Don’t be put off by the unusual art style: As Dusk Falls is good.
Your input comes at major decision points when you’re asked to make choices that dramatically change the story.
It’s no exaggeration to say characters will live and die based on the choices you make.
The magic of this formula is its ability to engage bystanders like movies do.
People will shout things like, “No, don’t do that!”
And, “Run away!”
and that kind of thing, unwittingly investing themselves in what’s going on.
The games are almost as fun to watch as they are to play.
The most popular choice wins.
There’s evenTwitchsupport allowing viewers to do similar.
The app turns the phone into a giant touchpad, effectively.
What makes it good is how it delivers it.
There’s a real understanding here from developer Interior/Night about what makes games like these work.
Take the art style, for instance.
It takes a while to settle into but when you do, it’s actually very effective.
A key part of this is how well characters' expressions are captured.
After all, if we don’t care about them, why should we care what happens on screen?
Broadly, the story follows two families who collide in a motel in small-town - tiny-town - Arizona.
The game does this in a variety of ways.
These are anchored on a few key playable characters, but pull the others in around them.
This is another area As Dusk Falls wields considerable skill in.
The pace never sags.
It’s got more twists than a helter skelter.
The chapters are then grouped into two ‘books’ that represent the two major timelines in the game.
And that’s what really stays with me about the game: stories - human stories.
This is a game that reflects, in many ways, our own lives.
