Until Dawn Good

[Barb Frison]

I have to admit that I'm among those who were disappointed with the 'big twist that the serial killer/slasher flick was really just an elaborate revenge prank all along, while the Wendigo were the true villains of the story', and much preferred if the theme carried on throughout the entire game rather than half-way. Nevertheless, it was still a solid game overall and played out the Butterfly Effect system in an interesting direction.

I was also surprised at Sam and Mike's ridiculous plot armour for 95% of the game and would rather change that so that they can actually die early on, as well as allowing Matt and Jessica to have more screen-time.

You can't really have a game where all characters can die at the beginning. It would be horribly arduous to try to make a story driven game work in that regard. You need something for the game to continue around, which was Mike and Sam. I completely agree about Jess and Matt though.

I've very picky with the things I get into to. To put it bluntly, I don't like to waste my time watching or playing shit due to being a full time college student whom has to take care of her family as well as work everyday. There are few things I can find myself getting into or actually giving anytime to, so I generally like to think that if I actually give something my time it's actually worth something or pretty good. Though my opinion on what is considered to be shit is obviously subjective to my vies and likes/dislikes. Anyways... I think the game was very good for what is was. It kinda knew what is wanted to do, and did it. It executed some things greatly, and others things could've been done much better.

The game is gorgeous first of all. And I have to ask, would people want to sacrifice the quality of the graphics for say, more time playing? Or do you appreciate the the time that was taken and the money sunk into making this seems as realistic as possible, making it seem like we were actually playing a movie? So, I think with what this game was about, and what the company was trying to do with the idea they had decided upon, the game was overall a pretty awesome experiment for a new kind of game. No doubt if they make more, they can definitely reference this game to make better games in the future.

I can't really think of anything that needed to be changed. I mean, horror games and horror movies rarely break the mold of what they are. I mean, it's what they are that makes them what they are. I think that Josh being the killer was meh, it was definitely something we all saw coming. His 'death' in the barn was GREAT for throwing us for a loop, but unfortunately many saw through the ruse.

The Wendigo were cool, the fact that Hannah survived the fall and become one if not the central enemy of the game, was pretty cool too. I mean, she had the chance to kill everyone who wronged her and made her and her sister die pretty much. Though not completely original and inspiring, the Wendigo did a good job for being the true enemy. Sweet revenge for the girl whose 'friends' played a mean prank on her.

I would've killed off Emily for sure, or made her unsavable. I have never hated a video game character quite like I hate her. Also, talking of Emily's deaths or what should've been MORE possibly deaths, her one by Mike could've been more shocking and had more of an effect on the group in the basement. I mean, it was like, Mike murders Emily and Sam goes like, "Oh boy" sighing as she walks off. Ashley is meh after the attack, I mean she got what she wanted but compared to her many freak outs it was like little to no attention paid to Emily being murdered. Which, even if I hated the person whom was just killed in front of me I'd still be repulsed, or upset by the sheer fact someone just had their brains blown out by someone less than 10 feet from me.

I'm among those who were disappointed with the 'big twist that the serial killer/slasher flick was really just an elaborate revenge prank all along, while the Wendigo were the true villains of the story', and much preferred if the theme carried on throughout the entire game rather than half-way.

I never like this either but the game has to tell a somewhat coherent story and as such some people have to stick around, for me the latter half did just seem to entirely focus on them. It would have been better perhaps if the scenes happened but others could be present (up until the scene where everyone went down into the caves I was enjoying it; than just sam and mike).

The biggest change I would make is a scene after ashleys decision with investigating the voice, because for me the biggest plot hole is the fact ashley is either never brought up again or doesnt mention that she heard jess. Also this is the last time we see any of the remaining lodge character apart from briefly at the end

Chris and Ashley head back and pass the sound of "Jess" shouting again. Chris asks about it and ashley says she heard it earlier. After being berated by Chris, Ashley whines that she didnt want to be separated and that something isnt right as Mike insisted Jess was dead. Chris again thinks they should help, that if it was ashley down there she would want help and Ashley has to decide whether to go with him. If she refuses they head back, if they investigate Then the scene continues as it would with ashley but chris is controlled instead, if you open the hatch he dies and ashley runs away screaming, there is a quick time event that eventually leads to her hiding and escaping, failure in many of these events means death. In the last hiding point she must "stay still".

