Someday Frictional will make the connection that their narrative and horror successes exist exactly where they don't overlap with the adjective 'Lovecraftian'. In this one, particular, it is gut-wrenching to see a unique and terrifying horror setpiece - the desert fort - thrown away for a bunch of space temple triangle puzzles in the name of... uh... aliens, cosmic horror, or something.

The atmospheric power present in The Dark Descent is here, but while there's nothing about the narrative that's inherently a failure, it's a burden. You can just make a game and focus on it being scary.

Striking the little match feels great though.