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alone in the dark (2024) the 2024 remake of alone in the dark is a strangely sold game. it's marketed as a remake but it's really not. it's got a weird influencer focused marketing campaign full of letsplayers (and ai art) long after that style of thing is completely irrelevant and it has thrown in major actors and actresses that did nothing to sell the game to people. it feels like such an enigma, a game out of time, something that would have fit the era of horror reboots on the ps3 gen more than anything nowadays, what it also is, is a fantastic and flawed game that deserved a lot better than it got. this is an amazing horror game and a must-play for anyone who likes them. one thing it does really well is how it handles its loop. it's a lot less combat focused than most games of this style. you'll have maybe 2 or 3 enemy encounters every half an hour or so and it's always entirely contained in those otherworld segments. it makes for a nice change of pace and it lets the atmosphere in those non combat chapters really shine because it has time to build, plus it makes it all the more scary when things do change out of nowhere and you do end up having to fight. the game honestly is just as much of an adventure game than it is a survival horror in that sense, because the puzzles and item hunts take priority over the fight, which is unique, i think. the actual gameplay is mainly similar to something like resident evil 2 remake, a game that was very much clearly the base of inspiration here, though part of me does wish it took more after it's much more ambitious forbearer with alone in the dark 2008. at least give us a jacket inventory or some cool fire physics though it is worth noting it does have a section of the game with fixed camera angles, calling back to the original set of games which is so cool and one of the highlights for me. it has item hunts, some basic combat with a limited weapon pool and very limited ammo. Though, in a cool addition it does add melee and a cool system where you can throw things at enemies like bricks and Molotov's. there's notes and collectables and a ton of puzzles, some of which like the dial ones can be very difficult, but the puzzle design overall here is great. another part i really like is how it handles its world, it's one of the more impressive current gen games I've played because of this. the game takes place over two worlds, the normal one inside of the mansion and a dreamlike otherworld that goes to many different locations. the cool thing is how the transitions between these worlds happen. it's instant and always out of nowhere. usually there isn't even a cutscene or a load screen, you're just in the mansion in one second and in some nightmare the other. it makes them all the scarier and it means that even in the safe zones you never feel quite as at ease as you otherwise would be. it makes it so every saferoom is still a threat and i love that. it's also just really impressive, it's one of the first times I've ever played a ps5 game and had it feel truly next gen. it's that impressive. this is helped by just how varied the dream sections really are: swamps, world war trenches, overrun boats and bridges, ancient tombs and graveyards and even the New Orleans streets. it gives what would otherwise be a fairly small scale game this grand globetrotting adventure energy and i love it. it fits the game’s pulpier vibe so well and all of these locations are a treat to explore and many even have their own gimmicks, like a pursuer enemy (who forces you to commit suicide if you try and attack him which is really cool and a fun shock if you fall for it), power switch hunts or light puzzles. the mansion itself is something special too. it's huge and detailed and super varied with the kinds of places you can explore. i especially loved the gardens, greenhouses and the large abandoned wing of the building. it's a game that sounds good too. Its very jazzy at times and i like the song that plays during the NG+ intro a lot and the credits theme is great. it reminds me a lot of some of the silent hill vocal tracks. its weird how it's the composer's (Árni Bergur Zoëga) first game. they did a great job on it there's also the chance to play as multiple protags! both Edward Carnby and Emily Hartwood are playable here just like in the new nightmare, but unlike that game it's not quite as interesting or different. initially i had assumed that it would be like that game, one being more puzzle oriented and one being more combat oriented, but it's really not that. it's a lot like how resident evil 2 remake handles it in that they're more or less the same route, with the same stats and gameplay, but with a chunk or two different (like one character having a WW1 trench level and another a ruined bridge) and a different story that still hits many of the same beats. it's a little disappointing though the two do have some neat alternate endings and there's a cute little difference to the intro on your first time hitting NG+ that i won't spoil, but it was a very nice surprise. both of those protagonists are admittedly, one of the game’s few, i guess issues? while both are super interesting, they're also, very stiffly and awkwardly acted in a way that really stands out. this is a good story and it's well told but it's for sure distracting when the two protagonists sound bored, confused and like they *really* don't want to be there. neither of them clearly have much experience in the medium and i suspect both were just here for a paycheck, David harbour especially. the rest of the cast kills it though. it's real who's who of game VA's and they all put on fun accents and play well in the notes and cutscenes you find. it has a fun group of weirdos at its core. my favourites were the drunken party girl and the spooky doctor, and the story it tells is really solid. it's a pulpy horror tale set in a plantation in new Orleans with cosmic horror and silly accents. it's totally trying for a fun B movie energy and it really nails it. the cosmic horror stuff does work well too, with all the places the game takes you and how the mystery does take while to fully develop. it doesn't overplay its hand until too late either since *spoilers* the actual god makes no appearances until the final boss, though it does lay in plain sight in the mansion if you know where to look, which i did think was really neat. it's told over a lot of very well written resi style notes too which give the game a lot of super interesting lore, all of which are fully voiced, plus there's even a few different endings all with different interpretations on the story which fits the themes it has of surreal dreams really well. now i do need to talk about one elephant in the room, the usage of AI art for the game’s advertising and possibly even in the game itself. during much of the game’s pre-release the developers would spam PSN news updates with a marketing campaign using very annoying influencers, usually old letsplayers, to advertise the game. the thumbnails usually superimposing these people (including weirdo fashy loser fucks like PewDiePie) into AI art backgrounds. their use of actually vile people aside, this is enough for me that i did heavily consider not even playing the game but in the end i decided to give the game a try since i was able to get it used as part of a very good deal, but for some this alone will be reason to skip. the other elephant in the room is the fact some of this AI usage might have managed to make it into the game itself. while it mostly uses seemingly legit concept art and paintings for background details, there's a few images in the game which I'll show above that just reek of AI with their fucked up hands and weirdo youtuber pogfaces. i can't prove it so i won't fully hold it against the game, but it is at a bare minimum very suspicious and worth taking into account. one good thing is that it's a game on the easier side, i didn't die much and the game is not the type to ever let you be fully soft locked, even if you can run out of ammo very easily, it's also nicely lengthy, about 5-7 hours per run, though your second run will be a lot faster. there's some replayability too with the alternate endings, different protags and difficulty modes, there's even a NG+ with your weapons carrying over and a ton of collectables to find, many of which will give you cute little unlockable. the game would sadly not have the best of fates, it wouldn't get any real DLC outside of a few costumes and filters, probably won't get a switch 2 port and it 100% won't get a sequel, it performed poorly enough that it's developer, pieces interactive, shut down and it ended up on ps plus after a year or so on the market. it's a real shame since the game is fantastic and by all accounts pieces seemed to be a very solid team, working on games like fret nice and magicka 2, though i can't say I've really played any of their other games. the game’s director was also a talented guy, having worked on games like amnesia (the horror game which i don't like, not the much cooler otome game), penumbra and soma, a game i actually really love, so it's a shame this didn't work well for them financially. I'd have loved to see them get up to the series’ whackier antics, like wild west adventures or pirate shenanigans.