By Jupiter Polevoi
Rewind to 2018, when one of my best friends Maria Edirisinghe and I were on FaceTime. We were discussing what we would do the next time we were at her house. She told me about this thrilling action-horror game where at the end you have to hold your controller completely still otherwise you die. Although this was all I knew about the game, I was determined to play it.
Due to the pandemic and our conflicting busy schedules, I didn’t actually get a chance to play the game until late 2021. Sitting on Maria’s bed I said, “Remember that game you talked about like 3 years ago where you have to stand completely still or you’ll die?” Maria exclaimed, “UNTIL DAWN?!” and the rest, simply, is history.
The butterfly effect is defined as a property of chaotic systems (such as the atmosphere) by which small changes in initial conditions can lead to large-scale and unpredictable variation in the future state of the system. The premise of Until Dawn is that your actions have consequences, and what you do now may affect you in the future.
The story follows 8 friends, Sam, Mike, Jessica, Josh, Emily, Matt, Ashley, and Chris, on a mountain somewhere in Alberta, Canada. They’re staying at Josh’s parent’s house, a huge mansion called the Washington Estate. It’s the one-year anniversary of the death of Josh’s twin sisters, Hannah and Beth Washington, due to a prank gone wrong. They think they’re the only ones on the mountain, but a spirit like no other lurks among the shadows.
You get to play as all the characters intermittently, making decisions (some of which are timed) and playing QTEs (Quick Time Events) where you hit different buttons on the controller. If you miss, well, then you might just perish. Every character has a different story and you get to control what happens to them next. Periodically, you meet with a man named Dr. AJ Hill (or as Maria and I call him, Alzheimers). He will ask you some odd questions and even yell at you from time to time, but soon you will realize that he is more important to the game than what meets the eye.
Until Dawn is one of the best games ever made and will hands down be my favorite until the day I die. From the intricately thought out and designed storyline to the high-end and thrilling graphics, if you own a PlayStation 4, I highly recommend you try out this once-in-a-lifetime game.