The Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me

Within the first hour or so of play through I was super disappointed in the graphics and the bare minimum of facial expressions. All of the players looked super dead in the eyes or too smiley at times. Plus in situations where they should have been panicking or screaming there was silence. The previous 3 games were way better so it was a shock to feel like the production on this was cheap. I did really enjoy being able to jog (not walk faster), jump, and have a reliable light source. Playing the game a bit more and the story sucked my husband and I in. I feel like I had some unanswered questions in the end however. Overall, great story but disappointing graphics.

The Devil in Me is the fourth and final instalment in the first season of video game series The Dark Pictures Anthology and is best enjoyed on a rainy autumn afternoon or on a dark winter night. The story revolves around a group of investigative filmmakers who want to shoot a documentary at a replica of Chicago's infamous World's Fair Hotel where serial killer H. H. Holmes once installed numerous deadly traps to murder unsuspecting tourists. The group heads to an isolated island on Lake Michigan as personal and professional tensions are growing between the characters. Once arrived upon the island, the five characters are left to their own devices and soon realize that the creepy mansion is much more than just a replica since an anonymous killer is menacing to take their lives one by one.

This video game convinces on numerous different levels. For instance, its atmosphere is creepy from start to finish without ever drifting off into exaggerated jump scares. This starts with a particularly strong opening scene that brings to life Chicago in the late nineteenth century and continues coherently in present-day America.

The challenges in this game are decent but not too tough. They blend in wonderfully with the story without becoming frustrating for less experienced players. The video game's final quarter however will make it a challenge for even more experienced gamers to save all five characters from the madness on the isolated island.

The game should take about six hours to complete, meaning that it offers one long evening of perfect entertainment. Playing this game feels like organizing a horror movie night with some friends and is just as much fun for genre fans. Playing this game with friends or completely isolated and alone are both highly recommended options. The game is so addictive that you will feel compelled to complete it in one single setting. The game's replay value is relatively high as there are numerous different ways to live or to die on that gloomy island.

On the downside, this entry in the franchise offers few to no new ideas, so occasional gamers might as well stick to one of the preceding entries. The story of this game is of average quality and at times quite predictable. The characters are decent but previous entries have had more fascinating development in this regard.

At the end of the day, The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me is highly recommended to seasoned fans of the franchise or gamers who appreciate the genres horror and mystery. This video game is not as creative as immediate predecessor House of Ashes but overall stronger than both Little Hope and Man of Medan. The most notable improvement of this game is the more fluid use of quick time events. Its biggest downside is the predictable story. If you are interested in immersing yourself into a mysterious horror movie atmosphere for about six hours, then this game is the best choice among more recent games on the market, so don't hesitate to buy this product for a reduced price for next Halloween.

If you loved Until Dawn and have been disappointed by the titles released since, you're not alone. Thankfully, Devil in Me is the strongest game in the Dark Pictures anthology series to date and lives up to Until Dawn's standards. I am only writing this review because I feel that this game deserves a much higher score. I saw Steam's "Mixed" reviews and was afraid this one would be another Man of Medan, but kept finding myself pleasantly surprised. I have played all of Supermassive Games' titles except for Rush of Blood and The Quarry and personally feel that this one is a comfortable second to Until Dawn. It's the return to form that we've been missing.

I found myself liking the characters pretty quickly, this is definitely one of the best casts and stories presented. It was engaging, exciting and struck that same chord as Until Dawn. It's hard not to reference the first breakout game, they definitely have a lot of parallels. It's a modern day slasher with an emphasis on building atmospheric horror. There is a return to the plot-heavy twists and turns that made the mystery of Until Dawn fun and exciting. The plot is a tangled puzzle that is deepened on collectibles. The terror, or feeling of dread building up to something scary, is also really well done here.

This one was hard. I picked the hardest difficulty and the QTEs were really fast. I played on PC with a GTX 1070, 1440p graphics and Ultra texture qualities. I capped the framerate to 30fps but I'm okay with that. My hardware is showing its age but you definitely need the best performance when playing. If you get choppy framerates you can definitely miss crucial time on a lightning-fast QTE. I did save-scum a couple times on that front, but it did always feel like it was my fault for failing them. I liked the challenge, and surviving through particularly difficult scenes feel rewarding again.

There are a lot of improvements here too. The item inventory mechanic was great, and the running has improved significantly. The running animation is a little bit janky because it blends realism with comfortable stop-and-go video game control, but it's a good fit. There are a lot of items, decisions, collectibles, and choices to be made. Even some of the items in a character's inventory can be equipped and used. Depending on how you use them they can definitely pay off, but I was disappointed that some of them were more-or-less useless and relied on the illusion of importance.

Nitpicking here, those "dark picture" collectibles you find (the short clips of potential future outcomes) are as obtuse and enigmatic as ever. Some of them were especially useful and gave advice on what you should/shouldn't do. Others are really hard to interpret anything useful from them.

Overall, don't skip Devil in Me. It's a fun journey that sticks the landing at the end. Not perfect, but it's the biggest step in the right direction that Supermassive Games has had in years.

I really loved all the games in the first season of The Dark Pictures Collection. I know there are some that are better than others, but honestly this is the best of the four. Actually was the only one that managed to really scare me. I don't understand the bad reviews, for me, this should be the one with the highest score.

If you truly are a fan of horror games, you will like this one. The atmosphere in the game and the story make it especially good, as well as having great characters.

It was an excellent season finale and I hope they continue to keep this high level, since after this, I expect nothing less.

I couldn't wait for this having played the games before but I couldn't fully enjoy it. I felt the overall game was rushed so things were missed such as unrendered backgrounds, clothing popping in and out, the dodgy way the characters look and talk to each other, nobody talks to others with their heads down but still eyeballing you or they'd look everywhere but at the other person. I couldn't enjoy the exploring as much as I wanted with all the jumpscares and interruptions so I missed out on a lot. I wanted so much more story but I felt it was missing. I will say I enjoyed it as much as I could and I loved being able to scene select before completing the game.