Review: Dusk Falls captivates by taking risks in every possible way

The Dusk Falls  is an interactive drama that took eight years to develop, coming directly from the creative mind of Caroline Marchal, former developer at Quantic Dream, where she was responsible for the design of games such as Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. Today, the first fruit of his solo journey, founding an independent studio – Interior/Night, is made available to the world.

The studio's first game was unexpectedly announced during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022 with day one on Xbox Game Pass for the day 19 July. There, some parts of the story were revealed and the possibility of being played in cooperative mode with up to eight players, something that could be shared between friends. So the hype was set!

Particularly, I was very interested because of the art style, but it was only after finishing Detroit: Become Human last week, that the will to live a new narrative - full of choices, alternate endings and deep regrets - was truly awakened. I feel it was the perfect timing for the inevitable comparisons, but The Dusk Falls reached the level that only unique works reach. Check out how he does it in our full review!

About choices, risks and collisions

The production is an adventure based on difficult choices that involve family, resilience and sacrifice, impacting two groups in the small Two Rock, Arizona City. Our journey begins in 1998 and, according to what we decide for each controlled character, we face the consequences in people's lives. As its creator, Caroline Marchal, defines it, it's a story for everyone - gamers and non-gamers - who enjoy mature and deep narratives.

The first group is a family of four who are on a moving trip and stop at the hotel desert dream due to a car failure. Their lives are interrupted by the second group, three brothers who have just committed a robbery at the sheriff's house and are looking for a place to escape the police. Events escalate quickly, without much time for distractions. On the contrary, at various times, the game will get your attention.

When I say that the game captivates when taking risks, I mean both the plot, the choices for gameplay and art style, heavily inspired by animations. stop motion. So, it's easy to say that it won't please a large portion of players. However, at the same time that it is a point out of the curve, it also takes advantage of the compulsive consumption of series by taking the episodic direction and having influences from big names on TV, such as Breaking Bad..

O gameplay takes about six hours, which are divided into two books over three decades: Collision and Expansion. In these books are six episodic chapters and a web of choices that prove just how expansive the story can be.

Still talking about the risks taken by the developer, the focus on multiplayer is almost a social experience. Twitch Performs Pokemon, which consists of players collaborating in an attempt to play games in the Pokémon series from commands sent by users in the chat room, was cited as an influence.

Complex story with simple controls

Em The Dusk Falls, you will have control over the lives of people who, far from being perfect, invite players to empathize with their real-life struggles and aspirations. Beginning in 1998 from a robbery gone wrong in a small Arizona town, the choices you make have a powerful impact on the lives of the characters in the story.

Some complex topics are touched to make us reflective enough to not know what to do. For example, are you able to break free from your family's toxic influence? What are you willing to sacrifice for those you love? Can you get over your past? Jay, one of the Holt brothers, along with Zoe, daughter of the hostage family, are the biggest bearers of all these issues.

Thus, we need to accompany two families in their struggles to survive, protect and withstand challenges rooted in previous generations. The way this is applied to the gameplay is the most daring of all, since the proposal is play with friends and family in order to share the experience, exchanging decisions and questioning each other's choices. In multiplayer mode, the choices are voted by up to eight players via an on-screen cursor. Oh, and always pay attention to the characters' lines, as some of the information will be crucial to the plot outcomes.

Another cool feature is the tracking individual choices which, at the end of the chapters, summarizes the values ​​and characteristics of each player.

The aim is to “engage players’ hearts and guts, not their thumbs,” Marchal says in an official statement. This makes perfect sense, as the events quicktime allow you to swipe and tap on the buttons, all very simply, including being able to be changed in the accessibility options. The time limit under which players must make decisions is an intentional source of stress. However, the As Dusk Falls intensity is not in the gameplay, but in the narrative. It was 5 hours and 43 minutes of fun and some regrets that resulted in several faces.

Visual is able to define the experience of each player

No doubt, the art style of As Dusk Falls is worth mentioning in the construction of a work that has everything to occupy a unique place among narrative games.

It works like a graphic novel in motion, much more static than fluid, which doesn't take away from the pleasantness of the eyes, of course, if you're not a fanatic about realistic movements and graphics. Inanimate objects such as vehicles, flags and other elements of background, present fluidity, while the movements of the characters are shown by frames of different poses.

The plot was brought to life by a team of actors who were recorded on green screen, to have their performances inserted into the animation style, which combines hundreds of two-dimensional images with well-marked brush strokes, drawn with moving backgrounds. It's understandable that it's not a look capable of attracting the attention of some, but it doesn't fail to continue taking risks successfully, in my opinion.

As Dusk Falls Multiplayer Mode is Innovative

As stated above, the game supports up to 8 players, both local and online co-op, or even a mix of both. Throughout the story, we are tasked with making decisions that affect the outcome of the plot. all players share the same point of view, but will vote individually on which decision they would like to see happen.

That's cool because players must quickly discuss their reasoning for choosing certain responses and actions at the timed moments. If there is a disagreement, it is likely that one or the other will leave the game a little stressed, so communicate and convince your friends!

The experience becomes much more intense than making the decisions on your own. And with each chapter, companions can reflect on the choices and have fun with the Personality and playstyle reports that are generated by the system.

As Dusk Falls Verdict

The interaction, which is practically limited to choices, without exploring environments or controlling the characters' movements, makes As Dusk Falls bears more resemblance to Netflix's interactive movie Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, than with other interactive games, such as Telltale or Quantic Dream.

Following this premise, it is one of the most experimental titles in recent years, a must for anyone who loves deep storytelling and even crime drama fans. The individual experience is amazing, but it's in multiplayer that it becomes a big hit. It is certainly a title that, despite personal preferences in the face of creative choices, stands out for being bold and innovating in the world of games.

The Dusk Falls is available for Xbox Series X|S and PC with Xbox Game Pass, PC GamePass, Windows and Steam, and on Xbox One and on phones, tablets and PCs via Xbox Cloud Gaming.

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If you're looking for more awesome multiplayer games, check out our review of TMNT: Shredder's Revenge.