The Casting of Frank Stone Review: Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Top Features

The Casting of Frank Stone is the latest decision-driven narrative tale from developer Supermassive Games, albeit perhaps the one with the potential to make the biggest splash to date.

Supermassive Games has surged over the years due to past interactive drama horror game hits like Until Dawn and The Quarry.

Like those, Frank Stone drops players into the lead role and charges them with multi-branching decisions during conversations and timing-based actions that ultimately decide the story.

But Frank Stone takes place in the rather still mysterious Dead by Daylight universe. Finally, more deeply exploring the lore behind a beloved multiplayer’s setting seems like a brilliant decision, provided the narrative tale is up to par with the developer’s prior efforts.

Frank Stone is a frighteningly good-looking game with a layer of immersion that always makes the player’s character feel vulnerable.

As intended, of course. The game toys with claustrophobic, creepy and poorly lit environments that suggest jump scares at every turn. Shadows and lighting effects play into the tension incredibly well, with an accompanying ambient noise and soundtrack that peaks and valleys at the right times only adding to the vibe.

For as good as the world looks, in a game like this, character facial expressions might be the chief component. And Frank Stone passes the test in a big way, with character emotions lifelike and fitting.

So much so, the small raise of an eyebrow or some other shift in a character’s expression might just clue players into what dialogue choice or decision they should make in a given encounter.

Those conversations are the biggest part of the gameplay loop and are frequently engaging, not just because of the strong voice acting and impressive visuals. There’s a weight and tension to each conversation, especially when the game isn’t shy about doling out consequences for decisions.

Other than some light exploration beyond the conversations, quick time events (QTEs) govern much of the action. But the sometimes-polarizing mechanics aren’t the only skill checks. Aiming a weapon or button mashing also comes into play at certain points and like conversations, a player’s performance can be critical—or fatal.

Frank Stone does some other intersting gameplay elements in a fun, creepy manner. There are slight environmental puzzles to overcome. And, fitting the plot well, the use of an 8mm camera to shoot footage in a first-person perspective is a nice change of pace, too.

Spotlighting the Dead by Daylight universe is a shrewd move for Frank Stone.

There was, after all, only so much players could glean from asymmetrical multiplayer showdowns over the course of nearly a decade now. And let’s be honest, a backdrop that features a malevolent being dubbed “The Entity” forcing killers and potential survivors into trials is straight-up awesome.

Frank Stone has players enter this thriller of a backdrop as a party of four filmmakers in Cedar Hills, Oregon, 1980. The branching narrative starts as expected, with the crew effectively wrapped up in the saga around a killer of the game’s namesake.

It’s worth stressing that the branching paths aren’t a gimmick. Going back and replaying a scenario makes this obvious enough, as simple choices in a conversation can seemingly change the entire focus of the ensuing narrative to the point another character who isn’t the player might even feel like the main perspective.

It’s a tale that certainly adds a broader look at the interesting universe and it doesn’t hurt that there are fun easter eggs for Dead by Daylight fans along the way. Even for players who haven’t played the source material that inspired this, though, it’s fun to uncover a few different sets of collectibles.

What might be Frank Stone’s most polarizing feature, though, is the Cutting Room Floor. It’s a detail available in Deluxe edition of the game, while players with only the base game must beat it first.

This is effectively a branching map that allows players to jump back to certain scenarios in the story and try again for potentially different outcomes. The fact it’s locked behind a costlier version of the game is sure to make some headlines, at least initially.

While it won’t be a big deal to a certain percentage of the eventual playerbase, the Twitch integration is a rather cool feature. There, certain settings allow viewers to vote on a streamer’s decisions that impact the outcome of the game.

More importantly, the presence of couch co-op is a nice touch, too for this type of experience, which is better with friends, preferably in a dark room with surround sound.

Frank Stone arrives with a nice feature set of options and runs well, too, rounding out a rather impressive modern package.

There was actually a degree of risk involved in spoiling some of the mystery surrounding Dead by Daylight’s universe.

But consider the risk worth the reward.

Frank Stone is a fun narrative journey with an impressive number of branching paths and outcomes that make it fun to replay. Strong social elements like the Twitch functionality and the presence of local multiplayer are welcome surprises, too.

Narrative-based games aren’t for everyone, of course. Games with overarching cosmic horror beings sending killers after players aren’t, either. But for those with the stomach, Frank Stone can open the eyes about the possibilities for these types of games in modern times.