TerribleAtThisGame
Member
Reviews are what I expected. Waiting for deep sale. Sinking City was another "sleeper hit" that really was just a half-baked jank fest I had to uninstall halfway through. Getting the same vibe here.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Alone In The Dark (2024) |OT| Christian Slater and Tara Reid Not Included
- Thread starter Chuck Berry
- Start date
fart town usa
Gold Member
I am absolutely loving this game!
Even the combat, the combat feels incredible considering how hamstrung you are. It's basic as can be but it works great. I mostly melee cause it's fun to dodge.
This game is an absolute vibe, I'm far into Chapter 2 and it's so much better than I could have hoped for. I can see some people getting bored because there's a lot of exploration and files to listen to. If that's your thing though, you will absolutely love this game.
Even the combat, the combat feels incredible considering how hamstrung you are. It's basic as can be but it works great. I mostly melee cause it's fun to dodge.
This game is an absolute vibe, I'm far into Chapter 2 and it's so much better than I could have hoped for. I can see some people getting bored because there's a lot of exploration and files to listen to. If that's your thing though, you will absolutely love this game.
Last edited:
fart town usa
Gold Member
If you're playing, don't forget to check the Objectives in the menu, it gives good insight into the events of the game.
I like how the game is making me work to try and understand the story. I really like the delivery so far.
I like how the game is making me work to try and understand the story. I really like the delivery so far.
Chuck Berry
Gold Member
It’s way fucking better than Sinking City.
Proof: I own Sinking City. This is way, WAY better than that. It’s also not a good comparison aside from the time period and hats.
Last edited:
fart town usa
Gold Member
The Objectives update every time the notepad symbol comes up.
fart town usa
Gold Member
Old school but I've had to change it to modern for the 358 talisman puzzles. I have no idea how the game expects me to approach those. I want to understand it though because the other puzzles have been really enjoyable and a breeze for the most part.
Chuck Berry
Gold Member
Mood: The Game 2024
You’re in Carcosa now…
The whole bayou/black magic/voodoo shit is already intriguing especially because of how well acted the clues are when you pick them up
You’re in Carcosa now…
The whole bayou/black magic/voodoo shit is already intriguing especially because of how well acted the clues are when you pick them up
Last edited:
fart town usa
Gold Member
For what it's worth, I'm not even sure if the PS5 version takes advantage of the dualsense. I haven't noticed it at least.
Last edited:
fart town usa
Gold Member
Played about 4 hours, near the end of Ch2 I suspect. Final thoughts for the night.
Wow, it sucks that it's not Friday, otherwise I'd be up all night enjoying the ever loving shit out of this game. This is the kind of game I want to sit and just take it all in one sitting.
I was really hyped for this game but managed to keep my expectations in check. It has easily exceeded my expectations and Pieces Interactive/THQ Nordic should be incredibly proud of what they brought to the videogame world. This game is an absolute gem and I really have a hard time seeing it get any worse. It keeps getting better and better.
Wow, it sucks that it's not Friday, otherwise I'd be up all night enjoying the ever loving shit out of this game. This is the kind of game I want to sit and just take it all in one sitting.
I was really hyped for this game but managed to keep my expectations in check. It has easily exceeded my expectations and Pieces Interactive/THQ Nordic should be incredibly proud of what they brought to the videogame world. This game is an absolute gem and I really have a hard time seeing it get any worse. It keeps getting better and better.
fart town usa
Gold Member
I was gonna make a joke about AITD being a soulslike due to how often i dodge, lol. It's all stick and move for me. I like the rocks you can toss too, quick throw is handy in a pinch.
Krathoon
Member
It plays off the original, but you can't dodge in the original.
Also, the frog joke at the beginning.
Last edited:
FinalBossWithTheMostPower
Member
Yeah, I had trouble putting it down. Unfortunately, I have to work in the morning, but I'll be running through this tomorrow into Friday.
