- Oct 8, 2021

I Saw Black Clouds | PS4 Review

Updated: Nov 19, 2021

I Saw Black Clouds, developed by Ghost Dog Films, and published by Wales Interactive, is a live action interactive supernatural psychological thriller. It is not the first FMV that I have played, with previous ones being She Sees Red, Dark Nights with Poe & Munro, and Night Book. It is available on Windows PC, PlayStation, XBox, Nintendo Switch, as well as on Apple iOS. For the purposes of this review, I was playing I Saw Black Clouds on the PlayStation 4.

If you are new to FMV interactive games, the basic setup is that you are watching the game play out like a movie, and then at certain points in the story, you get to choose from various options on screen to direct the story. There are many branching storylines within the main story itself, and whichever way it goes it's all down to your decisions and through the choices that you make when you are prompted. Wales Interactive are no strangers to FMV games, and they publish about a handful of other live action games, that are well worth your time.

I Saw Black Clouds starts off with a warning regarding the depiction of suicide in the game, and it is rated 18 for extreme violence and strong language so bear that in mind beforehand. The story starts off pretty much right away with the aforementioned suicide, and then it cuts to a funeral where we are introduced to the 2 main characters, Kristina and Charlotte. I won't go too much into the details of the story, as that really is the main point of playing the game, and it does play out well, with some jump scares, and twists and turns throughout. The main actress, Nicole O'Neill who plays Kristina, really holds her own in this story, with many of the scenes featuring just Kristina alone. The character in the game is English, but every now and then you can just about hear a little Scottish twang coming through from Nicole's accent.

As the game unfolds and as you make your choices to see out the story, there is Stats page you can call up, which details your character and relationship status. There are things like honesty, strength and morality here with precentages out of 100, so you can keep track of just how well you are doing at any point in the game. Also in this Stats page, you can see how many endings, decisions, and scenes you have unlocked. The game boasts a total of 4 endings, 191 decisions, and 569 scenes. With all that in mind, there is scope for a few playthroughs as least, with your first one being around 2 hours, then subsequent ones being quicker as you have the option to skip past any scenes that you have previously viewed.

The options in the menus allow you to change volume, brightness, and language. You can also put on Streamer Mode, which will pause the decision making parts, for those who are live streaming the game online. There are subtitles, and you can set the size and contrast.

I am a huge fan of FMV live action interactive games, so going into I Saw Black Clouds, my own expectations were high - even more so that Wales Interactive were the publishers here. I think that the developers, Ghost Dog Movies, have done an amazing job with this game. It was a great experience playing through the story, and I enjoyed every minute of my time with it. If you are a fan of FMV games, it's a no-brainer that you should pick this up. For those who have never tried a live action interactive game, it certainly would be a great introduction to the genre. And with us being right in the middle of Spooky Season right now as well, this is the perfect game for those October nights. g1a5w3g1an's Rating: 4.5 suspicious noises from the next room out of 5.

For more information on I Saw Black Clouds please use the following links...

Ghost Dog Films - Developer | Facebook | Twitter | Website

Wales Interactive - Publisher | Facebook | Twitter | Website

Many thanks to Wales Interactive for the Review Key.

#ISawBlackClouds #GhostDogFilms #WalesInteractive #InteractiveAdventure #IndieGame