ScarlettMaru
2 reviews liked by ScarlettMaru
It's hard to write a cohesive piece about the entirety of Hello Charlotte and its stupidly interesting overarching (meta)narrative- so I won't, for the time being, as I wait for my thoughts to crystalize into something coherent.
That said, I am decently confident in calling Heaven's Gate, the final entry in the series, an excellent addendum and extension of HC.
Unlike the "mainline" episodes, which continuously recontextualize themselves in order to expand the scope of the broader story and its themes, Heaven's Gate works off the subtext the same mainline games already provided and "simply" fleshes out the characters' lives and relationships further. This brief read contains a lot of emotionally impactful and thoughtful dialogue, even without taking the rest of the series into consideration.
This emotional maturity and self-awareness the characters showcase is, sometimes, almost excessive- but I think it is a very intentional affirmation of the author's own journey, which is a common theme in this deeply personal and unique series. Said journey is, and will never be, truly over - something this bittersweet story directly acknowledges through Vincent's characterization and the ending - but it's always important to remember how far you've come.
Shame about the lack of music, though.
That said, I am decently confident in calling Heaven's Gate, the final entry in the series, an excellent addendum and extension of HC.
Unlike the "mainline" episodes, which continuously recontextualize themselves in order to expand the scope of the broader story and its themes, Heaven's Gate works off the subtext the same mainline games already provided and "simply" fleshes out the characters' lives and relationships further. This brief read contains a lot of emotionally impactful and thoughtful dialogue, even without taking the rest of the series into consideration.
This emotional maturity and self-awareness the characters showcase is, sometimes, almost excessive- but I think it is a very intentional affirmation of the author's own journey, which is a common theme in this deeply personal and unique series. Said journey is, and will never be, truly over - something this bittersweet story directly acknowledges through Vincent's characterization and the ending - but it's always important to remember how far you've come.
Shame about the lack of music, though.
The Quarry
2022
This review contains spoilers
The Quarry, Supermassive Games' next big horror cinematic adventure game (not counting the Dark Picture Anthology titles), sees us in an 80s reminiscent horror adventure full of horny teens trying to survive the night from a supernatural threat. While I overall enjoyed The Quarry, there are issues that hold the game back from being as good as it could be.
On paper, The Quarry is the best game that Supermassive as ever developed. Visually, the game is absolutely stunning. If your PC is able to run the game at Ultra settings, you'll get a game that damn near looks real. Lighting and textures are incredible. Character models and faces look great and resemble their respective actors perfectly. Everyone gives a great performance, in particular Ted Raimi and Siobhan Williams. Choices can have looooooong lasting effects and, while they don't immediately lead to a character's death, can eventually go that way after a few chapters (hell, a choice in Chapter 1 can lead to a character death all the way at the last chapter).
The pacing of the story is alright. The beginning is incredible and honestly the best part of the game. Then a little over midway through, the main story takes a detour to show some events that happened earlier on in the story that we didn't see. The pacing is at its worst here, but does pick back up at the end. The game does a great job at making things feel tense, especially when you have that dreaded choice to make.
The game isn't going to convert anyone who isn't a fan of these types of games, though. This is a "cinematic experience" game all the way through. While there are sections where you directly control your character, these sections are mostly about picking up collectibles. The evidence collectibles, of which there is one in each chapter, are the most important to collect, while the clues simply add more lore and explanation to parts of the story/characters. Other than that, its a lot of QTEs and choices to make. There is also the occasional shooting action, of which I'm glad there wasn't too many of and lots of good reason to NOT pull the trigger as well. I for one love these games every once in awhile, but it won't do anything for those who don't enjoy these types of games.
The Quarry also has some cool little things here and there that are worth mentioning. For starters, there is a movie watching mode where you can just sit back, relax, and see different ways that the game can turn out. This is a good mode for those who aren't used to playing games with a lot of QTEs or that just want to see a way the game can turn out (such as everyone dying). There is also a Couch Co-Op mode for those who want to play this game with friends. I think this is a great idea. This mode is perfect for those who want to play the game with a group of friends. I can see this game being a classic to play around Halloween in particular with friends or family thanks to this mode. I also want to mention how much I LOVE the little horror details in this game. With references to The Evil Dead, The Twilight Zone, and more being present throughout the entire experience, there is a ton of things here for horror aficionados to appreciate.