Ashley and Emily head back and hear Jess shouting, Ashley tells that she heard it earlier and Emily says she isnt surprised ashley didnt help knowing her behavior so far. Ashley says she didnt want to be separated and that something isnt right- Mike was sure jess was dead. Emily then decides whether they investigate or not. If not they head back. If they investigate the scene continues with the player controlling emily, if she opens the hatch she dies and ashley runs away screaming, there are several quick time events until ashley hides, failure in these parts leads to death. At the last point she must "stay still"

Chris expresses some discomfort that ashley hasnt caught up and they both head back, when they pass the opening they hear ashley yelling for help, chris instantly sets off to help however emily hesitates (she doesn't like ashley). Emily can choose to head back to the lodge or follow chris. If she heads back the player controls chris who finds ashleys hat and is horrified, he hears munching sounds and see the wendigo eating part of ashley, chris then has to "stay still" several times or he dies. The wendigo then retreats back into the hole, chris picks up ashleys hat and returns to the lodge. If emily goes after chris she finds chris, he turns and shows her ashleys hat, emily then sees the wendigo behind chris, she tells him not to move, her speech alerts the wendigo and emily must "stay still" or she dies. The wendigo then retreats into the hole and chris and emily head back, chris keeps ashleys hat.

Emily heads back when she tells sam Ashley probably got lost or something and as she passes the opening she hears ashley scream for help, Emily then has a choice whether to investigate or not. (I'd like to think no one would choose to look in that case). If emily chooses to help she finds ashley's hat and notices a wendigo eating ashley in the cave, she has to "stay still" several times or she dies. the wendingo eventually retreats back into the hole and emily heads back.

Chris says hes concerned about ashley. Chris heads back, when he passes the opening he hears ashley scream for help. Chris investigates the noise and finds ashleys hat, he then sees the wendingo eating ashley. Chris then has to "stay still" several times or he dies. the wendingo eventually heads down in the hole and chris takes ashleys hat and goes back.

The three head back and pass the opening, They hear Jess scream for help. Ashley tells them she heard it earlier and chris berates her saying she would want help if it was her and emily says she isnt surprised the person who supported her death didnt help. Ashley whines that mike insisted jess was dead and that she didnt want to be separated. Emily then decided whether to investigate now they are all together. If they head back everyone goes back safely. If they choose to investigate the player takes control of chris, the situation is the same as ashley if she goes initially, if chris opens the hatch he dies, if he goes back then they live. If chris opens the hatch then the wendingo kills him, ashley and emily run away screaming the wendingo gives chase and the player has to complete several quick time events for ashley, if they fail then ashley can die, after this both girls end up in hiding places and have to "stay still" or they get killed.

Other than that, I loved the game. I loved the character dynamics and their personalities. They were clich at first but they grew into something more. I also liked the jumpscares. Sometimes the camera angles were a little awkward but that isn't too much of a problem. The motion capture for the facial expressions were also kind of wonky and seemed exaggerated and even forced at times. The aiming was a little delayed as well, with a tendency to miss targets.

As for the concept for the game itself, I liked the plot twist about the Wendigos and I thought they portrayed it very nicely. They did a good job in making me feel bad for Josh even though he ended up being the "killer". I really enjoyed all the background stories and lore about the Wendigos and Native American culture. I'm not sure if I would change anything. Even though I understand what they were going for in killing characters off in the QTEs, I'm kind of disappointed that there wasn't a retry option. It doesn't seem very fair to make them die like this, especially since the buttons tend to get stuck. I suppose it does add suspense to the game, but I think deaths should be caused more due to the choices people make rather than by not being able to press a button on time.

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