Few things to note, the lore and world are intriguing and the way you need to think and check notes to solve the puzzles is a nice change of pace.
As mentioned before, the audio log files are an awesome and engrossing touch that all but removes the burden of reading. Interestingly enough, the notes and annotations are intriguing and so, I'm still finding myself reading.
It's the little things.
And David Harbour slaps in this. His tone and delivery are spot on.
Well done THQ Nordic! When are we getting DLC?
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Emily Hart Would
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
She was cute, damn shameeating disorders /body dysmorphic syndrome are to be blamed here
her peak was short lived
Anyway..... playing on Old School.
I like what I seen so far and I'm not sure what the problem reviewers had with the Combat(maybe we need to stop listening to amateur gamer's?)
But there are 3 things I don't like.
- David Harbour literally sounds like he is phoning it in, the NPC characters put in a better performance then he does.
- The Music in the cutscenes just sounds out of place with the rest of the game, I get what they was going for but the hammy music with every interaction with a character just ruins the mood of the game.
- It says you can turn off interaction indicators, yet they still there
FinalBossWithTheMostPower
Member
She was cute, damn shame
Anyway..... playing on Old School.
I like what I seen so far and I'm not sure what the problem reviewers had with the Combat(maybe we need to stop listening to amateur gamer's?)
But there are 3 things I don't like.
- David Harbour literally sounds like he is phoning it in, the NPC characters put in a better performance then he does.
- The Music in the cutscenes just sounds out of place with the rest of the game, I get what they was going for but the hammy music with every interaction with a character just ruins the mood of the game.
- It says you can turn off interaction indicators, yet they still there
All fair complaints, but I think David Harbour did well, and while he definitely phoned it in, his delivery gets better as he goes.
And make no mistake, there's jank for sure, but so far nothing game breaking for me.
Still, I don't like how the game struggles a bit on quality mode. It looks great, but it's not doing anything we haven't seen before graphically. So, we could use a patch to fix the chop.
Fortunately, the game's pace and and Carnby's inability to run more than a few feet before getting winded, mask the performance issues a bit.
Last edited:
NeverYouMind
Member
Agreed. Maybe he was trying to play up the drunk angle a bit, but it seems disconnected unlike most other voice overs. I can't wait to play as the girl for this reason, but I want to finish the game with him first as he is less agile and I enjoy avoiding unnecessary encounters on replays.She was cute, damn shame
Anyway..... playing on Old School.
I like what I seen so far and I'm not sure what the problem reviewers had with the Combat(maybe we need to stop listening to amateur gamer's?)
But there are 3 things I don't like.
- David Harbour literally sounds like he is phoning it in, the NPC characters put in a better performance then he does.
- The Music in the cutscenes just sounds out of place with the rest of the game, I get what they was going for but the hammy music with every interaction with a character just ruins the mood of the game.
- It says you can turn off interaction indicators, yet they still there
Really loving the dodging mechanic in this game. If one of the guns has decent stopping power I will be having tons of fun in later playthroughs. It is strange nobody mentioned how well the shooting mechanics work. The aiming controls better than RE2 and RE3. However, I am a bit let down by some of the adventure elements being a bit too straightforward and not requiring interactions with other characters.
FinalBossWithTheMostPower
Member
Wait...there's a dodging mechanic?
NeverYouMind
Member
You just press a dedicated button with a direction and it dodges for you like RE3 but with an infinite window.
Last edited:
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Started this up and played through Chapter 1. I blame
Chuck Berry
He's right though - this game oozes atmosphere. A few jump scares so far, but nothing too bad (I'm a total wuss with horror games, so we'll see how well I hold up). David Harbour seems to be doing alright, it does sound a little phoned in, but I think that's also just every "1920s detective" in general. As others have mentioned, the voice acted clues and descriptions are fabulous. The soundtrack is chill, which is weird for a game like this, but it kind of fits.
