After a recommendation from my non-gamer wife, I decided to start the As Dusk Falls game on Game Pass. The shortest explanation is the game is a mix between a Netflix series, a comic book and a choose your own adventure. With choices that matter, I figured it would be interesting, but it’s better than I thought. Thanks to getting Gamepass to work on my Steam Deck, I played anywhere I wanted.
As Dusk Falls Art Style
When I originally saw the gameplay trailers, the art style was a bit of a turnoff. After positive reviews, I thought I’d give the game a try in the future, but not this soon. What convinced me not to wait was my wife.
She doesn’t play games, but I bought her Game Pass Ultimate for Christmas. There’s a few non-traditional games on the service that I hoped she’d like. I was right. Her telling me about how her story progressed peaked my interest. I started playing that night.
The comic book art style was distracting at first, but by the end of the game I can’t imagine it any other way. It’s hard to gauge expressions or emotions from the still frames, even though they do change during conversations.
I’d imagine the crazy amount of As Dusk Falls choices played a part in the art style. Filming or animating all the possible conversations and outcomes is an expensive prospect. Probably time consuming to. I happily accept the weird style for the amount of choice, but that art defines the game now.
Game Choices That Truly Matter
Games that advertise choices that matter are often cosmetic or just illusions. They may branch out a bit, but eventually end at the same small set of conclusions. With the different characters in this story, there are quite a few possible combinations of how the story ends. I’m impressed by the choices in the As Dusk Falls game.
The perfect example of this is Vince, who appeared an important main story character. In my wife’s playthrough, her choices led to Vince’s death while on the run. With my choices, he survived and realized his dream. When I checked other possibilities later, he could also die at the motel.
Even if he survives, choices vary his relationship with his wife, his daughter and his father. The choices change how other characters stories progress and end, whether a happy end or arrested or in a body bag. Those combinations of who lives and who dies affect branches in later chapters.
With so many choices, branches and outcomes, trying to navigate all the possible story threads would take forever. Thankfully, a killer feature of As Dusk Falls is there to help.
As Dusk Falls Story Tree
The glorious story tree displays the path of all those choices unlocked. Various choices are labeled along with those that change the story, lead to a death, go down a new branch and more. Various points before main story choices offer the chance to play from there.
After my first As Dusk Falls playthrough, I went back to explore the other choices using that lovely feature. It’s great not having to start all the way at the beginning to play through all alternate choices. There is room for improvement though.
The areas to start playing are a bit far ahead of the actual crossroad choices that matter. It is also tricky to unlock various paths that are reliant on who is alive and who is dead. In those cases, it may require playing through an earlier point in that chapter or a chapter before.
In any future patch or sequel, I’d love to see current progress unlock future threads. If I play back through an earlier chapter and change a death of a character, I’d like for it to unlock that starting condition in future chapters.
Still a great feature in its current form. Shows the paths already charted and what’s left to discovery. I’m determined to unlock all the branches, at least until I get frustrated.
What’s Next for the As Dusk Falls Game
I did not unlock all the endings yet, but my story ended on a cliff hanger. There’s plenty left to discover either via DLC or a sequel. Both my wife and I are heavily invested in what happens next. I’ll search information on the current story, but looking forward to season 2.