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Until Dawn (PS4) Status: Finished playing I started playing this game on Saturday 18 November, 2017 // I stopped playing this game on: Friday 30 November, 2018
Current opinion of this game
No comment, yet.
November 30, 2018 10:37:35 PM
I finished this last weekend and I have to come clean on a few things: The game's first two chapters didn't really impress me all that much, but once the game gets going - it really moves along quickly and with fun twists. It's interesting to compare this game to other games with branching narratives - e.g. the Telltale Games - in this sense, the butterfly effect stuff is interesting in how it provides context as well as memory, you can read the entries to remember what has already happened and stuff like that. They also do the "previously on..." segments (much appreciated) like Telltale did, but the butterflies add a lot more. I was curious to see if the butterflies would influence me towards/against certain decisions or not. I don't think it did, and I think that's a good thing here. The one thing I was confused about where the detailed stats for each character - I looked at them a few times, and saw how certain choices made things go up/down (you get an "updated status" message) but I didn't get a sense that the stats mattered all that much. Once you're done you can go back and replay chapters - but you have to do them from the start. So, going back to try things differently, while possible, felt more onerous than I was willing to go for. On the other hand, replaying definitely goes faster (and you peek behind the curtain - e.g. quicktime events that don't really matter). I played the entire game worried that someone would die at any moment. I don't think that's possible (most deaths are probably in the last three chapters or something like that), but the illusion that this was possible definitely enhanced the experience for me. A lot. I made it with only two deaths. I mean three. I thought this was pretty good because one was "on purpose" - I did something I knew was a bad idea...
November 18, 2018 08:11:01 PM
I started playing this a loooong time ago, but never finished or got too far. I don't know why, other than perhaps something else - more exciting at the moment - came along. I also neglected to write anything about the experience so here goes for a more recent play session. I thought I'd play some more - at least finish one play through - because the unplayed pile of shame is very large. I'm surprised by how easily I was able to get back in. The game does a good job of reminding you of prior choices and important scenes. I also recalled being confused about the flashback scene. It's one where you play a few girls who are running away and then they die. They were being bullied, apparently by all the different characters you play now. I was confused for a moment because the flashback scene was inside the cabin and the scene I played had me...trying to get into the cabin. Anyways, it all made sense in the end. I found a few more totems - that trigger partial flash-forward scenes. Somehow I should be able to make sense of them to avoid/prevent what they refer to. I'm not sure how that will work out, to be honest. At this point I have one section of each of the totems. I've also been picking clues - again, I'm not sure how they will come into play. I'm guessing they might affect future events in some way? For example, I found a baseball bat - and there was a message alerting me that, it mattered somehow (it was one of those butterfly messages where things go one way or another). I'm curious to know how the clues and totems play out and whether or not its possible to "get everything" in one playthrough? I'm guessing not - and I'm surprised by how many clues it seems I've missed so far...

Until Dawn (PS4)