Alright, here's my review. To understand where I'm coming from, you might need to know four things about me:
1. I like a wide range of games (Uncharted 1, 2, TLOU, the Batman: Arkham series, Mirror's Edge, and Ori and the Blind Forest are some of my recent favorites) and I play almost anything except RPGs and fighting games. But of all the types of games I play, linear, story-driven games are my favorite.
2. I loved Heavy Rain despite its awkward use of language ("wasteland" being the example that quickly comes to mind) and any other flaws people had with it. It's one of my 10 favorite games of all-time.
3. I hate (yes, hate) horror/scary games and movies. I avoid them at all costs.
4. I'm not sensitive in any way to frame rate. In fact, I can almost never tell the difference between 30fps and 60fps.
So, knowing the above things, here's my review:
I really loved Until Dawn. I barely knew anything about it before I played it at PSX in December, and once I did I immediately knew I was going to buy it no matter what the reviews said. This type of game is right up my alley even though the horror genre is something I avoid at all costs. That's the best praise I can give it. Even though I hate the horror genre, I couldn't stop playing. Did I play with my hand in front of my face and miss a few button prompts because of it? You're goddamn right I did. But it's a testament to the quality of this game that even though I hate the genre it's in, I couldn't stop playing.
With this type of game, it's all about writing, acting, and production values, because there is no combat or "traditional" game mechanics. Everything in this game feels like it has a high level of polish to it. The cheesy scenes are intentionally cheesy and well-done. I was concerned that they would come off like Alex's relationship with Lara in Tomb Raider (2013), but it is handled much better than that and as a result, I actually cared about the decisions I was making with all of the characters.
As far as gameplay goes, it plays similarly to Heavy Rain, with QTEs and short multi-button presses required to open doors and examine objects. One thing I really liked is that the time they give you to press the right button is basically perfect--just enough time to get it right but you'll barely make it, which increases the tension. There's also parts where you can't move the controller, not even a freaking millimeter, which is super tense and basically resulted in me holding my breath just like the character I was controlling on the screen. I already experienced this from the PSX demo but it's really fantastic and enough can't be said about it.
Also, there's some leeway with the button presses in that if you miss one it's not insta-death, which is nice and different from how Tomb Raider or Heavy Rain handled it sometimes.
Now, for some criticisms:
"I know it kina depends on the choices you make, but does the game have a strong/satisfying ending? A simple yes or no will do me."
I'll use this question to start off my main complaint of the game: the actual ending is super short, almost nonexistent. There is a lot of tension/build-up to the ending, which is awesome, but then it literally just ends. I don't even think this is because I had so many characters dead by the end, I think the game ends the same way even if everyone survives. I'll test this in my second playthrough and report back.
Another thing that bothered me is the nature of the terror/"reveal". Not being a fan of the horror genre (meaning I don't have a lot of history knowing how these stories play out), I still thought the "reveal" was cliché and has been seen too many times in games I've played. That's saying something from someone who's not a fan of this genre. It's quite possible the "reveal" has been shown in trailers already released, but I've avoided all media aside from the demo I played at PSX. To be fair, this game was trying to mimic the campy/cliché vibe, so the cliché "reveal" is probably intentional, but it still bothered me to have it happen this way. It's a small complaint though as the game is still scary/campy, which is more important than the "reveal".
My only other complaint is that the preorder scene really does screw with the flow of the first part of the game. Since 25% of the characters are cut in the first 25% of the game, those two characters don't grab a hold of you as much as the rest of the cast and as a result, I felt less connected to them to start the game. This is made up over time, but it's still something that should have been avoided at all costs because your feelings for each character sets the foundation for the story and how attached you are to it.
Conclusion
Is Until Dawn worth playing? Absolutely. It knows exactly what it's trying to be and never strays from that line or even attempts to tiptoe it. It achieves what it set out to do. Each character is given adequate representation in the game so you are always vested in whichever character you're playing as, and every scene in the game is always supporting something else, whether it be atmosphere, tension, or characters. Nothing is wasted or overstays its welcome.
Is it worth $60? For most people, probably not. I say this because from what I understand about the average gamer, most people will only play this once, if they finish it at all.
But if you are interested in seeing how your choices shape the story in different ways, there are at least three total playthroughs you will get out of this: one with every character surviving, one with every character dying, and one with a mix, which will undoubtedly be most people's first playthrough. So if you want to do multiple playthroughs, it's absolutely worth $60. And similar to Heavy Rain, your choices have a dramatic impact on the story.
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