I got the GOG version on PC. Performance so far has been great, and I was surprised the game supported ultrawide (after the first cutscene) which I'm really pleased with. A few performance issues here and there, nothing major. I immediately disabled the chromatic abrasion and motion blur - why are these still on by default in most games? Also lowered the mouse sensitivity to about half way, and raised the depth of field a bit. Amazing from a technical perspective.
Anyway, can't wait to see where this game goes. I'll probably just play a chapter a night... alone, in the dark!
Chuck Berry
He's right though - this game oozes atmosphere. A few jump scares so far, but nothing too bad (I'm a total wuss with horror games, so we'll see how well I hold up). David Harbour seems to be doing alright, it does sound a little phoned in, but I think that's also just every "1920s detective" in general. As others have mentioned, the voice acted clues and descriptions are fabulous. The soundtrack is chill, which is weird for a game like this, but it kind of fits.
I got the GOG version on PC. Performance so far has been great, and I was surprised the game supported ultrawide (after the first cutscene) which I'm really pleased with. A few performance issues here and there, nothing major. I immediately disabled the chromatic abrasion and motion blur - why are these still on by default in most games? Also lowered the mouse sensitivity to about half way, and raised the depth of field a bit. Amazing from a technical perspective.
Anyway, can't wait to see where this game goes. I'll probably just play a chapter a night... alone, in the dark!
NeverYouMind
Member
I think the stutters are because they do not precompile the shaders. Still pretty good performance though.Started this up and played through Chapter 1. I blame
He's right though - this game oozes atmosphere. A few jump scares so far, but nothing too bad (I'm a total wuss with horror games, so we'll see how well I hold up). David Harbour seems to be doing alright, it does sound a little phoned in, but I think that's also just every "1920s detective" in general. As others have mentioned, the voice acted clues and descriptions are fabulous. The soundtrack is chill, which is weird for a game like this, but it kind of fits.
I got the GOG version on PC. Performance so far has been great, and I was surprised the game supported ultrawide (after the first cutscene) which I'm really pleased with. A few performance issues here and there, nothing major. I immediately disabled the chromatic abrasion and motion blur - why are these still on by default in most games? Also lowered the mouse sensitivity to about half way, and raised the depth of field a bit. Amazing from a technical perspective.
Anyway, can't wait to see where this game goes. I'll probably just play a chapter a night... alone, in the dark!
The game just came out! How are you done with it?
I just payed a visit to the library...
I think I am going to hold off on the visit to the shipping company until tomorrow.
Last edited:
Old school. I'm not a big fun of puzzle games, but here, I think, they've struck a nice balance of making you think, without being too obscure to the point of frustration and everything you need for the puzzle is usually contained withing the same room, no need to pixel hunt or run to the other side of the map to activate a lever etc.
I like how enemies are actually dangerous on hard and I've died several times already, you need both melee and guns to dispatch some of them.
And overall, the pacing is on point, hard to put the game down.
Denton
Member
Super looking forward to this, the setting and vibe is exactly my jam. Glad to read positive impressions here. The only reason why I am not jumping in right away is because I already got Horizon 2, so I want to do that first, and give Pieces time to iron out some issues (like the shader stutter).
ShadowNate
Member
I'd absolutely play the game with the old low poly models. It kind of irks me that they put that in a separate DLC.
Still planning to buy this as soon as I get paid this month.
Still planning to buy this as soon as I get paid this month.
RagnarokIV
Member
Was dwelling on PC but will go PS5 for trophies on this one, to keep Inferno company.
Performance or quality PS5?
Performance or quality PS5?
darkangel-212559
Banned
I'll be getting this come pay day. I really miss the old school survival horrors and find myself replaying the OGs every few years. It sounds like this is a game which belongs in that era. Especially with the choice of playing as two different characters. Does that choice effect storage and things like puzzles etc too?
Chuck Berry
Gold Member
Got up to chap 2 last night. I don’t remember the last time a game got me this good that I just wanted to stay home and play instead of going to work. Work is going to suck today.
Oh and this > Alan Wake 2 if we’re talking recent survival horrors.
