this game could've been super interesting if it wasn't made by david cage and if he wasn't weirdly obsessed with tackling these huge real-world problems (racism, in this case) through the lens of a primarily white (android) cast.

i don't think there's inherently any issues with wanting to have these conversations, but in db:h it just comes off as two-dimensional and insensitive. there are Several instances where real-world events, people, or symbols are used (especially in reference to MLK Jr.) and it feels incredibly tone-deaf each and every time, and of course these mostly occur whenever you play as marcus.

however, playing this game does feel as though your choices do impact later portions of the game, even if it's largely just walking and QTE sequences. and, the actors really gave it their all, you can tell that they really were passionate about this project (which does this game so many favors), it's just unfortunate that a unique concept quickly turned into robot racism: the game.

this game came out during my first year of highschool and i was absolutely obsessed, from the cast to the game mechanics, i was enthralled.

i still think it's a great game, it has everything you love about a cheesy horror film, with a stellar cast and fun mechanics alongside it. however, with it also comes the things i hate about the horror genre in general: the use of native legends and culture for the big scary monster and an absolutely dismal discussion around mental health. both of these things i believe should have been handled with much more care and tact, or just not used as plot devices at all.

i also do think the idea of the butterfly effect is interesting, but it never really felt like my choices changed much in the game, except for some of the characters maybe dying. that being said, i was in the trenches of until dawn fanbase, and i've gotta say that josh deserved better. somehow, his 'good end' is just as shitty as his 'bad end'.

despite how badly i was ready for this game to be over by the later missions, i still really enjoyed it. the overall aesthetics were spot-on and i think the controls made for an even more enjoyable - and slightly stressful - experience. im much more used to games where i can just run away from the big bad and worry about it later, but you cant do that in this game or else youll straight up Die, so it was fun having to truly be stealthy, even if the waiting seemed to be never ending. the writing was pretty predictable, i mean theres only so many ways a story like this can end, but i think its well deserving of a place in the alien franchise. i loved all the little callbacks to the movies, especially in the sound design.

my biggest complaint about the game, however, is the amount of backtracking you have to do makes a lot of the later missions really frustrating. really boils down to "oh you're talking with this person, they need you to do this thing for them. yeah it's on the other side of the map, and you're being pursued by every enemy possible. what's that? oh your ally is dead and now you have to return to where you started." and maybe its because im bad at playing games, but i died a lot! and it stopped being fun for a while because the missions felt the same.

and finally, the ending. i knoooow its explained in the second movie what happened, but the game leaves much to be desired. i think it relies too much on pre-existing media, which can be confusing if you're just here for a scary creature game, if you find all the audio logs and notes, i was too busy being chased to find them all, but im already familiar with the franchise, things do get pieced together slowly, but it still feels too heavily reliant on having prior knowledge.

that being said, ill play it again eventually, after i finish the dlc.