As Dusk Falls Review (PS5)

Interactive dramas may be considered by many a stretching the definition of a video game, but when they are well executed, they sure are memorable. Just think about Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human, both critically acclaimed with excellent narratives. As Dusk Falls follows in the same footsteps and after being exclusive for Microsoft platforms for a while, the game now is available also on PlayStation 5.

Being an Xbox exclusive and being released when it was, As Dusk Falls became overshadowed by the controversies around Starfield and Redfall. Fans of interactive dramas will be happy to see the game land on PlayStation 5, featuring the same memorable experience put together by the studio led by Caroline Marchal, who previously was part of Quantic Dream.

The game that was also selected to be part of the Tribeca Film Festival, focuses on the story of two families set that turns into a drama told in an episodic format, not unlike a TV series set in the late ‘90s. The Walkers, troubled by many family issues, are on their way to their new homes when they cross paths with the Holt boys, who are running from the cops. Both groups end up at a motel in Arizona, where things escalate into a full-blown hostage situation.

As a player you will have the chance to experience the two-family histories and play mainly as one character from each side: Vince Walker the loving father, who carries a lot of personal and professional luggage, and Jay Holt, the youngest of the siblings who gets caught up in his family’s criminal background. The common element for each story branch is the weight of your choices.

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Following the tradition of the genre there are numerous ramifications of the story, and while some events are scripted and cannot be circumvented, the players will always feel that their decisions matter. The events can take dramatic turns, characters can get hurt or even eliminated early on, affecting how the game plays out and what events you get to experience or to miss out on.

The crucial moments are clearly marked and unlike the choices related to the dialogues and the QTEs, the game defining moments do not have time constraints attached to them. Your choices matter and as an added bonus at the end of each chapter you get a summary of your behavior and the possibility to compare your choices to those of other players. This way you can also uncover what other routes would have been available, and how your decisions shaped the chapter.

The social aspect of the game is based on an insight according to which people like watching movies together and then discussing the events they just witnessed. This observation actually became a cornerstone of As Dusk Falls, that wants to provoke dialogue between players about the plot twists of the game. Thus, playing the game in online mode, up to eight players can participate in, twisting the game system into a democratic process of decision making.

The will of the majority will win, but there is also a limited use of veto rights by all participants they can use to influence the way the story unfolds. Although this sounds like a certain recipe for chaos, the game always marches forward even if it makes you feel part of the saying that seems to be the general ethos of it all: “being in a bad place, at a bad time”. No matter what happens the plot moves forward, but a series of bad choices will put players in a really tight spot.

The QTE sections do not represent a real challenge, and they are more like mandatory “button smashing against the clock” events, so players can have some actual interaction and As Dusk Falls still could be classified as a video game. But that is the max level of interaction you can expect. You do not control character movement outside quick time events and you are forced to react in fixed situations unsung fixed camera angles. As a result, you will feel more like an interactive viewer rather than a player.

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This is also amplified by the fact that you can use your mobile phone to control the game. Taking into account the possibility of having up to 8 players it is understandable that the developers needed a different solution instead of players buying individual controllers, but using the dedicated mobile app makes you feel even more as a spectator or someone answering to a poll, rather than a player in control.  

The new features exploiting some of the exclusive characteristics of the PS5, like the Dual Sense features try to balance that. But once again it is more marketing gibberish, since beyond a bit of haptic feedback expressed through minor vibrations there is nothing to elevate things above the Xbox experience. The other additions focus on the accessibility part of the game, adding audio narration and description, text-to-speech and speech-to-text, and other options helping those with disabilities.

Technically the PS5 version of As Dusk Falls does not really differ from the other platforms’ versions, including the online game mode with up to eight players and the unique visual style that needs some getting used to. It has its own personality, but the graphics are proof of the indie nature of the game. The animations will come across as unusual since they are made up by interlaced static images, both for gameplay and cutscenes. And while the characters seem pretty detailed, the objects, especially the vehicles, look cheap.

All in all, the PS5 version of As Dusk Falls leads us to the same general conclusions as the Xbox version: it is an interesting representative of its genre, but it is not a revolutionary or an unforgettable one. The drama is always laid one way too thick, and the gameplay mechanics are once again nothing but a supporting role for the narrative. 

Many of the choices made by the characters will feel unnatural or illogical, chosen just to amplify the tension. It is clear that the developers were trying to present human nature in the most challenging situations, but the cliches they chose to plaster the game with really do not help their cause. Still if you are a fan of this genre, you will probably be hooked and will spin up the game a couple of times to go down the rabbit hole created by various choices.

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The Good

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Conclusion