Info about Alone in the Dark:

Official game description:
Alone in the Dark weaves a chilling tapestry of psychological horror and Southern Gothic charm, reimagining the iconic game that set the benchmark for the genre. We invite you to join us on a journey into madness, where each encounter could be your last. With each step you take closer to unravelling Derceto's mystery, the eyes that watch from the darkness grow hungrier. Every bullet means the difference between survival and an unthinkable end. The next door you unlock could lead to a nightmarish realm offering nothing but slashing claws, grasping tentacles, and frayed sanity. Journey to interbellum Louisiana, where an era of decadence hides a darker tale - of escape from past traumas and an intolerant society, into the waiting grasp of something darker, something that has patiently lurked for impossible eons. This is Alone in the Dark as you've never seen it - a skillfully-woven narrative of Southern Gothic elegance and eldritch madness that pays homage to its legendary origins while taking the next step forward in survival horror storytelling.  
A Haunting Tale of Mystery and Madness
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Step inside Derceto Manor, an asylum shrouded in intrigue, guarding a terrible secret. Client Emily Hartwood and private investigator Edward Carnby embark on a harrowing quest for answers; Emily to the mystery of her missing uncle, Edward to the toughest case he will ever face, and both to questions they dare not ask themselves. This re-envisioned classic invites you to explore an unforgettable single player adventure rich with suspense, frights, and revelations that will test the limits of your imagination.
Featuring Hollywood Talent
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Experience some of the greatest acting survival horror has ever seen through the performances of award-winning actors Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, Free Guy) and David Harbour (Stranger Things, Black Widow) in their first videogame roles. Jodie and David’s immaculately captured likenesses breathe life into Emily Hartwood and Edward Carnby, lending a deeply personal aspect to Alone in the Dark’s story that demands it be played twice to get the full experience.
A Tribute to Horror Pioneers
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Rediscover the essence of psychological horror in a game that respectfully nods to its 1992 origin, the game that established the survival horror genre. Alone in the Dark is your gateway to an experience steeped in the atmospheric dread of classic horror, with next-generation storytelling and gameplay. A must-play for fans of twisted tales, nerve-wracking exploration, and desperate combat.
A Story That Challenges Reality
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Envisioned by Mikael Hedberg, acclaimed writer behind modern horror classics “SOMA” and “Amnesia”, Alone in the Dark’s intricate web of mystery delves into themes of trauma, faith, evil, and abandonment. Whether you choose to brave the nightmare as Emily or Edward, you will uncover secrets that defy everything you thought about videogame storytelling.  
*   Explore Derceto Manor in this reimagination of Alone in the Dark, a love letter to the 90’s cult classic horror game.  
*   Return to the roots of psychological horror and experience an atmospheric journey worthy of the game that started the genre.  
*   Dive into a world full of sounds that make your skin crawl with a haunting, yet mesmerizing doom jazz soundtrack.  
*   Enjoy the thrill of desperate survival in a world where reality starts to crumble, evil lurks in every shadow and ammunition is scarce.  
*   Experience this nightmare from either Emily Hartwood’s or Edward Carnby’s perspective and unearth the dark secrets of a gothic mansion.  
*   Immerse yourself in a deep psychological story that goes beyond the realms of the imaginable, by Mikael Hedberg, cult horror writer of SOMA and Amnesia.  
*   See Emily and Edward brought to live by the Hollywood talent of Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, Free Guy) and David Harbour (Stranger Things, Black Widow), who lend their voices, their appearance, and their formidable acting skills to the protagonists.

Release date: Mar 20, 2024

Categories: Psychological Horror, Atmospheric Horror, Puzzle Solving, Exploration, Narrative-driven Gameplay, Single-player, Multiple Endings, Character Interaction

