After working on big titles like BEYOND: Two Souls and Heavy Rain, Caroline Marshall left Quantic Dream to form her own studio: INT. / night. Eight years later, its first achievement arrives at the gates of Xbox Game Pass next month: As Dusk Falls. For this release, the studio relied heavily on the genre the team was familiar with. The result is a narrative adventure with emotional choices that, so far, shows great promise. I managed to do the first two chapters, so here’s my preview.
Dusk Falls also follows two groups: a seemingly in transition family who must stop at a hotel after an accident and a group of three young men who will steal the house from the local mayor. The game swings back and forth a lot between different key moments in each person’s life. For example, it all starts with the couple’s young daughter Zoe who is growing up today and remembers the events of the game that took place in 1998. There are some scenes where we see that there are some tensions in the couple and what leads them to move on. In short, it is really interesting and depending on our choices we can have different points of view. So far, the script is captivating and there are many very tense moments that come to us.
High quality independent signature
INT./Night clearly didn’t have the financial means for Quantic Dream, but that didn’t stop them from being ambitious. We quickly note the visual style that will divide many and that, at the time, also made me hesitate. In fact, the visual of As Dusk Falls is a bit like scrolling through the canvas-like scenes. So we don’t see the characters moving or talking, which was totally weird at the time. There are a few moments where the excitement is a bit more lively, but it’s very limited. Fortunately, I got over it quickly thanks to the combinations and characters that are still very beautiful. In addition, the dubbing is really good.
Speaking of dubbing, I was first introduced to Elias Tovixes (Adam Jensen in Deus Ex). He is excellent in the role of one of the main characters: Vince. There’s also Acushla-Tara Kupe (Destruction Allstars) and Jason Hightower (Jackie Welles in Cyberpunk 2077). These are just a few examples, but the list is very comprehensive. In short, it adds a lot of character and credibility to each character. This is the most important here with a game centered around storytelling.
Even from the start we are offered to download the game app to do everything on our mobile devices instead of using the console. I think it will make the game easier. For my part, you made the whole story so far as a couple and I highly recommend it to you both. It can be played by up to eight people simultaneously and the story follows the majority with choices. It’s also a perfect experience that you can do while streaming.
A choice tree that does not give its place
Then what’s really impressive is my favorite tree. Moreover, this game seems to be very much inspired by the latest game from Quantic Dream: Detroit becomes human Where we finally see all the potential ramifications and see empty frames for those we haven’t seen yet. This is also something I’ve seen in the Zero Escape series. Honestly, once I finished one of the chapters, I wanted to go back to see the impact of the other decisions. However, it is very nice to be able to easily go back to certain key moments of a scenario without having to redo everything. At the same time, it was interesting to see the choices of other Xbox players displayed as a percentage.
In my opinion, it also attests to the quality of the text so far because I have fully comprehended and the impact of the choices is very strong. Without going into details so as not to spoil anything, there are plenty of options and therefore potential endings for each chapter. So far, there are no details that have been overlooked and there is an impressive variety of options for the player to feel involved. Obviously, it’s hard to properly assess the impact without the end of the scenario, but it’s up for now.
If we were to add to the list of comparisons, let’s say it reminded me of a lot of Telltale games. On the other hand, the choices increase tenfold, doubling the differences in the scenario course. Plus, with Telltale, I was tempted to recreate the script with the first games, but later found it redundant to go back to it because the endings were mostly the same. The only downside here is that you can’t walk around, so you really have to call the game a narrative adventure.
Dusk Falls is also scheduled for July 19
In conclusion, I really like what As Dusk Falls has to offer after two seasons. Admittedly, the gameplay elements are limited and the visual style will likely fall back a bit. However, those who like stories with a solid cast and are engaged in script choices will be well served. For me, this is the kind of game I like to do between two AAA games to get a better balance of playing time. In short, put it on your list especially because it will be available in Game Pass and will be especially suitable for it.
