As Dusk Falls is a 2022 Adventure Game developed by Interior Night and published by Xbox Game Studios.
In the fictional small town of Two Rock, Arizona, the year is 1998. The Walker family, consisting of Vince, Michelle, Zoe, and Jim, are en-route towards moving to their new home in Missouri when due to car issues, they end up spending the night at the nearby Desert Dream Motel. Meanwhile, brothers Tyler, Dale, and Jay Holt are robbing the house of the town's sheriff, Dante Romero.In the genesis of a gutwrenching story spanning multiple generations, the two families lives collide and intertwine forever. For better or for worse. Other principal characters include the Holt parents, Sharon and Bear, the owner of the Desert Dream Motel, Joyce, Joyce's precarious son Ash, a sixteen-year-old girl Vanessa, and handyman Paul.
The gameplay utilizes player-based decision making along with Quick Time Events in order to progress through the game. The general outline of the story remains the same no matter what the player does. However, based on the player's choices and decisions, they can drastically alter the ultimate fates of the game's principal characters.
Beware! Due to the choice-based nature of the game, there are many spoilers. Proceed with caution!
Tropes found in this game:
- Anyone Can Die:
- Vince, Michelle, and Joyce can all potentially be killed during the motel incident.
- Jay, Tyler, and Bear can be killed elsewhere during the game.
- The death of Dale is ultimately unavoidable. However, the player's choices and actions can determine the manner in which they meet their demise.
- Art-Style Clash: In the game, all the characters are akin to a polished storyboard while the environment around them is fully animated.
- Bitch Slap: Sharon gives one to Tyler when she enters the Desert Dream Motel.
- Boom, Headshot!: One of the possible deaths for Dale.
- Car Fu: Dante crashes a bus through the motel in order to bring a violent end to the hostage situation.
- Cliffhanger: No matter what the player does, The game ends with Jim revealing his secret past to Zoe and then being assaulted by a mysterious stalker.
- Distress Call: It's possible to have Vince pull one off during the motel incident.
- Downer Ending: At worst, most of the characters are dead, imprisoned, or in hiding. Even at best, The Holts will never live a normal life again, Jay hasn't been in contact with Vanessa or his family in years, Zoe suffers from PTSD, and Jim cannot escape from his history in Two Rock.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: The conflict between the Holt family and Dante Romero. While the Holts are far from the most pleasant people around, the game makes a point that they were hardly even criminals before the motel situation. They're doing bad things to people just so that they survive the effects that Bear's bad life choices have had on them. Dante Romero is a Crooked Cop and an an in-universe Base-Breaking Character and isn't afraid to resort to violence or even murder to get what he wants. However, he seems to have some sense of justice and only crosses people who don't cross him first.
- Karma Houdini Warranty:
- In the ending where Jay successfully escapes to Canada and isn't turned in by Zoe, he continues to live life as a free man, but he will forever live life on the run alone due to Vanessa abandoning him and forever being separated from his family.
- Similarly, Tyler can escape the manhunt as well, but also has to live life in hiding, performing hard labor aboard an oil rig to get by.
- Love Interests: Vince and Michelle, as well as Sharon and Paul, can all either end up romantically linked or not depending on the player's choices and actions. Jay and Vanessa can also fall in love, but ultimately do not end up together no matter what the player does.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Failing some of the Quick Time Events can lead to these situations.
- Out of Focus: If he isn't taken hostage by the Holts, in Book Two, Vince only appears a few times and is not a playable character.
- The Reveal: Three major ones.
- Michelle is cheating on Vince.
- Jay is not actually immediately related to the rest of the Holt family.
- Jim has a secret past in Two Rock that he's never told anyone about.
- Sympathetic Murderer: The Holt boys and Sharon commit a series of shocking crimes, but it's soon revealed that they haven't exactly had the easiest life at home and aren't acting out of a malice.
- Uncertain Doom: Jim's fate is ultimately left unknown after he is attacked by a stalker.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Jim admits to Zoe that the massacre at the motel likely occurred due to some secret business he was conducting in Two Rock.
- Video Game Caring Potential: In spades. The game recognizes empathy and concern for others and points out these qualities at the player summary screens. Also, the best endings of the game is awarded to players that practice empathy and kindness in their choices and actions.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: The player can have Jay bury a man alive, and also leave his own father and brothers to succumb to their deaths.
