As a seasoned gamer with over two decades under my belt, I must say that The Casting of Frank Stone left me rather conflicted. On one hand, the game boasts some truly stunning visuals and an innovative approach to narrative, particularly with its branching storylines. The use of lighting in this title is nothing short of masterful – it’s the kind of thing that makes you sit up and take notice, reminding us all why we fell in love with this medium in the first place.
Supermassive Games are renowned for their gripping, action-packed horror storylines where players shape the plot with their decisions. Over time, this studio has produced a notable collection of games like Until Dawn, The Quarry, and the Dark Pictures series. Regrettably, I find that The Casting of Frank Stone doesn’t fully meet the expectations set by their past work
Originating from Supermassive Games and released by Behavior Interactive, the publishers behind Dead by Daylight, The Casting of Frank Stone offers a completely unique narrative within the Dead by Daylight universe
Story
The narrative unfolds in 1968, within one of the game’s key settings, the mill nestled in the imaginary town named Cedar Hills. As a player, you step into the role of police officer Sam Green, tasked with unraveling the mystery surrounding a lost newborn. This gripping opening sets the tone for the rest of the game as you progressively explore the mill and confront the chilling events that lie ahead
980s era is characterized by the style of pulpy, vintage horror, where young, naive characters often find themselves in locations they should definitely avoid
In “The Casting of Frank Stone,” the significance of choices is effectively highlighted right from the start. From the initial moments of play, you’re faced with critical decisions whose consequences ripple throughout the narrative as the story unfolds
Shortly after this, the story swiftly advances to the current era, positioning us within the perspective of Madison – a woman who has been summoned to a grand mansion by Augustine Lieber, with the details of her invitation still unclear at this point
As it turns out, there are three individuals present, including the person you mentioned (Madison), who appear to have been invited for similar reasons. One of them is Stan, a man who’s quite affable but seems to be hiding something, and Linda Castle, a renowned horror film director with a striking resemblance to David Lynch. The narrative unfolds in a manner that suggests numerous mysteries, initially appearing rather dull, but it gains momentum in the latter stages
The characters are engaging and convincingly portrayed, with exceptional voice acting all around. As the game unfolded, I found myself becoming emotionally attached to many of them, eager to see them make it through to the end. Among my favorites is Linda Castle, who evolves into a protector for Madison as the narrative develops
Time Paradox
Unfortunately, The Casting of Frank Stone concludes quite swiftly, often before the game becomes truly engaging. This might be due to the fact that the path I followed in the narrative didn’t uncover any significant plot twists. If this is indeed the issue, it remains a concern. It could be argued that the game doesn’t adequately distribute its story developments throughout the various narratives
This game, similar to others created by Supermassive, adopts the visual novel style where you explore various paths to gather all the information. It’s designed to be replayed multiple times for a richer, more immersive experience
Frank Stone, unlike some visual novels, doesn’t have a compelling narrative thread that entices you to explore all possible routes. Upon completing my gameplay, I was bewildered by the ending I received, as it left many mysteries unsolved and I didn’t feel particularly motivated to replay it
What’s worthy of praise is the flexible nature of the storyline. Supermassive demonstrates their knack for allowing players to effectively create their own movies throughout this game. The vast number of choices that a player encounters from as early as the first hour of play left me genuinely impressed
The Game “The Casting of Frank Stone” follows your journey through the story, similar to the “Discarded Scenes” section, a feature you gain access to upon finishing the game for the first time. Those who purchased the premium edition of the game can access it from the start, but I believe this takes away the thrill of discovering the multiple directions the plot can take when you finally conquer the game
Gameplay
Over time, adventure games have undergone substantial transformations. They’ve moved from iconic titles such as Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandango by LucasArts to the story-driven games like “The Walking Dead” by Telltale Games. Today, the genre presents a fresh face in the contemporary world
In the time of LucasArts, a fundamental aspect of adventure games was figuring out intricate puzzles that seemed like unraveling a Rube Goldberg device. I’m sure many recall those times when we would repeatedly try to use every item on an object until something finally worked. This pattern would then repeat itself whenever we faced another challenging puzzle
Over time, the genre has experienced a significant transformation, with Telltale Games playing a pivotal role in this metamorphosis. They steered the direction of the genre from intricate puzzle-solving to an entirely distinct form of gameplay, where instead of solving puzzles, you assume the role of the story director for a TV series
The problem with Frank Stone however is that after so many games, it’s starting to feel routine.”
