The Dark Pictures Anthology comes in for a lot of criticism, but I think it's better than people give it credit for.
The games are shorter and lower-budget than Until Dawn, which makes sense, as Until Dawn had Sony's funding behind it. (In exchange, though, the Dark Pictures games are priced lower than a title like Until Dawn or The Quarry.) The writing's not as snappy and the characters aren't as well-defined. I would agree that they're not as good as Until Dawn.
However, the anthology does some really interesting experimentation with mechanics. Until Dawn's approach is 'a character can't die until they're no longer required by the plot, and the ending is always the same; the only difference is the number of survivors'. The Dark Pictures games take a more ambitious approach to branching; different characters can step into the necessary story roles as required, meaning there's less need for specific characters to have plot armour, and different climaxes and endings can play out depending on your actions throughout the game.
I also think some of the Dark Pictures games come under fire because people don't like the twists and try to claim they somehow make the games objectively bad. The twists are absolutely fine! They're perfectly respectable horror twists, and it doesn't make the games bad if they're not to the tastes of every player.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that, if you enjoyed Until Dawn and The Quarry, it may be worth at least giving the Dark Pictures a try. They might lack a bit of polish, but they're interesting experimental endeavours in the choices-and-consequences genre.
I'll probably play The Quarry eventually! It takes me a while to get around to Supermassive games because I'm such a scaredy-cat, but Tem's determination to make me play them for xyr amusement is getting me to pick up my pace. Did you enjoy it?
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The games are shorter and lower-budget than Until Dawn, which makes sense, as Until Dawn had Sony's funding behind it. (In exchange, though, the Dark Pictures games are priced lower than a title like Until Dawn or The Quarry.) The writing's not as snappy and the characters aren't as well-defined. I would agree that they're not as good as Until Dawn.
However, the anthology does some really interesting experimentation with mechanics. Until Dawn's approach is 'a character can't die until they're no longer required by the plot, and the ending is always the same; the only difference is the number of survivors'. The Dark Pictures games take a more ambitious approach to branching; different characters can step into the necessary story roles as required, meaning there's less need for specific characters to have plot armour, and different climaxes and endings can play out depending on your actions throughout the game.
I also think some of the Dark Pictures games come under fire because people don't like the twists and try to claim they somehow make the games objectively bad. The twists are absolutely fine! They're perfectly respectable horror twists, and it doesn't make the games bad if they're not to the tastes of every player.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that, if you enjoyed Until Dawn and The Quarry, it may be worth at least giving the Dark Pictures a try. They might lack a bit of polish, but they're interesting experimental endeavours in the choices-and-consequences genre.
I'll probably play The Quarry eventually! It takes me a while to get around to Supermassive games because I'm such a scaredy-cat, but Tem's determination to make me play them for xyr amusement is getting me to pick up my pace. Did you enjoy it?