The Casting of Frank Stone

The Casting of Frank Stone does a superb job of telling a greater story within the world of DbD, with cool twists and references throughout.

Those who have always wanted to know more about how Dead by Daylight’s cast of characters came to be trapped in a never-ending nightmare by The Entity will be wholly pleased to finally have some answers, especially if the DBD-stylised achievements and endless Easter eggs didn’t already have you foaming at the mouth. If you’re a fan of Dead by Daylight or The Dark Pictures Anthology, The Casting of Frank Stone is an absolutely must-play for you. Even then, those unfamiliar with the series’ will still find something to appreciate during this entertaining, albeit fleeting, experience

The Casting of Frank Stone sounds like a good idea in theory, especially for Dead by Daylight fans craving more storytelling, but the execution needed much more time in post.

The Venn diagram of Dead by Daylight player and Supermassive player is ultimately one that’ll decide if you should splash the cash to play. If you enjoy Dead by Daylight and the likes of Until Dawn, then this one’s a no brainer, but if you’re only in the camp of the former, it becomes a harder sell.

As a Dead by Daylight fan, The Casting of Frank Stone had me squealing with joy at its easter eggs, hints, and lore. This combined with its mysterious plot and engaging dual-timeline structure kept me invested even through the most hands-off sequences. Still, I was left wanting more interactivity, and the game’s conclusion is likely to go over non-DBD players’ heads.

The Casting of Frank Stone includes a few minute improvements over Supermassive Games' approach, like its handful of quicktime event-free gameplay segments and clearer look at the branching paths. But it's still just the same formula with the same pitfalls that have regularly plagued this studio’s near-annual releases in the genre.

Frank Stone has embedded his unforgiving Wraith-like weapon into my mind. I cannot escape his legacy, nor do I necessarily want to. Ever since I stepped foot into this Cedar Hills mystery, I’ve thought about the lore of this game and the endless ways it opens up the Dead by Daylight franchise. Whatever the next story is about from this clever pairing between publisher and developer, I’ll be there, anxious but ready to give it my all until the bitter end.

If I have any complaints about the game, it would be that sometimes the character animations seem a little exaggerated, as if they’re being pantomimed or overly animated. Additionally, their facial animations can sometimes appear unnaturally stilted, which hampers their ability to convincingly emote. These minor flaws are all the more noticeable because everything else is superb. However, they never broke the experience or immersion but were noticeable a few times and a little distracting.