Surprised me. It has all the makings of something unremarkable at first, but it quickly finds its feet. It’s masterful ultra-episodic storytelling to the extent that it can ever be masterful - scenes are brief, paced out and littered with mini climaxes that mostly manage to convince you of their importance.

I’m not convinced that games that promise your choices matter, really this time, will ever not feel manipulative - as someone who’s tried his hand at very basic Twine stories, I can promise you, there’s a reason no one has really gotten it right. Some choices lead to inherently more interesting outcomes, and others are too much work to ever justify the boatload of resources people want you to put in.

I think by making its branching pathways just a little distinct and just a little connected, Dusk basically does all that it can. It is a little annoying how quick time events can range from totally insignificant to character killing, sometimes without much indication, but then again, I probably shouldn’t have failed any in the first place!

Also have to praise the aesthetic. The 'slideshow' effect, as others have cynically called it, works really well for this imo. Close ups of emotional reactions, added intensity as someone invisibly whips a gun out over the course of one frame - I think it's really clever.

Whining about ‘the ending’ always feels very vague to me, so I’ll say as much as I can without spoiling it. Beyond the pretty blatant and not that interesting sequel bait, the one thing the game really botches is the framing device. Adult Zoe is underdeveloped and in my Chapter 6, she very whelmingly decides to face her problems head on!! after a boring exchange of reassurances with the most sympathetic character in the game.

It’s a shrug of an ending for arguably the two most important characters and it was pretty disappointing. If Adult Zoe was going to be one of the two most important characters, we should’ve spent some time with her at the beginning of chapters - the obvious candidate to cut would be Ash. It’s not like Dusk is otherwise afraid to tell its story out of order.

Overall, though, I was always eagerly awaiting more. There’s enough creativity at Interior Night that I hope they attempt more ambitious stories in the future.

Surprised me. It has all the makings of something unremarkable at first, but it quickly finds its feet. It’s masterful ultra-episodic storytelling to the extent that it can ever be masterful - scenes are brief, paced out and littered with mini climaxes that mostly manage to convince you of their importance. I’m not convinced that games that promise your choices matter, really this time, will ever not feel manipulative - as someone who’s tried his hand at very basic Twine stories, I can promise you, there’s a reason no one has really gotten it right. Some choices lead to inherently more interesting outcomes, and others are too much work to ever justify the boatload of resources people want you to put in. I think by making its branching pathways just a little distinct and just a little connected, Dusk basically does all that it can. It is a little annoying how quick time events can range from totally insignificant to character killing, sometimes without much indication, but then again, I probably shouldn’t have failed any in the first place! Also have to praise the aesthetic. The 'slideshow' effect, as others have cynically called it, works really well for this imo. Close ups of emotional reactions, added intensity as someone invisibly whips a gun out over the course of one frame - I think it's really clever. Whining about ‘the ending’ always feels very vague to me, so I’ll say as much as I can without spoiling it. Beyond the pretty blatant and not that interesting sequel bait, the one thing the game really botches is the framing device. Adult Zoe is underdeveloped and in my Chapter 6, she very whelmingly decides to face her problems head on!! after a boring exchange of reassurances with the most sympathetic character in the game. It’s a shrug of an ending for arguably the two most important characters and it was pretty disappointing. If Adult Zoe was going to be one of the two most important characters, we should’ve spent some time with her at the beginning of chapters - the obvious candidate to cut would be Ash. It’s not like Dusk is otherwise afraid to tell its story out of order. Overall, though, I was always eagerly awaiting more. There’s enough creativity at Interior Night that I hope they attempt more ambitious stories in the future.