After going through all of the Dread X games, you'd expect the quality of these collections to be well done after four games of experience. With Dread X Collection 5, it turns out to be quite the opposite.
Dread X Collection 5 is my least favorite game of the entire series and it's the franchise equivalent to V/H/S: Viral. Only three out of the thirteen games I liked and only two I thought where great. No disrespect to the developers here since Dread XP is pretty cool and I wish them the best, yet I can't lie when I'm talking about how I felt about these games.
Outpost 3000: A massive downgrade from 2, 3, The Hunt. Aside from the comic explaining everything that happened before the game starts, the game itself barely has a story other than getting the presents to the table to play the games. Compare that to 2, 3, and The Hunt where you didn't have to read supplementary material to understand what was going on. There were cinematics, full voice acting (which this one barely has), and a story to tell without having to go into outside material. The comic story is pretty cool, but the end of it provides more questions than answers. Given how this is might be the final game in the series based on reading the dev responses to Steam reviews, I doubt those questions will ever be answered. Outpost 3000 could've been cool if it was a linear cinematic game, but you're a kid inside of a haunted place doing pointless and boring puzzles to get to the next game. Such a disappointment.
Hunsvotti: This game was bizarre. Weird, unpleasant, and not very fun even when you're the aggressor in the end. Didn't like that one at all.
Gallerie: Like tradition, I didn't finish this one and the ASMR is the very reason why. Unlike Hellblade where the audio was immersive for the game's horror, I found the ASMR audio in here to be cringe educing to the point where I turned the game off after seeing that the game itself is nonsensical. No thank you.
The Book of Blood: Another game I didn't finish and I'll probably have to update the review since I'll have to play it with a buddy given how it's another puzzle game. Update: After I ended up not finishing this one, I watched one of my friends play it at his house and honestly, this one was beyond pointless. You're in a festival at night and you're stalked while solving a boring puzzle, then the game ends. Nothing special in there, it's as surface level as it comes.
Karao: This game was really cool. I loved the use of lights in the game, the gore was great, the level design was fun, the music was fun, everything was fun here. I liked this one a lot.
Rotten Stigma: The game that disappointed me the most. With a game trying to be Silent Hill, it only really uses the gameplay structure of those games without carrying over what made those games special and it's their narratives, symbolism, and soundtracks. Rotten Stigma has none of it and the game ends on a whimper. The template was there, but it needed much more.
Spirit Guardian: This one was also bizarre and felt random. You're in a daycare doing random tasks for ghosts while an elderly ghost who clips through the wall stalks you. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. The art style is cool, but that's about all it has going for it.
We Never Left: The best game in the collection and one of the best Dread X games ever made. For a game made by a collage student, it was beyond impressive and it felt like a Hollywood production given the game's all-star cast. Jonah Scott (Beastars, Dying Light 2) was an absolute show-stealer and showed what the Dread X series is capable of if it had a full big star cast. The game itself is also an intense thriller similar to Hush and features some of the best music the Dread X series has ever featured. Absolute masterpiece of a game.
Vestige: This one was alright, though it freaked me out a bit for sure. Cool game, but it would've been better with more content.
Resver: A visual marvel of a game. Despite this game not being scary at all, I loved the visuals this game had and if you like games like Tetris Effect, you'd enjoy this one too.
Ludomalica: Another disappointing game. The concept is cool and it starts off strong, but it grows boring and repetitive as it goes on.
Beyond the Curtain: The definition of a walking simulator. I honestly have nothing to say about this one aside from it being boring.
Interim: The worst game of the collection. Nonsensical, pretentious, and the physics and platforming were horrible.
And that's it. The end of the series and only three games I liked in this final game. I've liked nearly every Dread X Collection and even with 3, there was something to like a lot in 3. In Dread X 5, however, there's not much to enjoy in this one which why I don't recommend it. Super sad that this one didn't end up being the swansong the series needed, but at least we had some great games along the way with the series so there's that.
Dread X Collection 5 is my least favorite game of the entire series and it's the franchise equivalent to V/H/S: Viral. Only three out of the thirteen games I liked and only two I thought where great. No disrespect to the developers here since Dread XP is pretty cool and I wish them the best, yet I can't lie when I'm talking about how I felt about these games.
Outpost 3000: A massive downgrade from 2, 3, The Hunt. Aside from the comic explaining everything that happened before the game starts, the game itself barely has a story other than getting the presents to the table to play the games. Compare that to 2, 3, and The Hunt where you didn't have to read supplementary material to understand what was going on. There were cinematics, full voice acting (which this one barely has), and a story to tell without having to go into outside material. The comic story is pretty cool, but the end of it provides more questions than answers. Given how this is might be the final game in the series based on reading the dev responses to Steam reviews, I doubt those questions will ever be answered. Outpost 3000 could've been cool if it was a linear cinematic game, but you're a kid inside of a haunted place doing pointless and boring puzzles to get to the next game. Such a disappointment.
Hunsvotti: This game was bizarre. Weird, unpleasant, and not very fun even when you're the aggressor in the end. Didn't like that one at all.
Gallerie: Like tradition, I didn't finish this one and the ASMR is the very reason why. Unlike Hellblade where the audio was immersive for the game's horror, I found the ASMR audio in here to be cringe educing to the point where I turned the game off after seeing that the game itself is nonsensical. No thank you.
The Book of Blood: Another game I didn't finish and I'll probably have to update the review since I'll have to play it with a buddy given how it's another puzzle game. Update: After I ended up not finishing this one, I watched one of my friends play it at his house and honestly, this one was beyond pointless. You're in a festival at night and you're stalked while solving a boring puzzle, then the game ends. Nothing special in there, it's as surface level as it comes.
Karao: This game was really cool. I loved the use of lights in the game, the gore was great, the level design was fun, the music was fun, everything was fun here. I liked this one a lot.
Rotten Stigma: The game that disappointed me the most. With a game trying to be Silent Hill, it only really uses the gameplay structure of those games without carrying over what made those games special and it's their narratives, symbolism, and soundtracks. Rotten Stigma has none of it and the game ends on a whimper. The template was there, but it needed much more.
Spirit Guardian: This one was also bizarre and felt random. You're in a daycare doing random tasks for ghosts while an elderly ghost who clips through the wall stalks you. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. The art style is cool, but that's about all it has going for it.
We Never Left: The best game in the collection and one of the best Dread X games ever made. For a game made by a collage student, it was beyond impressive and it felt like a Hollywood production given the game's all-star cast. Jonah Scott (Beastars, Dying Light 2) was an absolute show-stealer and showed what the Dread X series is capable of if it had a full big star cast. The game itself is also an intense thriller similar to Hush and features some of the best music the Dread X series has ever featured. Absolute masterpiece of a game.
Vestige: This one was alright, though it freaked me out a bit for sure. Cool game, but it would've been better with more content.
Resver: A visual marvel of a game. Despite this game not being scary at all, I loved the visuals this game had and if you like games like Tetris Effect, you'd enjoy this one too.
Ludomalica: Another disappointing game. The concept is cool and it starts off strong, but it grows boring and repetitive as it goes on.
Beyond the Curtain: The definition of a walking simulator. I honestly have nothing to say about this one aside from it being boring.
Interim: The worst game of the collection. Nonsensical, pretentious, and the physics and platforming were horrible.
And that's it. The end of the series and only three games I liked in this final game. I've liked nearly every Dread X Collection and even with 3, there was something to like a lot in 3. In Dread X 5, however, there's not much to enjoy in this one which why I don't recommend it. Super sad that this one didn't end up being the swansong the series needed, but at least we had some great games along the way with the series so there's that.
SPHETE
1 year ago