As it turned out, their games by Telltale were less interactive and more pre-scripted than they initially led us to believe. In essence, there are just a few choices you make that significantly affect the storyline
Titles such as Until Dawn, The Quarry, and The Casting of Frank Stone delve deeply into the concept they present. They minimise elements like puzzles and strategic thinking, but intensify the importance of decision-making instead. To such an extent that it’s fair to say that the choices you make become a crucial part of the gameplay experience, depending on your play style
In my case, ensuring all my characters survived was my primary goal, which led me to spend considerable time pondering over the dialogue and decisions I needed to make. Although it doesn’t involve manual dexterity, I find it almost as engaging as solving a complex puzzle would be for a player
The Yellow-Shaded Problem
Frank Stone’s issue lies in the fact that after numerous games, it’s becoming quite commonplace. The structure was fresh and exciting when Until Dawn debuted, but now it feels predictable. Although the game attempts to alter the formula with some gameplay segments, incorporating a simplified version of mechanics from Fatal Frame isn’t the best solution
Despite instances when the game could potentially captivate, it fails to deliver fully. In one of the initial chapters, the player ventures into an intricate labyrinth beneath the ground, complete with confusing pathways that seemingly lead nowhere. This moment is quite intriguing and could be disconcerting if you find yourself lost, but rest assured, getting lost in this maze is not possible
Even though it’s intended to appear lifelike, it instead seems quite strange, as if a creature from another world were attempting to imitate human emotions
As a gamer, I found it hard to get lost in this maze since it’s peppered with these overly obvious yellow markers. Frankly, they were so glaring that I was taken aback and couldn’t believe it. These markers broke my immersion, and unfortunately, my sense of being engrossed in the game never quite returned after that
Unfortunately, it seems the overall experience doesn’t significantly improve. You either find yourself performing quick-time events, searching through easily noticeable areas for items, or moving from one plot point to another without much interaction. Occasionally, when the game appears confident enough to offer a puzzle, the characters solve it before you even consider a solution, which can be quite aggravating and caused me to pause my gaming sessions multiple times
Visuals and Performance
As a lifelong fan of horror films, I must say that “The Casting of Frank Stone” has left an indelible mark on me. The film masterfully weaves together two distinct horror vibes from two different eras, creating a unique and chilling cinematic experience
In the game “The Casting of Frank Stone,” the use of light and dark stands out as a particularly impressive aspect. The way hard lighting is employed to cast shadows over objects or faces gives certain scenes an astonishing sense of realism, adding life in ways that surpassed my expectations. At its best, the visuals of the game are breathtakingly beautiful when it skillfully plays with light and shadow
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One issue I encountered is the inconsistent flow of cutscenes. There were numerous instances where the transition from one scene to another seemed sudden and without any apparent context. These abrupt changes felt jarring at times, catching me off guard. This happened frequently enough for me to highlight it in this review. The main triggers appeared to be when I chose specific dialogue options or if the game switched to a different character during a conversation
It seems like Supermassive may not have anticipated your choices on certain options, although there might be another explanation. Yet, that’s the feeling I get
As a gamer, I can confidently say my gaming experience was smooth throughout without any performance hiccups. However, I found it slightly frustrating that the game defaulted to a 30FPS limit using dynamic resolution. After disabling this, my RTX 4070 and i5-12400f setup ran the game flawlessly at maximum settings with Real-Time Ray Tracing (RT) enabled and DLSS set to Quality
Verdict
The Tale of Frank Stone – A Solid Narrative-Driven Horror Journey
Despite some flaws, I thoroughly enjoyed The Casting of Frank Stone. It’s visually stunning, and I found myself invested in the characters’ fates. Even though not all of them made it through, I can’t wait to revisit this story and hopefully ensure a better outcome for everyone involved. It’s neither exceptional nor disappointing
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2024-09-05 20:36