While the game has a lot going for it, there are definitely setbacks as well. For one, the game fails to make every character have a good amount of the spotlight. While some characters have very satisfying arcs, such as Laura, Travis, and Dylan, MANY characters don't get enough time. For example, Jacob starts us out in the first chapter (after the prologue) of the game. It introduces Jacob, his problem with Emma dumping him, and even has Jacob be the reason that everyone is stuck at the camp. After this though, Jacob (literally) runs around in his underwear for the rest of the game. Him and Emma don't have any kind of arc to their relationship, and Jacob's ending (if kept alive) is so disjointed and unsatisfying to see. Other characters that I was disappointed in was Ryan (starts off strong, peeters off at the end), Kaitlyn (not enough screen-time, expects us to like her as a badass at the end), and Nick (gone for half of the game, never seen again after he runs away from being shot). Granted, I am not sure how much of this is based off of my decisions. I was able to keep all of the campers alive, so I'm not sure if I followed a particular path or not, and if any of these things could be changed based on certain choices. Please let me know if I'm incorrect, so I can change this section of my review.
The most disappointing thing about The Quarry though, in my opinion, is the ending. Now yes, there are many different endings to get in this game. However, all it results in is a basic sequence where the game tells you who lived, and who died from all of the characters in the game (not just the counselors). There is no ending of the surviving campers leaving the camp, no seeing the characters interact the next morning, no falling action at all. The ending just feels so abrupt and disjointed from an otherwise very well written and paced game. What happened to the budding romances I set up between certain characters? How would X react to hearing that Y died while they were doing something with Z? We never get these moments at the end of The Quarry, and its so disappointing to see. Juxtapose this with the ending of Supermassive's last big game: Until Dawn. While there wasn't much falling action in this title either, it at least shows you interviews from the surviving characters, giving you their perspective on the events of the game. It would go in depth about their choices, people who died, etc. This game has none of that, and its extremely disappointing to see, especially as a big fan of Until Dawn. I still very much enjoyed the story, but man was that ending botched to hell.
It is also worth mentioning the bugs I got on the PC version as well. For starters, BYPASS THE 2K GAMES LAUNCHER. I got around 3.5 hours into the game, then upon trying to play it the next day, the launcher had completely messed up and I couldn't get the game to launch. This also resulted in my save getting corrupted, so I lost all of my progress and had to start over. I also had an issue where the game said my video card's memory was full during the second half of the game, even though I had played the game at ultra settings for most of my playthrough and it was fine. I have a 3080 and this game shouldn't have pushed it to the edge. I believe this was some glitch, but I could be wrong. Regardless, you may be better off playing the PS5 or XBS versions at the time of this review.
The Quarry is a very solid love-letter to 80s horror. It has some glaring flaws, but I feel very satisfied with my experience despite this. I can see myself booting up this game again around October with some friends or my girlfriend to see what kind of adventure we end up having. I still think Until Dawn is Supermassive Games' best title, but this was a solid experience to add to their repertoire.
On paper, The Quarry is the best game that Supermassive as ever developed. Visually, the game is absolutely stunning. If your PC is able to run the game at Ultra settings, you'll get a game that damn near looks real. Lighting and textures are incredible. Character models and faces look great and resemble their respective actors perfectly. Everyone gives a great performance, in particular Ted Raimi and Siobhan Williams. Choices can have looooooong lasting effects and, while they don't immediately lead to a character's death, can eventually go that way after a few chapters (hell, a choice in Chapter 1 can lead to a character death all the way at the last chapter).
The pacing of the story is alright. The beginning is incredible and honestly the best part of the game. Then a little over midway through, the main story takes a detour to show some events that happened earlier on in the story that we didn't see. The pacing is at its worst here, but does pick back up at the end. The game does a great job at making things feel tense, especially when you have that dreaded choice to make.
