2025-05-02 08:20:42

Fun game, its not the same story as the original, it keeps certain stuff but its still great and very entertaining i recommend it.

2025-04-27 03:01:07

The game was a financial failure, but I really didn't regret spending my money on it. I usually complain when survival horrors are more horror than survival, but in this case the atmosphere, story and "adventure" were the best part of this game, while the action was superficial and too superficial. Apparently, the reason for this was the rush and low budget, because the game feels unfinished, especially due to the rather ridiculous and stupid glitches, which at the same time do not interfere with the gameplay (for example, quests you've completed may continue to show as active even though the game has already counted them as completed). Overall, I passionately recommend this game to those who love the experience of an adventure, after which you feel like you have read or watched a exciting story.

2025-04-26 22:09:21

[h1]If you adored The Sinking City or Resident Evil 1’s mansion, you’ll tolerate its flaws for the [b]ambiance alone.[/b][/h1]

[h2][3/5 Pines][/h2]
🌲🌲🌲

Alone in the Dark is back, not just as a reboot, but as a love letter to Gothic horror and cosmic dread. If you’re a fan of slow-burn psychological terror, eerie mansions, and the unsettling vibe of Lovecraft meets Southern Gothic, this game deserves your attention. But does it live up to its legendary legacy? Let’s dive into its [b]haunting atmosphere[/b], the true star of the show.

[h3]DERCETO MANOR (A CHARACTER ITSELF)[/h3]
The game’s [b]1920s Louisiana[/b] setting is dripping with dread. Derceto Manor isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a twisting, breathing entity filled with:
[list]
[*][b]Decaying opulence[/b]: Peeling wallpaper, flickering candles, and shadows that move when you’re not looking.

[*][b]Lovecraftian secrets[/b]: Hidden cult symbols, forbidden tomes, and a sense that the walls are watching you.

[*][b]Southern Gothic flair[/b]: Think True Detective meets The Shadow Over Innsmouth. The swampy outskirts and jazz-age ruins add layers of unease.
[/list]
Why it works: The game nails environmental storytelling. Every room has a history, a suicide note here, a child’s drawing there; all building toward a "What the hell happened here?" mystery.

[h3]ATMOSPHERE & TONE (STRENGTHS VS. WEAKNESSES)[/h3]
[list]
✅ The Good:
[*][b]Lighting & sound design[/b]: The way light creeps through broken shutters, paired with distant whispers and vinyl-record jump scares, is chef’s kiss.
[*][b]David Harbour’s performance[/b]: His gruff, paranoid delivery as Edward Carnby fits the noir-horror vibe perfectly.
[*][b]Puzzles that fit the world[/b]: No random sudoku, just creepy doll rituals and cryptic family portraits.
[*][b]Not too bad on Steam Deck[/b]

❌ The Bad:
[*][b]Pacing issues[/b]: Some sections drag, relying too much on backtracking.
[*][b]Janky combat[/b]: Guns feel like an afterthought (but honestly, you’re here for the vibes, not headshots).

2025-04-25 18:07:23

Absolutely cracking game with amazing artwork and acting.

People who complain about the combat need to go and play the original Alone in the Dark games to see some actual terrible combat. I personally found it did the job nicely

The game's pacing is great too and you're moving along nicely. Getting a bit bored of combat? then you get a nice, sometimes crazy cutscene, then back to combat, then a puzzle. I was never bored in my playthrough.

The artwork is breathtaking. Varied and beautiful set pieces to wonder through at your leisure.

I finished it with Jodie and was a bit disappointed when my 2nd playthrough with David seemed to repeat exactly what I've done already. I must admit, I was hoping to take a totally different branching path. As I overall had a great time though, I have no doubt I will complete this game again sometime in the future.

A very worthy addition to my library.

2025-04-24 00:06:02

I really liked this game. The environments are beautiful and spooky. It seemed short because I finished it in 14 hours and I'm a methodical slow player but actually I am playing again as the Detective so I guess it could be a longer game. *Played both characters 22.6 hours.

2025-04-23 04:34:48

I really liked the game for its atmosphere, pleasant story and gameplay. The game poses interesting challenges, both in puzzles and in battles with enemies (played on hard).

The impression of the game is a little spoiled by some broken battle mechanics - not the correct hitboxes, as well as the fact that you can get damage just standing at point-blank range to the monster, which has not play the animation of the attack. But these problems rather play on the atmosphere and sense of danger, because most of the game they do not bother much and even give some immersion.

However, in some places the developers overdo the complexity - some puzzles can be solved in 2 minutes, and others are impossible to solve without the help of the Internet. The same applies to the complexity of the battle with the last boss - during the whole time of passing the game I died probably 3-4 times - and that's because I didn't understand what to do in some places. But the last boss is just super hardcore: you will be stupidly crushed by the number of enemies, and here the problem with wrong hitboxes becomes real.

It's a good game, but if you don't want to suffer at the end - don't choose the hard difficulty.

2025-04-23 01:33:15

This game could have been good but it is filled with glitches and clunky combat. The story and puzzles are interesting but the combat part is terrible. Also there is no chapter selection after you beat the game so you need to start all over again if you want to unlock all the endings or find other collectibles. Not great.

2025-04-19 11:42:04

Are you looking for Lovecraftian lore, a little detective noir, and silly occult goodness? Then this game is delightful. It's not packed with action or the scariest game, but I don't think it was supposed to be either. The story is short, but I am glad it didn't overstay its welcome. And if playtime is a worry, the secret endings and dual protagonists give you a reason to play the game more than once. So yeah, check the game out if you think the atmosphere will click with you!