Oh and this > Alan Wake 2 if we’re talking recent survival horrors.
TerribleAtThisGame
Member
My point was more that I don't trust GAF "horribly reviewed game is actually a masterpiece" after I got talked into buying that mess of a game.
Bartski
Gold Member
Emily Hart Would
Emily Hard Wood
fart town usa
Gold Member
Unless the game starts throwing mobs of enemies at me, I'm shocked too at how many reviews complained about the combat. It's completely solid, nothing ground breaking but it's masterful IMO considering that Pieces has never made a game like this and that it's switched up just enough to make it feel fresh. It feels incredibly solid to me. I'm convinced that some reviewers simply suck at some games and the score is more indicative of their skill than serious flaws in the gameplay mechanics.She was cute, damn shame
Anyway..... playing on Old School.
I like what I seen so far and I'm not sure what the problem reviewers had with the Combat(maybe we need to stop listening to amateur gamer's?)
But there are 3 things I don't like.
- David Harbour literally sounds like he is phoning it in, the NPC characters put in a better performance then he does.
- The Music in the cutscenes just sounds out of place with the rest of the game, I get what they was going for but the hammy music with every interaction with a character just ruins the mood of the game.
- It says you can turn off interaction indicators, yet they still there
I'm struggling to think of any serious underlying issues with the gameplay itself. I did get stuck in geometry once but thankfully there was a checkpoint like 10 seconds prior. Outside of that it's been smooth sailing.
fart town usa
Gold Member
I can't speak for Sinking City but AITD really is solid, the overly negative reviews honestly don't make any sense to me. Definitely keep it on your wishlist if it isn't already. Anyone who is fond of PC adventure/early survival horror should play this. I wouldn't be surprised if it's on sale for $40 in 2-3 months.
Last edited:
Doctor Hades
Member
Played this on PC for around 3 hours so far. I like it but my initial impressions were not great as the game was prone to some rather horrible stuttering when entering/exiting rooms and also coming into and out of (and sometimes during) cutscenes as well which was a constant distraction and really ruined the atmosphere for me. Not sure if it is just placebo but I played it this morning and the game now feels much smoother. It still has traversal shutters when entering/exiting rooms but it is much less jarring. Looked at the main menu and it shows the game is v1.02 so it looks like a patch may have been released after I played it yesterday to address some of the stuttering issues.
That major issue aside, I think the game is actually pretty good. I never played the original so I have no idea how faithful to the characters and setting this new game is but it does feel very Resident Evil-ish but with more of a focus on slower paced exploration and puzzles over combat, at least so far, which is good because the combat is by far the weakest part of the game. It feels a bit janky and enemies require too many hits in a game that is already measly with ammo (you can find ammo scattered around in the rooms but it 1 or 2 bullets at a time rather than a pack of them). I think the house is well-designed and is logically laid out and easy to memorise even without the map. The map just serves as a reminder for me so that when I pick up the Sitting Room Key I can know exactly where the sitting room is since the rooms are not explicitly named as you explore.
The graphics also look pretty good. The two leads are nicely modelled although other characters don't look quite as good and the rooms are lovingly detailed with some great lighting (especially with HDR). The game also has plenty of graphical options to tweak, including DLSS, DLAA (yes!) and FSR. The game defaulted to the Epic preset on my RTX 4080 but I just cranked up everything to Cinematic for the hell of it and it still runs at 120 fps (capped in the game options). Oddly, the cutscenes seem to be capped at 60 fps but at least it isn't 30 fps like Outcast: A New Beginning so looks less jarring when it switches between gameplay and cutscenes.
Decent game then, by no means a classic but clearly made with some passion by a small group of developers. If they can fix the traversal stutter completely then I can just about forgive them for the game launching in the state it did.
