The Casting Of Frank Stone Review - Habitual Ritual
Supermassive and Behaviour have each been instrumental in defining the genre over the past decade. The former’s horror games have come as cinematic choose-your-own-adventure stories where the fates of multiple playable characters come down to your choices, often made in high-stress situations. Meanwhile, the latter blazed a trail now well-trodden: asymmetric multiplayer horror. Dead By Daylight’s (DBD) Fortnite-like approach of swallowing up many major horror icons into one space has given it not just staying power, but a twisted Disneyland vibe. Now, with The Casting of Frank Stone, the pair combine forces to tell a Dead By Daylight origin story that will appeal most to fans of the PvP game, though I can say, as a casual DBD fan, I found it enjoyable on its own merits too, despite its issues.
Frank Stone plays much like Supermassive’s run of games that began with 2015’s Until Dawn. It is a gameplay-light, movie-like experience that you get to direct, in a sense. You’ll control several characters, form their relationships with others in the story, and, most excitingly, try to keep them alive through a story full of quick-time events (QTEs) and doomed choices that can get them killed off permanently.
For me, this formula hasn’t outstayed its welcome yet, and I’m not sure it ever will. It feels like the kind of game I would happily play each autumn for the rest of my life, even as the narrative merits vary by game. Historically, I’ve found that no Supermassive script truly stands up to scrutiny, and Frank Stone is no different in that regard. Because of the branching paths, sometimes you may see a scene that feels a bit off, like it better suits a choice I didn’t make and never saw.
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