The game isn't going to convert anyone who isn't a fan of these types of games, though. This is a "cinematic experience" game all the way through. While there are sections where you directly control your character, these sections are mostly about picking up collectibles. The evidence collectibles, of which there is one in each chapter, are the most important to collect, while the clues simply add more lore and explanation to parts of the story/characters. Other than that, its a lot of QTEs and choices to make. There is also the occasional shooting action, of which I'm glad there wasn't too many of and lots of good reason to NOT pull the trigger as well. I for one love these games every once in awhile, but it won't do anything for those who don't enjoy these types of games.
The Quarry also has some cool little things here and there that are worth mentioning. For starters, there is a movie watching mode where you can just sit back, relax, and see different ways that the game can turn out. This is a good mode for those who aren't used to playing games with a lot of QTEs or that just want to see a way the game can turn out (such as everyone dying). There is also a Couch Co-Op mode for those who want to play this game with friends. I think this is a great idea. This mode is perfect for those who want to play the game with a group of friends. I can see this game being a classic to play around Halloween in particular with friends or family thanks to this mode. I also want to mention how much I LOVE the little horror details in this game. With references to The Evil Dead, The Twilight Zone, and more being present throughout the entire experience, there is a ton of things here for horror aficionados to appreciate.
While the game has a lot going for it, there are definitely setbacks as well. For one, the game fails to make every character have a good amount of the spotlight. While some characters have very satisfying arcs, such as Laura, Travis, and Dylan, MANY characters don't get enough time. For example, Jacob starts us out in the first chapter (after the prologue) of the game. It introduces Jacob, his problem with Emma dumping him, and even has Jacob be the reason that everyone is stuck at the camp. After this though, Jacob (literally) runs around in his underwear for the rest of the game. Him and Emma don't have any kind of arc to their relationship, and Jacob's ending (if kept alive) is so disjointed and unsatisfying to see. Other characters that I was disappointed in was Ryan (starts off strong, peeters off at the end), Kaitlyn (not enough screen-time, expects us to like her as a badass at the end), and Nick (gone for half of the game, never seen again after he runs away from being shot). Granted, I am not sure how much of this is based off of my decisions. I was able to keep all of the campers alive, so I'm not sure if I followed a particular path or not, and if any of these things could be changed based on certain choices. Please let me know if I'm incorrect, so I can change this section of my review.
The most disappointing thing about The Quarry though, in my opinion, is the ending. Now yes, there are many different endings to get in this game. However, all it results in is a basic sequence where the game tells you who lived, and who died from all of the characters in the game (not just the counselors). There is no ending of the surviving campers leaving the camp, no seeing the characters interact the next morning, no falling action at all. The ending just feels so abrupt and disjointed from an otherwise very well written and paced game. What happened to the budding romances I set up between certain characters? How would X react to hearing that Y died while they were doing something with Z? We never get these moments at the end of The Quarry, and its so disappointing to see. Juxtapose this with the ending of Supermassive's last big game: Until Dawn. While there wasn't much falling action in this title either, it at least shows you interviews from the surviving characters, giving you their perspective on the events of the game. It would go in depth about their choices, people who died, etc. This game has none of that, and its extremely disappointing to see, especially as a big fan of Until Dawn. I still very much enjoyed the story, but man was that ending botched to hell.
It is also worth mentioning the bugs I got on the PC version as well. For starters, BYPASS THE 2K GAMES LAUNCHER. I got around 3.5 hours into the game, then upon trying to play it the next day, the launcher had completely messed up and I couldn't get the game to launch. This also resulted in my save getting corrupted, so I lost all of my progress and had to start over. I also had an issue where the game said my video card's memory was full during the second half of the game, even though I had played the game at ultra settings for most of my playthrough and it was fine. I have a 3080 and this game shouldn't have pushed it to the edge. I believe this was some glitch, but I could be wrong. Regardless, you may be better off playing the PS5 or XBS versions at the time of this review.
The Quarry is a very solid love-letter to 80s horror. It has some glaring flaws, but I feel very satisfied with my experience despite this. I can see myself booting up this game again around October with some friends or my girlfriend to see what kind of adventure we end up having. I still think Until Dawn is Supermassive Games' best title, but this was a solid experience to add to their repertoire.