2025-04-18 11:16:03

In these times of remakes and remasters, the news about an Alone in the Dark remake was a nice surprise to me. I played the first three games back when they released in the 90s. The first one was one of the first games with graphics in three dimensions. The controls were pretty horrible, the main character moved like a tank but it was still great. I suppose its faults were tolerated since it was after all one of the first games with a character that was able to move in 3D and also it was mainly an adventure, so combat was secondary and you could get around without having very responsive controls since you would be doing lots of puzzles. There was no voice acting and only midi music (no space for digital audio on diskettes!!); but the game was still groundbreaking at the time because of the novelty of the graphics and the gameplay, as well as the extreme camera angles. It had a chilling atmosphere, a Lovecraftian story theme lurking around, and definitely some 1990s funny scary/not really scary enemy monsters. All done with love!

This remake had some potential going on with it. The graphics although not groundbreaking like the original, they are a pretty solid AA quality, and the two main characters are nicely rendered. There is voice acting as you would have in any modern game and a full original soundtrack with live instruments which frankly sounds very well done and sets the mood that the original could only dream of. The puzzles in this game are modern, more streamlined and you have different difficulty levels (puzzles and combat) to accommodate for different playing styles.

And then we come to the point of the combat…

The combat in Alone in Dark remake, for a 2024 game is really bad. Its so bad that it may be worst than the original. It still controls as a tank, it is slow, it has long non skippable animations that makes it difficult to reload a weapon for example, and it simply is not fun. It may seem worst perhaps, because of the fact that (at the time of release) in 2024 we had much better options and what worked 30 years ago may not work as well today. I tried to focus on the other parts of the game, but by the time I reached the final boss (and the ending of the game) the experience in that moment was so bad that I was almost to the point of quitting the game and not coming back, even lowering difficulty did not help, it was not pleasant.

But that was only the combat, it is just a part of the game… we still have, the adventure, the story, and the two main characters which are fully voiced and interpreted by Hollywood actors David Harbour and Jodie Comer and the rest of the cast…

Sadly the two main characters are only together at the beginning of the game (the first five minutes). Then, they remain separated for the rest of the game, talking to themselves briefly (strong emphasis on the word BRIEFLY).

There is a complete waste of David Harbour and Jodie Comer. They seem to be good actors, and they do what they can with what is given to them (specially David Harbour which seems to be a little less lost than Jodie Comer) but they just walk alone from here to there, encounter a secondary character, which are on a whole different level of performance, listen to what they have to say for one minute and then they go on their way. Their interactions seem meaningless.

As for the story itself, it does have elements that are initially interesting and remind us, of the original story of the 1992 game, along with some mention of the different habitants of the Derceto mansion over the years, that was very interesting; there is even, on the voiceover side of things, a great feature which is, for every document you find in game, there is a spoken narration of its words, relating to the original context, that is, it sounds like a radio play or an audio book. Sadly, the story for the whole game lost me by the end with its explanation and resolution of the conflict with Emily’s uncle and the Dark Man.

The game has several endings, with both characters. You have to play it two times, to get the full story and the collectibles. Which also gives you a hidden narration. That would be fine (in principle) but as it is, the game narrative is not really good, the dialogues are fragmented and non-existent, and all you can think about is, well, what if instead of doing all that we just concentrated on one good story for one character…

Alone in the Dark remake wastes time on unnecessary filling, hires popular actors from film and tv and doesn’t know what to do with them, has a ton of collectibles across two different playthroughs but doesn’t concentrate enough on the main adventure; The puzzles are ok and the main story has a good foundation but it loses my interest by the end (especially with the main characters not interacting between each other) and the combat is as horrible as if taken directly from 1992.

It hurts me saying this, but this series should’ve been better left… [b] alone in the dark [/b].


[b] This review ©2025 Aleena. [/b]

2025-04-07 01:01:53

7.5/10

There's a lot of mixed reviews on this game, most I read say it was a disappointment, but I thought it was a pretty decent game. The story is interesting, enemy variety is decent, the environments look good and are unique, and some areas really nail that creepy factor. The combat and gun play are also satisfying, nothing amazing, but def get the job done and keep you on your toes. The game is a bit on the shorter side, but personally I'd rather play a game that leaves me wanting more than overstays its welcome.

There were only a few things about the game that got under my skin, like the boss fight. The fight itself was fine, but the area is super small and filled with enemies which makes it really easy to get caught on level assets or even stun locked into a corner. Making dying feel really cheap and unfair. The game also has a good amount of back tracking and exploration but it feels pretty linear and "on the rails". Progression does have a feeling of hand holding and being led through the process, which isn't too satisfying. Also, they really botched the aspect of searching for ammo. About 80% of the items you open won't have anything, making it feel like an annoying waste of time. Most survival horror games give you ammo, building that sense of relief when you find some unopened area. And when you don't find anything, it leaves you feeling crushed and the sense of panic sets in again. Its a good psychological tactic to keep the user in a state of distress. The way its done in this game, you never expect to find any ammo anyways. So when you don't, there's no build up and let down. Instead, when you do find ammo, you're just like "cool", "awesome", "how nice, idc".

But in general, I was invested in the game and found it engaging and a bit challenging at times. Overall it was a fun playthrough and I'd easily give this publisher another go if they released any other survival horror type games in the future. Any easy recommendation.