– Advertisement –
Three years since its original release, Dagon is back, with the complete edition serving up additional helpings of Lovecraftian horror. Is it worth checking out? Or should the tales have stayed on the pages?
Descent Into Madness
Lovecraft and his tales have captured the attention of millions, long before my time. Just uttering his name will garner interest from fans around the world, including myself. Lovecraftian inspired games like Call Of The Sea and to a lesser extent BloodBorne which are some of my personal favourites in this genre. So with that being said, Dagon: Complete Edition caught my eye upon its announcement. In 2021, Dagon was released as a love letter to HP Lovecraft and with this edition, developers Bit Golem have expanded upon this with three additional DLCs to bulk up the package. The concept for this interactive novel is simple: tales of Lovecraft are told through 3D environments and animations, coupled with full voice narration for each tale and it is just wonderful. Each tale is fully brought to life with such atmospheric beauty you can’t help but feel you are living the nightmare yourself.
Each of the four tales available tell different stories of nightmares, with the exception of The Little Glass Bottle DLC which has a lighter tone. Each story feels different and varied from the rest. The main story of Dagon tells the story of a morphine addicted officer during his time in World War 1. It’s a gripping tale as the unnamed officer deals with figuring out what is reality and what is fiction as he delves further and further into the madness. It’s a fantastic tale that had me hooked from start to finish, mainly due to the absolutely superb voice acting. Each tale is narrated so emotionally and wonderfully that it’s hard not to feel invested in these characters’ trials and tribulations. The other three tales depict some of Lovecraft’s early short stories that are equally as gripping. If you’re a fan of Lovecraft or fans of interactive novels, then you’ll feel right at home. It’s important to note though that this game, if you can call it that, is not long, at all. You can finish all four tales in around 90 minutes which made me yearn for a longer experience with these stories.
Understanding Expectations
It’s important to understand what type of experience you’ll receive with an interactive novel like Dagon. There is little gameplay on offer here, as the main goal of the game is for you to experience a novel in visual form. The majority of your inputs will be to click a single button to advance the dialogue or the scene. You cannot walk around or move at all but the game does attempt to add some elements of gameplay to hold the players’ attention. You can zoom in on environments and spin the camera around so you can fully immerse yourself in that specific scene. The zoom mechanic also allows you to find hidden collectibles in scenes which reveal trivia and information on Lovecraftian lore, along with collectibles that reveal trivia and facts about Lovecraft himself. This is a welcome addition to the interactive novel format as it allows the player to feel engaged and part of each scene. However, it can also have a negative effect, as at times I felt I was looking around the scene instead of fully concentrating on what was in front of me. It is these collectibles that offer the only real form of replay ability as you can replay the tale to collect them all.
This type of game is never going to be for everyone but for me it feels like one of the most interactive novels as having to find the specific object in the scene to advance the story really made me feel part of the adventure. Perhaps for further games from the developer in this space, the added ability to walk around the environment would help catapult this game into the eye of more players. The tales on offer in this game warrant the creation of fully fledged games to help bring Lovecraft to more people around the world.
Gothic Horror Gorgeousness
Games that describe themselves as a visual interactive novel need to deliver when it comes to presentation and Dagon does that in spades. Every scene is dripping in a haunting gothic aesthetic to help propel the emotions of the story and truly made me feel part of these nightmares. With the exception of The Little Glass Bottle DLC, which deploys an equally gorgeous cell shaded look for its tale, each story is unequivocally Lovecraftian. The environments look haunting, whilst the monsters that appear look horrifying and daunting during the brief but significant moments when they appear. It’s a beautiful game, so much so that at times, when I was supposed to continue the story, I would stop and marvel at the environments around me. Colours pop and explode throughout each critical moment, making the cinematic highpoints of each tale feel even more impactful. A superb effort in visual presentation to help encapsulate Lovecraft’s visions and tales; you can really tell the developers are huge fans of his work.
Similarly, both sound design and musical score are top notch. As mentioned previously, the voice acting in each tale is phenomenal and really makes each narrator memorable, with the unnamed officer in the main story the particular standout. I really felt the terror and the dread of these characters as they descend further into their own nightmares. Sound design in general is excellent, in particular creaking doors opening in a suspenseful manner or trudging through mud and sludge sounding particularly unpleasant. The soundtrack is also a strong point for the game. Whilst the music is not continuously present, it appears during cinematic moments of the tale with a memorable unnerving soft tone that is designed to heighten your feeling of being uncomfortable. A great effort across the board with sound design and score.
Verdict
Dagon: Complete Edition is a love letter to some of HP Lovecraft’s earliest tales. It tells gripping narratives across four separate tales with superb visuals and sound design. This type of media is certainly not for everyone but for fans of Lovecraft there is enough to satisfy your hunger with the in game collectibles on offer to uncover. It’s just a shame the experience is extremely short; I long for games that can tell these tales but in a AAA format. But for now, this will certainly do. See you in the madness!
