ThreeLeggedEgg

I never got bored playing this game. The gameplay and combat are simple to learn and adapt to, but it isn't too easy, and it does provide a good challenge. The enemies and bosses are very unique, with interesting mechanics that always change up gameplay. The art style is beautiful and the game overall has so much charm and personality. The characters are eccentric and likeable, and the various environments and levels are vibrant and distinct from one another.

The story is a bit weak, and perhaps wraps up too quickly towards the end, but it didn't weaken the game too much for me, as I still had a lot of fun throughout.

Don't get me wrong, i loved this game from start to finish, it just has a few problems that ultimately lead to a disappointing conclusion to some playthroughs.

What it gets right: the characters are fantastically acted and felt realistic, making me genuinely scared to get them killed, the graphics are amazing and a massive step up from previous titles, the soundtrack is great, and the antagonists and settings are pretty scary and tense. I also love how many different paths you can take - it's very fleshed out with many different choices that impact heavily on the game. Many people complain that the game is too cutscene focused and doesn't have enough gameplay, but that honestly didn't bother me, it just made it more immersive.

However, I've heard this game got quite a lot of content cut, which really shows, as it gets somewhat messy the longer it goes on for. It also seems that having 9 main protagonists was a little ambitious, as half of them eventually become irrelevant, and really don't get as much screen time as some of the others do. One of the characters is even completely cut from the story less than half way in, then appears briefly at the very end, a very big waste. There are also some unlikeable characters, who don't get any chance to develop because they get constantly sidelined and there's just no room to expand their arcs. Because of how many paths you can take, some scenes can feel quite disjointed and rushed, especially towards the end.

Another piece of criticism is that it follows too closely from until dawn, which doesn't bother me that much as UD is a fantastic game, but it did make some parts quite predictable. My final complaint is that it has so so much replay value, but it's just a slog sitting through hours of cutscenes you've already seen, as there's no way to skip through them.

Overall, a solid game which is entertaining, immersive and scary, which so much content due to the all the different paths you can take. However, main characters getting forgotten and sidelined really lowered the quality for me and led to a disappointing conclusion. Not worth its very high price in my opinion, but still a great game.