Posted on: October 13, 2019

mdqp

Games: 1932 Reviews: 69

More than a game, a chore

To play this point and click adventure, you must be truly committed. Do you mind sifting through a huge amount of notes, parsing what's useful and what isn't (a LOT of the text you find is, in fact, useless, even for atmosphere/narrative purposes) and writing down/taking screenshots of those (because the game doesn't keep track of any of this for you)? Are you okay with the control style used in Myst, in a game where you can zoom in on tons of stuff (that again, is often uninteractive and not useful for the atmosphere/narrative, like an empty table)? Do you mind games that give you no clear reason or context for the puzzles you are solving, until halfway through the whole game (maybe more, depending on how you play through it)? Can you be invested in the life of minor characters that you have never met (and are long dead), as you find MORE NOTES by them strewn around? Do you love mute protagonists that never say a word? Other than some chatty ghosts, which, AGAIN, often say nothing useful, there are no dialogues either. If so, you might actually love this game. The atmosphere is great, and it has some good puzzles, even if the 3d renders are old, they still manage to old up somehow, but sadly it all feels so removed from any context, and the gameplay feels so archaic (even more than a game like Myst), that I can't stand finishing this. It's not fun identifying (and solving) a puzzle, when the reward is something we don't understand. It's hard to be invested in the events, if everyone is dead, we are a mute, and nothing seems to organically develop from our interactions with the game's world. The game is all set in one single area, basically, so from the beginning it feels like you are working toward the end goal, which also means you rarely feel like you have reached a milestone for your progress (and since there is 0 guidance, you might very well miss said milestone). Not for the faint of heart, for all the wrong reasons.

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Posted on: August 27, 2011

Karekristensson

Verified owner

Games: 711 Reviews: 42

Myst if it was a horror adventure game

A lot of people say that Dark Fall: The Journal is basically like Myst, only with ghosts and a haunted railroad station and hotel. And while this would seem bad at first, but it isn't. The game has some of the best atmosphere I ever experienced in a computer game. With plenty of creepy sounds like whispers coming from nowhere, sudden bangs from the floors above you to the voices of those that vanished in that hotel, you will always be on guard with your ears perked up, listening for any sudden noises from either infront of you or behind you. A must buy for any horror or adventure game fan, especially if you love british games.

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Posted on: July 27, 2020

Raviel

Verified owner

Games: 807 Reviews: 1

A fine but dated experience

Dark Fall is a genuinely good game but only up until its half way point. Mainly because of three things that are not strictly the fault of the game but of its age. A. the game really does not setup the base premise of hunting for symbols whatsoever. Well at least not ingame. You see the manual basically gives the player a complete walkthrough for the first five minutes of the game which clearly sets up this particular point. However in game the first indication that those symbols are in any way relevant to the plot is not really set up until a midway/last third of the game. Meaning that unless you read this mini walkthrough from the manual you will be running around the game like a headless chicken unsure of what are you even supposed to do. B. Pixel hunting. A staple of the genre which is however doubly egregious here as it often hinders critical points and locations not by being hard to find clickable spots but by requiring inputs in a specific order to work. C. No ingame notepad. A lot of details that you gather from texts earlier only come up an hour or so later, plus these often very specific numbers and inputs you have to memorize. So unless you keep written notes next to your computer, you better finish the game in one go or else you might end up seriously lost. These problems are kind of the hallmarks but considering how eager the game is to break genre conventions otherwise they feel very jarring. They hinder an otherwise excellent game from being truly amazing. They do not ruin the experience but they definitely make it less enjoyable.

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Posted on: October 31, 2009

Corwin86

Verified owner

Games: 127 Reviews: 3

A good game, maybe too short

Those were years that I dreamed of being able to play Dark Fall. This game, in its way, wrote a page of history of the genre. In short, coming soon to the conclusion, Dark Fall has been a game more than satisfactory. In fact, the only real flaw is that it is not a true horror game and the whole story is too short and, after all, trivial. But the game gives the best when there is to outline the feeling of tension, loneliness, which reigns in all locations. The soundtrack is, in fact, really beautiful. Ending, I can only say that Dark Fall is definitely a good work. The constant tension, a soundtrack and a sense of loneliness and, sometimes, danger, which permeates the whole story, make it perfect for all players, like myself, who want to enjoy some mystery but are easily impressionable.

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Posted on: October 25, 2022

Nuv3

Games: 577 Reviews: 16

Superbly designed

The voice-acting may be horrible and the user interface confusing, but the game design, atmosphere, story and puzzles - these are all perfectly executed. If you are not afraid of old games, then I fully recommend this to you. Also, press F1 while in-game to turn on subtitles!

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