Trigger Cut Game Reviews

As Dusk Falls is an interesting visual novel with a telltale like approach to decision making.  The narrative is unique territory for a video game.  The game tackles themes that are not commonly explored by video games such as generational poverty and child abuse.  The developers here handle these heady themes in a mature, sensitive way that provokes thought. The game is about a family that is struggling financially, who decides to attempt a robbery.  The robbery of course goes bad and has large repercussions for the family as well as other citizens in their small town. The game weaves different characters, and connects them to one another in a realistic, satisfying way. The game has pacing issues with a playthrough that lasts between 7-8 hours, which is a bit too long for a game like this.  There are several points in the story were nothing that interesting happens.  You could call this character development but some of it feels unnecessary.  The game also suffers from the illusion of choice that the telltale games have.  The choices you do make do not make much of a difference in the larger narrative and every player will have a similar ending.  If you like movies like Hell or High Water and you enjoy narrative choice-based games, this is a solid recommend.