That major issue aside, I think the game is actually pretty good. I never played the original so I have no idea how faithful to the characters and setting this new game is but it does feel very Resident Evil-ish but with more of a focus on slower paced exploration and puzzles over combat, at least so far, which is good because the combat is by far the weakest part of the game. It feels a bit janky and enemies require too many hits in a game that is already measly with ammo (you can find ammo scattered around in the rooms but it 1 or 2 bullets at a time rather than a pack of them). I think the house is well-designed and is logically laid out and easy to memorise even without the map. The map just serves as a reminder for me so that when I pick up the Sitting Room Key I can know exactly where the sitting room is since the rooms are not explicitly named as you explore.
The graphics also look pretty good. The two leads are nicely modelled although other characters don't look quite as good and the rooms are lovingly detailed with some great lighting (especially with HDR). The game also has plenty of graphical options to tweak, including DLSS, DLAA (yes!) and FSR. The game defaulted to the Epic preset on my RTX 4080 but I just cranked up everything to Cinematic for the hell of it and it still runs at 120 fps (capped in the game options). Oddly, the cutscenes seem to be capped at 60 fps but at least it isn't 30 fps like Outcast: A New Beginning so looks less jarring when it switches between gameplay and cutscenes.
Decent game then, by no means a classic but clearly made with some passion by a small group of developers. If they can fix the traversal stutter completely then I can just about forgive them for the game launching in the state it did.
Last edited:
fart town usa
Gold Member
I say Quality. It's obvious that the developers were hyper focused on clarity because the game wants you to 'investigate' (hold L1 to zoom in). For example, I looked at a painting and it was a historical set piece of a military encounter at Derceto during the civil war. A little while later I got a file that specifically referenced that historical event. Just little things like that that aren't required of the player to notice but it lends really well to the lived in feeling of the world. Great attention to detail, the texture work is spot on. Some reviews complain about the graphics and it just doesn't make sense, the game is freaking gorgeous full stop.
fart town usa
Gold Member
Here's some combat showing off the dodge. Is it pretty
, not necessarily, but it works well and is damn fun IMO. I rarely focus on gunplay, running around and scrambling for environmental melee weapons is too fun for me to ignore. Gunplay is solid too though.
TerribleAtThisGame
Member
I have a whole wishlist of deep sale only games so I will pick it up at some point. I'm a sucker for Horror so for $20, I'd try it eventually.
I do need something Horror to wash the shit taste of Alan Wake 2 out of my mouth at some point.
xrnzaaas
Member
Here's some combat showing off the dodge. Is it pretty
It's the same dodge as in the first Alan Wake game. Might look silly, but worked great in Alan and it seems to work great here as well.
fart town usa
Gold Member
In the developer discord I've seen PC players talk about vsync settings, etc.
Consoles dont have anything like that.
Chuck Berry
Gold Member
I already want a LA Noirish/horror Carnby spin off game with Harbour reprising the role
Just call it.....Carnby
Just call it.....Carnby
NeverYouMind
Member
Inventory is unlimited, but the game is designed to only give you what you need during exploration. The interactions are different depending on character, but key puzzles and key events are identical.
It does on PC.
The enemy movement makes them challenging to hit unless you aim center mass. They are simply more aggressive than in most horror games and if they get close you cannot shoot your way out of it. You either dodge or melee. There is an issue with using objects in the environment. The issue being that once you grab it you are made to use it instead of holding it and movement is very limited. Another thing is weapons do not get upgrades so there is no way to make the encounters smooth sailing.
My solution is to swing the weapon and dodge in that situation. Might take a few tries, but it works when saving is not an option.
Last edited:
kunonabi
Member
Don't tell me this I just agreed to go into a work an hour early tonight shortly before I started playing.
NeverYouMind
Member
Great outside of excessive environmental ambient noises and the leading man's voice work.
fart town usa
Gold Member
It's fantastic. Especially with the Pulse headset. The mix is done well and super atmospheric.
The various geometry bugs are the biggest issue IMO because everything else has such a keen attention to detail. Shame it has dumb glitches than can create easy/valid critiques that will scare players away.