Gray Dawn

Цікава коротенька бродилка, з дуже гарним візуалом та атмосферою. Сюжет присутній, але як на мене трішки скомканий і не розкритий до кінця. Геймплейно це прямий "нащадок" Амнезії, навіть фізика взаємодії з предметами схожа, хоча очеивдно скромніша. Також приєно для ока, те що події гри проходять в селі десь в Румунії, і це дуже знайомий східно європейський сільський вайб. Але одразу поперджу на всякий випадок, у грі основа сюжету це смерть дитини і для когось це може викликати не приємні відчуття. Плюс тут досить багато релігї(це основна тема).

I have so many thoughts about this game. Most of them, almost all of them, are good; for example, the scenery was gorgeous. Regardless of which world I was in, whether it was springtime in one world or hellfire thunderstorms in another, I was constantly looking around and just soaking in the view. I thought I was going to be really turned off by all of the religious visuals, but it's all viewed through the lens of a questionable priest so it's actually pretty rad. The grotesque things were actually really gross, and the brothel level was particularly so (which was perfect). Visually, this game was stunning. Emotionally, it threw some punches, and I'm here for it. But then there's the story. I'm not going into too much detail to avoid spoilers, but that was not the ending I expected -- and to be honest, I'm not sure what ending I expected. In the cemetery, there were a couple of gravestones that indicated that the story was based on real people and real events. Since we're in Romania and dealing with orphans and the church, I was prepared for Sad Ending About How Horrible People Are. But then it starts to lean into David being...the anti-antiChrist? Like, he's not the proper Christ, nor the Second Coming, but he's also probably(?) not the devil. He's Special, regardless. Okay, so we're going with the Golden Child ending, cool. BUT THEN. Out of nowhere, we get our Good and Bad endings, which have the audacity to question themselves. Like. How should I feel about the last 10 hours I've spent with this game? I did enjoy this game. I would definitely recommend it, even to people who might be all "ugh, Jesus stuff" like I was at first. But this game reinforces, to me, why I don't enjoy those unreliable-narrator thrillers everybody else seems to be into. Like, obviously don't spoon feed me the context and narrative, but also don't leave me with so many questions that I'm left confused (and maybe also slightly grumpy because harrumph).

pros ✅ semi-open, immersive world environments with atmospheric settings and stunning visuals ✅ An intriguing and poignant story about a priest accused of murder and the disappearance of several orphaned children from an orphanage, focusing particularly on one child named David, whose story stands out and is closely connected to the priest. Throughout the gameplay, the narrative also reveals the priest's troubled past ✅ religious and Christian-themed psychological narrative rich in Romanian mysticism, beliefs, and funeral rites. ✅ nice variety and enjoyable puzzles ✅ decent length ✅ there are steam achievements and cards ✅ wide variety of voice acting is featured, most of which is good cons ❌ clunky WASD controls ❌ story can be difficult to follow due to its highly symbolic and contrived narrative ❌ subject matter is highly adult and features flashing religious images that are quite intense; therefore, it may be disturbing to devout, sensitive and epileptic individuals Overall, this is a decent walking simulator and exploration game featuring some enjoyable light puzzles.

FPP/walking Sim donde seguiremos a un sacerdote de moral cuestionable en un periplo terrorífico que incluye satanismo, herejía, exorcismos, niños muertos, ritos diabólicos y profanación de todo tipo de iconos religiosos. El juego podría considerarse de terror, pero quizá porque soy “Ateo gracias a Dios” lo encontré mucho mas liviano que otros exponentes del genero. En gran medida quizá se deba a su apartado artístico y visual que es mucho mas colorido y amigable que otros exponentes del genero. No hay pasillos oscuros, algo persiguiéndote, Jumpscares, tensión ni nada por el estilo. Si sos muy religioso podes sentirte perturbado u ofendido por las constantes referencias diabólicas o profanaciones a símbolos religiosos, o si lo ve tu Tía que canta en el coro de la iglesia, o tu abuela que duerme con la estampita de San Benito junto al rosario en la mesita de luz puede llegar a traerte problemas también; de lo contrario, es interesante por su temática, que se sale un poco de la norma tan trillada de sustos baratos, música tétrica y sobresaltos constantes… acá la Teología es el centro y se siente fresco.

heretical

Set in early 20th-century Europe, Gray Dawn follows the psychological descent of Father Abraham, a local priest accused of abducting and murdering an altar boy. As Abraham struggles to recall the events that led up to the boy's disappearance, he is forced to confront his past mistakes. Whether salvation or damnation lies at the end of this journey depends on Abraham's willingness to accept the truth. Narratively, Gray Dawn is less than inspired, featuring a story that is basically a Christian-coded Silent Hill. The game opens with the news that several children have gone missing, with Abraham directly implicated in the death of David, the altar boy. Unwilling to accept that he would ever hurt David, Abraham follows clues through his memories to try to piece together his fractured mind. The general progression follows an alternating cadence of Abraham's dreamscapes followed by a distorted version of reality. Without delving into spoilers, Abraham's character is revealed to have converted to the priesthood after a less-than-priestly past. However, he now carries himself with a zealous reverence for his Christian faith, having performed acts in its cause that would be frowned upon by modern standards. Abraham's past and the mystery of David's disappearance form the core of the story, and... frankly, it doesn't land very impactfully. Gray Dawn is fraught with bad voice acting (and not in a funny way), where Abraham delivers incredibly monotone reactions to horrors as if he is drugged up on benzos. Like Silent Hill, Gray Dawn tries to blend Abraham's psyche with environmental storytelling. Except... Abraham is just a very religious priest, so the game has several chapters that feature no horror elements at all, basically becoming a Christian walking sim. Abraham cannot walk five feet without tripping over a page of scripture lying on a table, or suddenly having a mental conversation with God or Satan. The problem here is not the use of religious iconography, but the failure to tell a compelling story through its inclusion. Gray Dawn is a walking simulator played nearly exclusively from the first-person perspective of Abraham. As he travels between "reality" and the dreamscapes, Abraham is typically progress-gated behind doors or similar barriers. When blocked from progressing, he must solve a puzzle in the area. Calling these gameplay elements "puzzles" is, frankly, rather generous. Nearly every puzzle in Gray Dawn essentially involves having an item in your inventory when interacting with its intended area of use. For example, a room is raining frogs, so Abraham walks up to a frog statue and proclaims with the profundity of a lobotomy patient, "I need wine and bread, representing the blood and body of Christ." Thus, Abraham wanders around the room for a few minutes until he finds both objects just lying around. Almost the entire game is structured in this very simple seek-and-use archetype of puzzle design. There are a few areas where Abraham needs to conduct a ceremony or brew a potion; however, even in these scenarios, there is really no way to get a "wrong" answer, as it is just a matter of activating every part of the station. In a few chapters, Abraham gets a clock-like device that controls the seasons. Turning the clock to summer opens up paths that were locked during winter; however, these are also very simple puzzles. While the game does feature alternate endings depending on whether Abraham collects all the missing icons scattered throughout the game, they are virtually identical except for the fate of Abraham. Unfortunately, Gray Dawn is not a game I would recommend to others. While it features some interesting visual environments, it also has pretty poor character models that are completely devoid of animation at times. At no point did I feel it did something interesting enough to stand out from other walking sims, nor did it land strongly enough in the horror genre for me to suggest it to horror fans. At its core, Gray Dawn is a story about a troubled man confronting the sins of his past; however, it fails to address its greatest sin of all—banality.

Рекомендую к прохождению. Интересный сюжет с постепенно открывающимися деталями. Хорошие головоломки, местами долгие хождения туда-сюда.

buggy and boring