[PS4] Until Dawn

So I finished the game this afternoon, and it’s definitely one of the best games I’ve played on the current gen. As someone who doesn’t really play many horror games, I usually get too freaked out to enjoy them properly, I was really into this.

I somehow managed to get a perfect playthrough (everyone survives and I found all the collectibles). Unfortunately I had to replay the first five and a bit chapters because I accidentally started a new game (I was too busy reading the Elyonoussi thread that I chose the wrong option on the main menu), which sort of killed my interest in doing another playthrough for the time being.

The story is fairly interesting, if a little bit too obvious at times, and the atmosphere is incredibly well done. I genuinely liked most of the characters, even the ones that were kind of prickish, with Jessica and Matt being the two I was a bit so-so on. The Butterfly Effect system was really good, excluding one or two moments (more on that below), but the stats page was mostly pointless.

I hope Supermassive make a sequel/spiritual successor to this at some point, although I’d prefer if it didn’t have anything to with Until Dawn. I’ve seen quite a few people online saying they’d like to see the developers take the American Horror Story approach and keep the same cast for the next game, albeit in different roles, and I wouldn’t mind that in all honest, seeing as they were all pretty good in this.

Honestly, if I was Sony I’d be making moves to try and buy Supermassive and bring them in as a first party studio. Apparently the game sold better than expected, and there’s been rumblings of a sequel already (not counting the VR thing), so it wouldn’t be too surprising if it did happen.



Spoiler-ish thoughts:

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I feel like the prologue could’ve, and probably should’ve, been a bit longer. I know everyone gets their own little introduction scene, but it would’ve been good to see the characters interacting a bit more and showing all the different relationships at the original party. Even at the end of the game, I still wasn’t sure how some of the characters tied in with the rest of the group.

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Beth’s death scene at the end of the prologue genuinely made me cringe when I first saw it; that was really gruesome.

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The Josh twist was way too obvious. I genuinely guessed that he was the ‘Psycho’ as soon as I saw the video of him inviting people back to the lodge for the anniversary. One of the early ‘Mystery Man’ clues and the scene with Sam, Josh & Chris pretty much give it away as well.

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* whoever came up with that jump scare with the ‘ghost’ at the door. I nearly had a heart attack when that popped up.

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Speaking of the ghost, there was one scene I really didn’t understand. So I get that when Chris and Ashley are exploring the lodge and the basement that Josh is faking the ghost somehow, but what about the figure we see during the Ouija board session. Was that supposed to be a hint about Josh’s hallucinations, part of the prank as well or a genuine ghost?

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I thought the Wendigo plot was pretty good, but it if you weren’t collecting the clues then it might appear a bit underdeveloped.

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Hannah becoming a Wendigo was another sort of obvious twist, but it was still well done. The scratched mirror in the guest cabin, the fact that she/it only attacks Jessica when she says that Mike and her are going to have * and that she seems to avoid attacking Mike in general were all clever little nods to the truth. Also, if you take a shot at the shadow at the top of the elevator when Mike finds Jessica, when Wendigo Hannah is in the lodge you can see that she has the bullet lodged in her skull. The fact that the game lets you piece all that together, without explicitly showing or telling you about it, is a welcome change from most games.

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The story/video that you get for collecting all the totems was a bit strange in all honesty. I mean it introduces some sort of legendary named Wendigo (that’s never mentioned anywhere else) that killed the Flamethrower Guy’s granddad, that he was hunting on the night of the prologue, and is revealed to be the one that forced the twins off the cliff. So FG decides to kill said legendary Wendigo (breaking his own rule in process and releasing its spirit) as revenge for his granddad and the twins. However the FG, despite having plenty of free time, never bothers to actually go looking for the twins bodies at the bottom of the cliff. Furthermore, this legendary Wendigo spirit is implied to be the one that possesses Hannah, and potentially Josh, which explains its dominance over the other Wendigo’s. It seemed like such a weird thing to have hidden behind the totems instead of the 1952 clues or even in the main story.

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I didn’t like the fact to stop Hannah from killing Josh you need to find certain Twins clues. Even though I found them in my playthrough, it doesn’t really make sense to me in all honesty.

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The post credits scene was a decent final twist but, as I mentioned above, I'd rather they didn't follow up on it.

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The flare gun decision is another one that’s poorly done. There’s a few ways you could screw yourself over with that decision, and it’s not particularly well thought out.

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I thought the Psychiatrist choices having an effect on the certain events was a nice touch

 

Got a few plays of this, enjoying it.

Tbh, I already have an idea of a part of the story for me.

I'm currently at the stage were Mike is tracking down the figure after the Mine and currently with Chris ( I think it is) as he comes to in the house.

Graphics are great, mind you very very dark (I mean in terms of lighting), sometimes I can't see *.

I think I'll just see how it plays out, don't think I'll replay, probably just youtube the rest of the outcomes.

Prison Break dude freaks me out though.

