As Dusk Falls
Interactive story has rich characters, mature content.
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As Dusk Falls
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this game.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that As Dusk Falls is a downloadable solo or co-op interactive story where your choices influence the outcome of the game's events for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PCs. The game follows a robbery gone wrong by the Holt brothers that leads to a hostage crisis at a motel. From the perspective of an innocent father to the conflicted heart of the youngest Holt brother, players will not only wrestle with their family relationships, but also see how the past collides with the present; even the smallest decisions from yesterday or yesteryear carry weight in the twists and turns of this story. There are multiple fistfights and shoot-outs. Some characters are shown with bullet wounds and stains of blood. One person attempts to hang himself, but players are warned of this scene and can skip it. A foot fetish magazine cover, kissing, and erotic grunts are briefly present in some scenes but not sexually explicit. There's a lot of profanity and substance use. Words like "f--k," "s--t," and "ass" are used dozens of times over. Beer, wine, whiskey, marijuana, Ecstasy, and cigarettes are present in (usually) one-off scenes, sometimes with characters who have slurred speech and sluggish movement. Players are often presented with the option to partake in these things, but doing so usually leads to bad outcomes. On the plus side, the game emphasizes positive traits like communication, compassion, and empathy, since characters can choose to do the right thing to atone or adjust for the circumstances they're in. This also highlights the possibility of self-control to prevent characters from getting in worse trouble. Teamwork is also emphasized both in the story and in the cooperative play.
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What’s It About?
In AS DUSK FALLS, Vince, Michelle, and their daughter, Zoe, are out on a cross-country road trip, moving to St. Louis for a new life and a fresh start. But they have to lounge in an Arizona motel for the night after their car breaks down. Little do they know that a troublesome local family, the Holts, have pulled their greatest stunt yet: robbing the county sheriff's house. But what was meant to be a one-and-done run has turned into a messy hostage situation, and Vince's family is caught in the midst of it. What led these families to collide involves webs of secrets, deceit, and tragedy. As events unfold from the motel, players will have their courage, trust, and instincts challenged in a story where the decisions and actions they take determine who lives, and who dies.
Is It Any Good?
This story starts out as a simple family trip to introduce players to its simple mechanics, but it quickly brings players into a complex tale. What you'll be doing most in As Dusk Falls is selecting between options for dialogue and actions -- choices that influence your relationships with characters and the fates of others. Some decisions are clearly marked as "Crossroads" that deeply impact the narrative, but even little things can influence events in surprising ways. There are also scenes where players investigate rooms by moving a cursor around to find clues, hide evidence, and so on. Other than these, quick-time events (QTEs) occur frequently with button taps and analog stick rotations. By default, they are easy to succeed with in contrast to most games with QTEs, but time limits can be extended or eliminated for players who want less pressure when weighing options. This is suitable for the great co-op feature (absent in most interactive story games), where players vote by majority rule to determine what happens, but each player has a handful of special "overrides" that can bring about exciting upsets. Up to four players can join in locally with controllers, up to eight when playing with an app via smartphones. Online play is an option as well.
The presentation holds the game back a bit. It's animated in a storyboard format with photos of actors drawn over in a loose, painterly style. There are some animated 3D objects implemented into scenes, but they clash with the 2D stills with visual oddities. Unfortunately, the action and cast's solid performances don't land as powerfully as they could have with full animation. As Dusk Falls doesn't make its case through gameplay or graphics, but primarily through story. Characters have rich backstories and emotional complexity that intersect and evolve in ways that will pull you in. The pacing of who you play as and when can feel uneven, and some characters are underutilized or unnecessary. Nevertheless, the overarching story is so impressive in scope and how it comes together that -- when you're shown all the potential paths you could have taken at the end of each chapter -- you'll be tempted to go for another playthrough.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what "family" really means. Does your family include only people you're related to, or can friends become like siblings? Who do you count as your family, and why?
It's intimidating when someone invites you to do something that you're unsure or uncomfortable about. How should you respond to peer pressure? Before you say yes or no, are you considering the dangers and risks involved? How can you be responsible for everyone, including yourself?
It can be hard to move on from something that scared you a lot and haunts you still. If you've experienced that, have you talked with someone you love or trust about it? Have you asked anyone for help to see if there might be ways to overcome your fears that you haven't thought of before?
Game Details
- Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows
- Pricing structure: Paid ($29.99)
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
- Release date: July 19, 2022
- Genre: Role-Playing
- Topics: Brothers and Sisters, Friendship
- Character Strengths: Communication, Compassion, Empathy, Self-control, Teamwork
- ESRB rating: M for Use Of Drugs And Alcohol, Blood, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- Last updated: July 19, 2022
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