The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

House of Ashes is yet another mediocre entry in the Dark Pictures Anthology series, often praise as the best so far. I really wonder why, maybe because Little Hope is such a low point, but in general this is more or less the same standard affair. You still get pretty terrible writing, awful mocap animations, insufferable characters that are impossible to cheer and very cheap jumpscares in the first half. Perhaps it does get things a little better in terms of setting and the main evil enemies and their explanation, but my reaction to the twists never rose above "okay then".

Same problems with the choice and consequences, which are tame at the start but towards the end are needlessly harsh, with deaths coming with each failed QTE

Its a short playthrough at less than 4 hours, but honestly its hard to recommend it given how average it is

Best of the series so far, though also maybe the schlockiest and most problematic. Setting a horror game during a modern war and placing literal Marines into the center of things without turning the premise into white-knuckle action is a decent idea that still sees too many general plot points and blase anti-war sentiments aired out. Overall, a lot of the B-plot feels very half-baked, and some notches of the story are there simply because they're what stories like these ought to have.

However, the actual horror on display is overall decent and occasionally excellent. House of Ashes does the classic horror film trick of milking the reveal of the creature and only showing glimpses, which builds equal parts suspense and excitement. Even though the visual display of the action on-screen is technically less varied, the established threat of the situation meant I didn't feel like I was dragging my heels through bland setpiece after bland setpiece, which makes HOA feel like the first Dark Pictures where it felt like the developers were actually in control of their own format.

It's still a little rough around the edges in terms of boilerplate dialogue and rough script transitions, but these are much more infrequent this time around, and while the plot ultimately feels a little B-grade, the suitable escalation of stakes during the ending kept things just interesting enough to elevate ultimately solid portrayal of somewhat average material.