 

Completed this, won't be doing a re-run though.

Was really enjoyable and lovely to look at, admittedly these type of games can concentrate more on graphics as opposed to faster paced games. But I enjoyed the story, although it went a bit out there at times.

I do admit I kinda cheated with the ending with the motion sensor as it was taking the *, in the end I had Sam, Jessica, Mike, Ashley and Chris saved.

On story and your thoughts

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Likewise straight away I knew Josh was involved at the exact same point with the video. Was apparent he was going to be the guy with the mask.

Also it was a bit bizarre with some of the story, I never got the story of the Flamethrower Guys background, so wasn't sure exactly what he was doing.

Also, lost a couple of people by not really getting maybe any hints or stuff, such as Matt/Emily, never knew to look for the flare gun, I pressed the button first and that was it, maybe a 'maybe there is something useful up here' hint or something, or with the decisions you need to make i.e. Matt to save himself and jump. Also like yourself with Josh and having to read papers at the wheel to save Josh (although you don't really?).

Beth death? Was this just her falling down the hill?

I'm sure the ghost was Josh's camera tricks throughout the house.

Looked up on youtube an all survived/none survived and currently looking at individual only survivals just to see how it all plays out.

 

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If I remember correctly with the Flamethrower Guy, most of his backstory is revealed in the scene where he speaks to the group in the cabin, in his journal and in the special cutscene for collecting all the totems. Basically decades before the game, the FG's grandfather used to patrol the mountain trying to capture the Wendigo's that lived there. At some point the grandfather came across a special Wendigo (possibly the original) which ultimately kills him. Some time after this his grandson (the Flamethrower Guy) follows in his grandfather's footsteps and patrols the mountain for Wendigo's.

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Yeah, some of the decisions are really weird. The flare gun is by far the worst decision in the game, not only because the decision itself can be affected by a random dialogue choice from earlier on, but because it can potentially decide if Matt or Emily dies. I'm pretty sure you need to find the clue that basically confirms that Hannah became the Wendigo, in order to keep Josh alive. When Josh 'recognises' Wendigo-Hannah, it calms it her down, and that's why she spares him. I can't remember if he gets dragged away regardless of finding the clue or not, but you only get the scene showing he's 'alive' if you find that clue

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Beth is Hannah's sister, and the girl you play in the prologue

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See I thought the same at first, but it's difficult to say either way. I know Josh fakes the Ouija Board and the stuff in the basement, but nobody notices the ghost in the living room when it appears and it's never mentioned again. It would be a pointless effort to set that up on the off chance someone glances in that direction. On the other hand, if it was a real ghost, it doesn't have any payoff in the long run. You could argue it's to show that there's some genuine supernatural stuff going on, but it's still a bit random

 

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Yeah I probably didn't get enough back-up clues relating to flamethrower guy.

As you said if you get the clues in the mines then Josh can still be alive, but in fact he turns into a Wendigo (although guess you saw that again), if not then his in the water the Wendigo crushes his skull as he doesn't spot the tattoo, that's how mine's went.

On Beth, yeah, knew that, just wasn't sure as felt it wasn't as gruesome as the rest, I know Hannah seemed to snap her back on the rock, but she was still alive, Beth seemed to just fall and crumple at the bottom.

Not sure about the ghost, still think the lights and animatronics Josh did was the reason there.

 

Might purchase this just now.

£12.99.

 

Do it.

Some experience. I was * myself the entire playthrough

 

Downloading just now mate.

1.6GB of 20.3GB

 

Plenty of time to gather some pillows to hide behind:brendy:

 

Even as someone who isn't big on horror, I really liked this game. It's probably in my top 5, maybe even top 3, games from the current gen.

 

I mostly like FPS games, I might give this a go.

 

It was alright, but I wouldn't be as quick to recommend as others have been.

It's a wee bit like your typical early 2000's teen horror flick.

Good game, but wouldn't be one of my favourites from current gen.

 

Just started this up..

Got a fresh pair of underwear beside me just in case.

 

Not off to a very good start here, coupla babes down.

 

Headset on and lights out to make it creepier.

Not had any jumps yet.

 

Good man. That's how I played it as well.

 

Getting into it now. So much better with the headset on! .. I'm on edge whenever I need to walk about anywhere!

That brother seems a bit of a weird lad... Definitely suspecting that he has some involvement in whatever that may happen.

No deaths yet, apart from the 2 pre game ones, which I assume were inevitable.

Off to bed now, so will need to play some more tomorrow night.

 

The headphones make pretty much any game better.

 

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Ended up killing the weirdo brother when you got the choice of sawing one of 2 people. Couldn't believe it when he got cut in half as I was adamant it was him that was the 'killer'.

I've only lost one person so far for certain.. Matt I think his name was. Yep, he's definitely dead.

1 hour to go now! I was enjoying it better when you thought there were mad serial killers on the loose, now it's just they daft monsters..

Still good though!