Until Dawn - In Depth Review

Until Dawn is one of the most intriguing horror games which generally takes a lot of past horror games and puts it all in one place. Today I'll be delving into it deeper than what the game may portray at first sight and share my insight on what made it so indulging.

In Until Dawn, the choices you make shape the story. To my surprise, there are so, so many choices that generate a different outcome and different scenes as well as relationships between the characters. It must have taken the developers so long to create all these possibilities.

The Story

In the year 2014, ten friends gather at their annual winter getaway at the Washington Lodge on Blackwood Mountain. A group of these friends decided to pull a prank on a girl named Hannah, who was in love with Mike. Basically, the pranksters thought it would be something harmless, but instead it brought chaos into their world. Hannah came into the room where Mike was waiting for her and started unbuttoning her shirt, when she heard the laughs of her friends, who were hiding in the closet and under the bed. After being shamed, she runs out into the forest, followed by her twin sister Beth. She finds Hannah and tries to comfort her, but soon hears strange noises and they both decide to make a run for it. They were being chased by an unidentified pursuer and the sisters found themselves on the ledge of a cliff. They slip off the edge and manage to hold on to a branch as the pursuer appears, who tries to save the twins. Interestingly enough, no matter if you choose to let go of Hannah or drop down with her, both sisters still end up dying.

After the incident, one year later the twin sister's brother Josh invites the group of friends back to Blackwood Mountain, stating that he is not affected by the death of her sisters anymore and just wants to bond with the group. I will not be going into the story any deeper, because it generally depends on the choices which the player makes.

The Hidden Meaning Behind Josh's Actions

The group of friends were literally taken through a series of chaotic events which messed them up pretty badly. As the game progressed, we discovered that the masked maniac was Josh, who decided to take revenge and pull a horrific "prank" on his friends. Given his actions, it's only fair that he's the only character in Until Dawn who will die no matter what choices you make. But is Josh actually all that bad as the game makes him look like? I disagree. I see a much deeper meaning.

To start off, none of Josh's actions led to the death of his friends. Even when Chris has a choice to kill either Ashley of Josh, if Chris chooses Ashley, the saw mechanism still cuts Josh's body into two pieces. This means that Josh did not want to hurt or actually kill his friends. The only pain he inflicted was when he punched Ashley in the face, but it's only fair given that she stuck a pair of scissors into his shoulder. But mainly - his reason was to inflict fear for the sole reason to make them feel what his sisters felt exactly a year ago.

If you still think that Josh was a total asshole for making his friends go through all that suffering, take another fact into consideration - he has mental illness. The game lets us know that Josh has had issues since he was 11 years old. He has been treated with medications for depression for a total of 9 years. Did you know that Dr. Hill was actually Josh's psychiatrist who was helping him to cope with the loss of his sisters? Yeah, taking a deeper look can uncover a deeper meaning behind his actions and what caused it.

In chapter 10 of the game, it becomes clear that Josh is haunted by the visions of his sisters. Through the hallucinations, we learn that Josh blames himself for their death, despite the fact that one year ago he was completely passed out from alcohol and did not even witness the prank on his sisters.

I view Josh's actions as a cry for help, not as anything life-threatening. He is just a kid with mental problems who cannot cope with the death of his sisters and tries to do what comes to mind, not expecting his friends to isolate him after his actions.

The Real Monsters

After exposing Josh, the game reveals another monster by the name of Wendigo, who is actually Hannah. Basically, the mountain was cursed a long long time ago. If anyone should resort to cannibalism in the mountain, the Wendigo curse will be unleashed. When Emily finds herself in the mines, she discovers that Hannah was alive for some time and had to resort to cannibalism (she ate her sister).

But I haven't told you about the real monsters yet. The real monsters are the group of friends themselves. Not only did their stupid prank cause the death of the twin sisters, but as the game progresses we can really see that they are bad people. Good examples would be when Ashley doesn't open the door for Chris when the Wendigo was chasing him, or when Mike has the ability to shoot Emily when they think that she will turn in to one of the Wendigos because she was bitten.

The game really gives a lot of food for thought and has a deeper meaning. There some other things to discuss but this mainly covers what I intended to inform you about. If you haven't yet played Until Dawn, I highly recommend you try it out and experience what the game has to offer. In my opinion, it's a must-play.

Thanks for reading and share your thoughts!

@cheaky