Feature scans:
- Wiki: score 50; verdict: Needs Improvement; summary: The primary user complaints revolve around the complexity and lack of clarity in the game's puzzle mechanics, as well as the need for external guides to understand quest outcomes. These issues significantly impact the user experience, making it difficult for players to progress without additional resources.
- Steam Deck: score 50; verdict: Tinkering Required; summary: The analysis of user feedback for 'Alone in the Dark' on the Steam Deck reveals several key themes. Performance issues, including stuttering and screen tearing, are frequently mentioned and significantly impact the gaming experience. Control and UI issues are also notable, with mixed reviews on the game's controls, leading to potential frustration. Battery life on the Steam Deck OLED model is reported to be around 3 hours, which may require frequent recharging. Despite these issues, users have found the game playable with some tweaking of settings, indicating that optimization is possible but not perfect out of the box.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Enjoyable exploration and puzzles (weight 0.54): Players find the exploration-based gameplay and puzzle-solving aspects enjoyable and well-done, contributing significantly to the overall experience.
- Immersive atmosphere praised (weight 0.45): The game's atmosphere is highly praised for being engaging, immersive, and well-crafted, capturing the essence of 1920s Louisiana and Southern Gothic themes.
- Beautiful graphics and visuals (weight 0.42): The graphics and visual design are frequently described as beautiful, stunning, and well-crafted, enhancing the game's atmosphere.
- Engaging and intriguing story (weight 0.39): The story is praised for being interesting, engaging, and intriguing, with good characters and twists.
- Impressive soundtrack and audio (weight 0.36): The game's soundtrack and sound design are highlighted for their high quality and atmospheric contributions.
- Overall enjoyable experience (weight 0.3): Despite some rough edges and bugs, many players find the game fun, entertaining, and a decent pastime.
- High-quality voice acting (weight 0.3): The voice acting is consistently praised for being well-done, high-quality, and adding to the game's overall appeal.
- Well-crafted and solid gameplay (weight 0.17): The game is noted for its solid gameplay, well-crafted characters, and overall quality.
- Diverse and interesting locations (weight 0.15): The game features diverse and interesting locations, adding to the overall appeal and exploration aspects.
- Quality localization and dubbing (weight 0.14): The game offers quality localization and dubbing, particularly noted for the Russian and German versions.
- Love letter to original Alone in the Dark (weight 0.12): The game is seen as a love letter to the original Alone in the Dark, appealing to fans of the franchise.
- Dual protagonists with unique perspectives (weight 0.12): The game features two protagonists with their own perspectives and plot presentations, adding depth to the story.

Common complaints:
- Combat mechanics criticized (weight 0.56): Many players found the combat mechanics to be frustrating, clunky, and unsatisfying. The gunplay and melee systems were frequently described as janky and poorly designed.
- Optimization and performance problems (weight 0.49): The game suffers from poor optimization, leading to lag, stuttering, and performance issues. Players reported graphical glitches and frame rate drops.
- Story and narrative issues (weight 0.3): The story was often criticized for being linear, vague, and unexciting. Players found it confusing, cliché, and forgettable, with a lack of convincing narrative.
- Puzzle design flaws (weight 0.3): Puzzles were described as simple, unengaging, and poorly designed. Many players found them repetitive and straightforward, requiring little effort to solve.
- Short game duration (weight 0.24): The game was criticized for its short playtime, with some players completing it in around 6 hours. This was often coupled with a lack of replayability and content.
- Numerous bugs and glitches (weight 0.23): Players encountered various bugs and glitches, some of which required restarting the game. These issues were frequent and detracted from the overall experience.
- Linear and boring gameplay (weight 0.16): The gameplay was criticized for being too linear and boring, with little difference between characters, leading to a monotonous experience.
- Lack of enemy variety (weight 0.12): The game was criticized for its repetitive enemies and lack of variety, making combat and gameplay feel monotonous.
- Occasional crashes and freezes (weight 0.11): The game experienced occasional crashes and freezes, which disrupted the gameplay and caused frustration among players.
- Slow character movement (weight 0.1): Character movement was described as slow, unresponsive, and unnatural, which affected the overall gameplay experience.
- Outdated graphics and textures (weight 0.1): The graphics and textures were described as outdated and lacking refinement, with some players comparing it to older games from the late 1990s.
- Weak and limited weapons (weight 0.08): Players found the weapons to be weak and limited, with no upgrades available, which affected the combat experience.

