Intro: Horror tropes exist on the premise of an overused experience phenomenon or concept. Until Dawn puts the player front and center of these common horror movie tropes, with little horror and more childish annoyances such as teen romance, unrequited love, the troubled youngster and the one who’s actually smart. Until Dawns only real promise is in that of a psychologist we see at the end of several chapters. Until dawn created a series of games where you make the choice who lives and who dies, this in a sense was the rough draft of what would become The Dark Pictures Anthologies and would bring some of the most cleverly written stories and twists with a caretaker that only wants the best for the player. There is always a rough draft before the final product; Until Dawn is the rough start to a brilliant world. The Clock Is Ticking: Until dawn requires players to stay on their feet, and always be ready for a QTE, jump scare, or unexpected moment (story wise). There were also specific moments in the game that the player had to hold the controller completely still or they would be caught. While this is a really incredible thing to have in a horror game it was impossible to stay absolutely still, so I ended up just putting my controller on the table for those sequences. The choices one makes in this game are crucial to the ending you get, and since Until Dawn has no manual save, and limited check points it creates a nervous uneasy feeling of I need to get it right. Whenever I play this game there are these playful moments coated in urgency at times and it felt disingenuous, and so corny at moments that I could not take it seriously. It felt fake, and lacked sincerity, when I should have been awe struck and gob smacked. Until dawn had so much promise around a very rough experience control wise, story wise and horror immersion wise. By the end of the game the only positive take away I really had was seeing the psychologist after each chapter, the inclusion of this character made the experience with the game more fun, and spooky, like someone was peering into my mind and rattling the chains to see what happens. Some of the gorier scenes also made my horror heart feel right at home, they were actually utilized in a way that made sense in accordance with the story and wasn’t just gore for gore's sake. Dawn: At the end of my experience with Until Dawn I felt bored, and underwhelmed. Yes, there are interesting psychological themes, and the psychologist bits were practically the only great part in the game. this title is predictable, trite in some parts yet extremely compelling because of the multitude of ways your choices can go. I really wanted to love this game because of what came from it, but sadly I left the game feeling saddened by the wasted potential. The History of the Wendigo could have also been utilized in a bigger more impactful way. Instead, we got annoying horny teens, and underutilized potential.
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