Review of The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me, the new Supermassive horror movie

Annual date now with the horror circus supermassive It will strike again at the end of 2022. The Devil Within, the final chapter in chronological order about the Dark Pictures Anthology published by Bandai Namco, is getting ready to be released. At the end of this three-year project and considering the future of the brand, The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil Within review We are ready to give you our opinion on this final fear, caught between innovation and the desire to improve what has gone before.

H. H. Holmes

The Devil In Me begins with one of the series’ most interesting hypotheses. It seems we are abandoning the supernatural tones, setting aside local legends and folklore and thus returning to the past. the birth of the concept of serial killer. The story of this new creation of Supermassive actually began in 1892, four hundred years after the discovery of America, during the exhibition celebrations.

Right in the middle of the rally in Chicago, like this Henry Howard Holmes He committed a series of murders (about two hundred confirmed victims) but was later tried and sentenced to death for only a handful of these heinous acts. about this America’s first serial killerAt least documented, it’s been a staple of American stories and culture for more than a century, certainly more here than on the old continent.

These days, a devastated crew on the brink of bankruptcy is invited by a mysterious and wealthy man to visit and film his remakes. Horror Castle Holmes is thus able to create a breathtaking show that will breathe life into the entire production and its staff. More than (too many) hours required to complete the adventure, duration, which can vary from six to eight hours Depending on the difficulties encountered and the willingness to learn as much as possible, the protagonists will find themselves in the middle of their worst nightmares and grappling with someone who is not only quoting such a disturbing character but also wants to emulate him.

What is missing in The Devil In Me is not assumption, but a whole narrative setup that seeps in from all sides and which we say with great sadness. The five heroes – Charlie, Mark, Erin, Jamie and Kate – never fail to win the hearts of the players. it’s hard to empathize Being with them and trying to save them proves to be just an exercise of cunning, rather than genuine “compassion” towards them. This aspect represents a major problem for a title that makes the narrative its primary constant. In fact, this time you chose to reduce the action scenes to the marrow and keep your reflexes ready, sipping QTEs and focusing on exploring everything, searching for objects and clues.

The figure of Holmes cannot bear the weight of the whole adventure, partly because of the nature of the pale imitation, and partly because of the rules of the slasher, an important movie genre in which (usually) a murderer represents the main threat he hunts and kills. heroes – deeply changed over the years; equal becausediscovery is an end in itself and the discovery of a number of documents in which history almost does not exist. While narratively justified, this aspect would require a very fine writing and characterization effort, but in this case it is almost completely lacking, and the slowness and scarcity of truly scary moments only reinforce it negatively.

It’s sad to note that the Devil Inside betrayed right there, where the Devil Inside could make a difference compared to the past, before it became an experience to throw away, but did not quite manage to keep the public’s attention high.

old and new game

Speaking purely from the player side, The Devil Within is certainly not surprising. Anyone with experience with the Supermassive anthology series knows exactly how. the formula remains largely unchanged, but it goes from time to time to optimize the game and implement some new mechanics. If House of Ashes has finally given the player ample room for maneuver and movement, here they have chosen to look for a set of clues, codes and holes that are useful for even more freedom of exploration and to continue one’s escape from the Keep.

In practice, this desire turns into a spasmodic search for a solution to the ensuing logistical impasse, all realized by the frenzied alternation of scenery and viewpoints within the impossibly level design of the Castle. As always, anyone can be saved or killed, whether it’s director Charlie, sound engineer Erin, operator Mark, electrician Erin or show protagonist Kate. classic supermassive style. Unfortunately, from this perspective, we need to point out some problems.

Often, in the few truly risky scenes available during the campaign, a single choice – more or less sensible – will be enough to lead your character to premature death. It may almost seem like this feature increases the challenge rating and replay value, but sadly it gets more creative. frustration. We don’t want to ruin any scene of the game for you and so we’ll keep things to ourselves, but we’re sure you’ll understand our words better when faced with these situations.

There freedom of movement and slightly more open spaces We really liked them compared to previous episodes, even without an animation and control system that anachronistic description would be a compliment. What doesn’t turn out right, however, is the constant search for items to progress, which always results in the need to use one of the characters’ specific objects or find a new object suitable for the purpose. So don’t be fooled by the significantly longer duration than other episodes, as in this case this is usually an artificial longevity which tends to be frustrating in certain situations.

All of these does not exclude the good of the project consistency in itself and with the entire Supermassive anthological series, so it can easily satisfy and excite the big fan. We would have liked the mix between narrative and gameplay to be better and the clear perception of sanctioning a sensible work to liven up the mechanics.

As always, we state that there is no shortcoming. secretsCollection and premonitions have always been the basis of this saga and the work of the whole team.

Technical ups and downs

Technically speaking, the Devil Within isn’t much different from what we’ve seen so far. The engine performs well, and some environments and situations leave a lot of work to the player, especially when the image is cleaned of dirt in real time. rebuilding the castle and some very successful atmospheres.

Can not be denied significant reproducibility in environments, the daughter of location, and the structural limits of an adventure that, while more explicit in exploration, continues to prove essentially linear. Unfortunately, the climax of the final episode of House of Ashes has not been reached, and you will never find that artistic talent in The Devil in Me.

As a color note, we can say that we had the opportunity to play part of the adventure on the Steam Deck, and apart from a few technical measures and the preference for a stable frame rate at 30 fps, the game behaved better than good. even on this occasion.