Gameplay feedback:
- Puzzle-solving mechanics central to gameplay (weight 0.42): The game features a variety of puzzles that are integrated into the gameplay, offering a mix of simplicity and complexity. These puzzles are often accompanied by long texts and are considered fair and interesting by players.
- Classic survival horror atmosphere (weight 0.37): The game blends classic and modern survival horror elements, creating a mysterious and atmospheric experience. It draws comparisons to classic horror games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil.
- Exploration-based and story-driven gameplay (weight 0.35): Players appreciate the exploration aspects of the game, which are often combined with puzzle-solving and detective elements. The exploratory gameplay is noted for its old-school style and integration with combat and narrative elements.
- Multiple endings and character perspectives (weight 0.29): The game offers multiple endings based on player actions and features different storylines for each playable character. This adds to the replayability and depth of the narrative.
- Combat mechanics with melee and ranged weapons (weight 0.28): The combat system includes melee weapons and item throwing mechanics, though some players find the combat slow. The game offers a variety of combat scenarios, including combat with monsters and firearms.
- Lovecraftian and cosmic horror themes (weight 0.13): The narrative includes Lovecraftian themes and a cosmic horror story, contributing to the game's unique atmosphere. The setting is reminiscent of the 1920s and draws inspiration from games like Call of Cthulhu 2018.
- Narrative-driven with unreliable narration (weight 0.1): The game is heavily narrative-driven, featuring unreliable narration that adds depth and intrigue to the story.
- Enemy designs and placement (weight 0.06): The game includes various enemy designs and strategic enemy placement, contributing to the horror and challenge of the gameplay.
- Tank-style character movement (weight 0.06): The game features tank-style character movement mechanics, which some players find reminiscent of classic survival horror games.

Performance notes:
- Frequent stuttering issues (weight 0.31): Players encounter constant stuttering throughout the game, including micro stutters and traversal stutters. These issues are widespread and affect the overall gaming experience.
- Poor optimization and performance (weight 0.3): The game suffers from significant optimization issues, leading to poor performance and graphical weaknesses. Players frequently report that the game runs poorly and experiences performance issues.
- Various bugs affecting gameplay (weight 0.29): Players report a range of bugs, from minor annoyances to significant issues that affect gameplay. These bugs include graphical glitches, character getting stuck, and bugs in cutscenes.
- Game crashes and freezes (weight 0.24): The game is prone to occasional crashes and freezes, which can disrupt gameplay. These issues are noted by multiple players and occur at various points during the game.
- Screen tearing and graphical issues (weight 0.13): Screen tearing and other graphical issues are reported by players, often caused by micro-stutters and other performance problems.
- Frame rate drops (weight 0.11): The game experiences frequent frame rate drops, which can be particularly noticeable during cutscenes and other demanding moments.
- High CPU load and hardware demands (weight 0.06): The game places a high load on the CPU and requires a good machine for optimal performance, especially for cinematics and ray tracing.
- Shader compilation stutter (weight 0.06): Players experience stuttering due to shader compilation, which can cause the game to freeze before and after cutscenes.
- Mouse sensitivity problems (weight 0.06): Some players have reported issues with mouse sensitivity, indicating that it does not function correctly in the game.
- Combat and terrain bugs (weight 0.06): There are specific bugs related to combat and terrain, which can affect the gameplay experience.
- Mixed performance on different hardware (weight 0.05): While some players report good performance on high-end PCs, others experience lagging and performance issues even on high-end hardware.
- Character disappearance and progression issues (weight 0.05): There are reports of characters disappearing from the screen and glitches preventing progression in the game.
- Technical issues requiring modifications (weight 0.03): Some technical issues in the game require modifications to fix, indicating that the game may not run smoothly out of the box for all players.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for horror fans (weight 0.28): The game is highly recommended for fans of detective horror, Lovecraftian mysteries, and classic survival horror. It offers a modern touch to old-school survival horror, making it appealing to a wide range of horror enthusiasts.
- Wait for deep discounts (weight 0.2): Some reviews recommend waiting for significant discounts before buying the game. This suggests that while the game is enjoyable, it may not be worth the full price for some players.
- Recommended for genre fans (weight 0.13): The game is recommended for fans of the horror genre, particularly those who enjoy mystery and investigation elements. It is also suggested for fans of specific franchises like Resident Evil and Silent Hill.
- Different character experiences (weight 0.03): Playing as different characters offers varied experiences, with the detective providing a more serious tone and the lady offering a more absurd experience.
- Console version recommended (weight 0.03): Some reviews recommend trying the console version of the game if possible, suggesting that it might offer a better experience than the PC version.
- Avoid Steam Deck (weight 0.03): The game is not recommended for Steam Deck users, indicating potential compatibility or performance issues on that platform.
- Avoid Steam's monopoly (weight 0.03): Some reviews suggest purchasing the game from legitimate digital stores other than Steam to avoid supporting Steam's monopoly.

