Alone in the Dark (2024)
The original Alone in the Dark from 1992 is one of my most beloved games of all time, and one of the main reasons why survival horror is my favorite genre. While the two sequels kept the gameplay of the original, the horror/lovecraftian elements were abandoned with the departure of creator Frédérick Raynal after the first game. So while they were not bad games IMO, they didn't hold a candle to the original.
Much less can be said of the "remakes" and "reboots" of the franchise during the last couple of decades, which range from mediocre to complete garbage, and again, very few elements from the original other than some character names.
Considering all this, I was hesitant to try this new reboot of AITD, but having just completed the game with one of the two playable characters, I'm pleased to report that it was worth it. No, it doesn't bring nowhere near as many new things to the table as the 1992 game (which pretty much birthed a genre) and can feel derivative at times when it comes to combat in particular, but it was very respectful of the themes and overall feel of the original.
The game re-imagines the story of the original game but is not a carbon copy, many events and characters are changed but again feeling really faithful to the key aspects of both the 1992 game and the Lovecraft mythos it referenced. It has more of a psychological horror vibe but in general it was nice. I'm not a massive fan of story-heavy games with lots of long cutscenes and this game doesn't overdo it so that's cool. I saw in a review that events during the game are considerably different between the two playable characters, so at some point I'll be doing another playthrough with Emily instead of Carnby.
Gameplay is pretty much identical to modern Resident Evil remakes, both in terms of combat and puzzle-solving but that's not a bad thing considering AITD was one of the major influences on the creation of RE. The combat might feel a bit janky and unresponsive at times, but playing on standard difficult there weren't any aggravating moments other than the final boss (won't spoil it here, but it has really annoying adds that got me stuck into the geometry a lot of times). Puzzles are nice but on the easier side, considering I played with the "Old School" option which meant there was no assistance or clues and I really didn't get stuck on any of them for more than 10-15 minutes.
Graphics and sound design are very nice, and in the later part of the game when the lovecraftian elements kick into full gear there are some awesome cosmic horror vistas.
All in all, I was satisfied to play what is pretty much the first AITD game worth of its name in almost 30 years.