As Dusk Falls very obviously wears its prestige TV influences on its sleeve. The music, the settings, the drama, they're all practically screaming at you to remember how much you liked Breaking Bad and True Detective while playing. The problem is, while it certainly captures the feel of something you'd see on AMC or HBO, the melodrama is ratcheted up to such constant and at times ludicrous levels that it really wears on you by the end. A lot of games of this style fall into this trap, that gamers have to be constantly be given the highest stakes possible in order to keep their interest. It's somewhere that, for all their flaws in other areas, Quantic Dream (another obvious influence here) excels, taking special care to ground the player in the mundane.

Even still, I had a good time playing this. The plot plays out mostly satisfyingly, and the characters are dynamic and likeable aside from some truly contemptible villainous figures. There are some tough choices as well, and rarely did I feel like an option was presented inaccurately or unfairly. The art style took a little getting used to but I loved the unique look by the end.

I had to use my phone to play this because Phil Spencer paid millions to ensure that I couldn't use one of my PlayStation controllers with it, and it was fine I guess. I hit every single QTE but one with the touchscreen, unfortunately that one miss resulted in a character's immediate death, despite my prior record. Ah, well.

Ultimately my wife and I enjoyed As Dusk Falls, huddled in front of the television just like we would any good Netflix series. I imagine that's truly what Interior/Night wanted, and they delivered.