I just completed the game...holy hell, in my opinion, this game was phenomenal. I rank it up there with the likes of Heavy Rain. What Supermassive managed to achieve with this IP is sensational. After watching a few of the walkthroughs earlier this month, my expectations were very low for this game. I thought it was going to be poorly written, campy, cheesy, not scary...I'm very glad I doubted Supermassive because this, this was a sleeper hit.
I know I say this a lot but, this is an R.L Stine "choose your ending" style game. In that same notion, R.L Stine wrote a great singular story and then would branch it off with all these lame/filler type scenarios and conclusions. While it's not fully the case here...I feel there is one linear story, saving all of them, that makes the game super fun and delivers.
Thinking back to all the videos/streams that turned me off...it's not the writing, it was the person's choices that were off putting. Obviously people will play a certain way but, I feel if you play logically/with the will to survive, you're in for a treat.
First playthrough, I clocked in around 10 to 11 hours. I managed to save everyone until the last six minutes of the game...3 out of 8 survived. -_- I thought I was going to prove Supermassive wrong about not being able to save everyone on your first playthrough. I then replayed the end, thanks to the episodic feature you unlock after completing the game, and changed a few choices...damn, wish it was my ending to the first play through.
This is currently my new favorite IP/game of this gen. I hope Supermassive tries another horror title. The formula they currently have is near perfect...they just need to tweak a few things and they'll be the Quantic Dream of the horror genre.
I'm really looking forward to starting a new story. If I could advise, this is a game you need to experience and not watch on youtube/streams etc. I know the style isn't for everyone but, if you're on the fence about playing it...just rent or buy but don't watch online. Playing through the parts I had already seen, it was a whole other ball game when I was in control. Spectating, I found myseld rolling my eyes and thought it was stupid...holding the controller, I found my heart racing as the events unfolded.
It's been a long time since a game truly delivered something memorable for me.