Other player notes:
- Players wait for discounts (weight 0.03): Several players mentioned that they waited for a discount before purchasing the game.

Emotions:
- Disappointment (weight 0.26): The game fell short of expectations due to a combination of factors including poor optimization, lackluster combat mechanics, and a linear, unengaging story. Players also noted repetitive gameplay, lack of enemy variety, and numerous technical issues such as bugs and performance problems. Additionally, the game's short length and lack of originality contributed to the overall disappointment.
- Frustration (weight 0.24): Players experienced frustration primarily due to technical issues such as bugs, crashes, and poor optimization. The controls and movement mechanics were also criticized for being unresponsive and slow. Combat mechanics, confusing storylines, and occasional game freezes added to the frustration.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.15): Many players enjoyed the game's atmosphere, story, and puzzles, finding them engaging and well-crafted. The Lovecraftian horror theme and detailed environments were particularly praised. Despite some flaws, the overall experience was fun and immersive for those who appreciate the genre.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.09): Players found satisfaction in the game's atmosphere, story, and combat mechanics. The puzzles were deemed reasonable and enjoyable, contributing to a positive overall experience. The game's graphics and immersion were also highlighted as satisfying aspects.
- Appreciation (weight 0.04): Players appreciated the game's atmosphere, narrative, and puzzles, as well as the strong actor choices and interesting setting. The game's tone and survival horror elements were also well-received, providing a satisfying experience for fans of the genre.
- Boredom (weight 0.03): Some players found the gameplay boring due to its slow pace and lack of engaging elements. The combat system and lack of variety in enemies and weapons contributed to a monotonous experience. The second playthrough felt repetitive, further adding to the boredom.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.02): The game evoked nostalgia for players familiar with the original Alone in the Dark series. References to classic games and Lovecraft myths, as well as the old-school exploratory gameplay, brought back fond memories of the original games.
- Excitement (weight 0.02): Players were excited about the immersive horror experience and the interesting story. The inclusion of real actors and references to classic games added to the excitement. Exploring interconnected levels and solving puzzles also contributed to the thrill.
- Anger (weight 0.02): Players expressed anger due to the game's poor technical performance and overall quality. Frequent notes and poor gameplay elements, along with the game's high price, contributed to the frustration and anger.
- Sadness (weight 0.01): Players felt sadness due to the unlikely possibility of a sequel and the closure of the developer studio. This emotional response was tied to the potential loss of future games and the end of a series.
- Amusement (weight 0.01): Some players found amusement in the game's unintentionally hilarious moments, such as character disappearing from the screen and abnormal reactions. These moments provided a source of entertainment despite the game's flaws.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Players experienced confusion due to the game's confusing plot and story elements. The lack of clarity in the narrative made it difficult for players to follow and understand the game's events.
- Joy (weight 0): Players found joy in exploring the mansion and uncovering its lore. The detailed environments and immersive atmosphere contributed to a sense of discovery and enjoyment.
- Hope (weight 0): Players expressed hope for the potential of future games from the developers. The anticipation of what Pieces Interactive or THQ Nordic might deliver next kept players optimistic about future releases.
- Regret (weight 0): Players felt regret after paying a significant amount for a game that did not meet their expectations. The disappointment in the game's quality and value led to feelings of regret over the purchase.
- Disgust (weight 0): Players expressed disgust at certain story events, such as the lobotomy sequence. These moments were found to be particularly disturbing and unpleasant, contributing to a negative emotional response.}