out that way.
The effect on the relationships early on can have an impact. Most of the time you'll be able to trace decisions back to see what you could have done differently.
There are a few situations where the result is not clear which decisions you made caused a certain result, and I'm ambivalent about that. On the one hand it keeps the player guessing, but on the other hand it makes additional playthroughs potentially frustrating as you fish for the alternative paths and feels a bit weak in terms of making the player feel remorse or satisfaction after doing something with a big effect. That's kind of rare though.

Where it "fails" (though I think that's a harsh word) is in providing a truly branching story with different end points. It's not a subway system where taking one path over another leads to a dramatically different place.
Like so many of these games it's a single trunk with a bunch of side roads that lead back into the middle. You'll get a 'different' ending but it's all just modular chunks.

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