The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me Reviews
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me’s tour through a maniac’s mansion is disappointingly lacking in any real menace or surprise.
Sluggish pacing and stripped-back character interactions dull the charm, but there are still scares to be found
Easily the best of The Dark Pictures anthology series, with a horror story that is deliciously chilling, surprisingly well acted, and far more interesting to play than its predecessors.
Supermassive calls its latest Dark Pictures entry the end of its first season, and it goes out with a bang.
The Devil in Me doesn’t rank particularly high on my personal Dark Pictures ranking — it comes in just under House of Ashes and Man of Medan, which are great for different reasons. But what the game does do very right is take a famous true-crime case and explore it in a manner that comes across as more interesting than exploitative, even while fitting in jump scares and relationship drama. Supermassive could probably have carved a good two or three hours out of this game and ended up with a much stronger product — just as long as it left all of the Holmes-related stuff untouched, please, because that’s where it shines.
It is not the best installment of this first season, but it is a solid bet for those who enjoy a direct adventure and sheltered by the resources of the "slashers".
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Devil in Me often subverts your expectations in such a way that diminishes player agency and makes your own choices feel arbitrary. Although its added gameplay features make for a more interactive experience, they hardly break the mold and were poorly executed. Technical issues tarnished the experience overall. The game still relies heavily on QTE-based survival mechanics and does little to set itself apart from its predecessors. What had the potential to be a truly horrific conclusion to The Dark Pictures Anthology amounts to little more than a lackluster thriller with a predictable narrative that opts for shock value and jumpscares over quality.
I still would recommend The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me on release if you can handle the technical issues at present. If Supermassive Games manages to implement some updates and fix the performance issues, then I’d perhaps even recommend it – highly! – to seasoned horror fans. In spite of its flaws, The Devil in Me tells a riveting tale of a horrific killer in a thoughtful manner, opens up important discussions about human obsession with sanctifying spectacles, and it shows great potential for the future of the series. It’s just a shame about… everything else.
The Devil in Me still fails to make the big leap among the greatest champions of the genre, but as a narrative adventure with a horror background it works well.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me is one of the most interesting horror games of the year, even if its stupendous premise doesn't hold up to the end. A fun and terrifying title that introduces very grateful novelties to a well-known formula.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
With its creepy setting and constant threat, The Devil in Me provides a satisfying horror experience for fans of the series.
Two final girl sprints forward and one terrified limp back, The Devil in Me is the strongest Dark Pictures to date, but still feels like Supermassive are yet to find the right balance between fun and frights, camp and terror, and interactivity and storytelling.
While The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me contains some incredibly effective horror, it has the rug pulled from under it by a flubbed finale and some immoral choices the game considers "correct."
Despite a few shortcomings and inconsistencies, The Dark Pictures: Devil in Me brings the anthology's first season to a powerful end.
The Devil in Me is an excellent evolution in The Dark Pictures anthology that weaves an interesting story in a complex and exciting environment that’s both fun and horrifying to explore. It’s the perfect choice for horror fans, full of tense moments, jump scares, and gory scenes. While some of the new features are a little hit or miss, it’s arguably the best title in the anthology. It could do with a little more polish in places, but it’s a game I am keen to replay to delve into the background story further, and hopefully, next time, I’ll ensure everyone lives.
While we felt like we had less agency and influence as a player than in earlier chapters of The Dark Pictures Anthology, The Devil in Me is still a worthy addition to the Curator's library – and our own. While we appreciate the experimental nature of the chapter, the direction of creative travel did worry us at times. However, there's no denying that Supermassive is still the best at what they do, and we look forward to season 2 of The Dark Pictures Anthology, and beyond.
Supermassive Games rounds off its first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology with its strongest entry yet in the shape of The Devil In Me. It's a bit undercooked on the technical side, and it takes a while to get moving properly, but when you get to the meat of the game, it's up there with Supermassive's most confident work.
The Devil in Me is another competent and enjoyable enough entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology, but it fails to reach the heights of House of Ashes or even Little Hope. With a lot of potential squandered, it's left to the familiar gameplay loop of past instalments to deliver a robust title. With some new features, the season one finale offers just enough to make the deadly trip worthwhile for fans.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me is a fitting end to the season. Each game celebrates the many facets of horror but this title resonates in a way that surpasses previous entries in the franchise. The voice acting is brilliant and this helps to make the characters feel authentic. As well as this, the improvements in traversal and inventory give it more gameplay options. While the movement is a little stiff and the concept is still cliché, the execution of its storytelling and characterization is to die for.
As the strongest entry yet, Devil in Me is a great finale for Season One of The Dark Pictures Anthology. With an original story and some showstopping sequences, the game is a step up for the series, despite some minor technical and animation issues. Fans of the franchise and horror in general should not hesitate to pick this one up, as Supermassive shows the true potential of its anthology experiment.