The Dark Inside Me

About

The Dark Inside Me is a single player survival action adventure game with horror, violence and erotic themes. It was developed by Akçay Karaazmak and was released on June 6, 2018. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"The Dark Inside Me" is a psychological horror adventure game spanning three chapters, with a focus on dynamic, interactive scenarios. The game aims to reflect the player's character and decisions through its intense, disturbing narrative. Gameplay episodes include exploring Auschwitz death camp, delving into dark childhood memories, and confronting twisted desires.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

63%

Audience ScoreBased on 99 reviews

story16 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

The Dark Inside Me features a haunting atmosphere that effectively immerses players in its unsettling world, enhanced by a strong soundtrack and visual design.
The game explores complex and disturbing themes, challenging players' moral choices and providing a thought-provoking narrative experience.
Despite its flaws, the game showcases impressive ambition for a solo developer, with moments of disturbing brilliance that leave a lasting impact.

The gameplay suffers from clunky controls and pixel-hunting mechanics, making it frustrating to navigate and interact with the environment.
The voice acting is inconsistent and often lacks emotion, detracting from the overall narrative experience.
The story can feel disjointed and confusing, with abrupt transitions and unresolved plot points that may leave players unsatisfied.

story
92 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
76%
7%
The story of "The Dark Inside Me" is a mixed bag, featuring a protagonist awakening in a hospital and navigating a dark narrative influenced by player choices, but it often feels disjointed and confusing. While it attempts to explore themes of horror and redemption, many players find the plot vague and lacking resolution, leaving numerous questions unanswered. Overall, the narrative's ambition is overshadowed by incoherence and reliance on shock value, making it a polarizing experience for players.
- “The narrative hinges on player decisions—whether to act violently or mercifully, to indulge in cruelty or seek redemption—each choice theoretically influencing how the story unfolds.”
- “I loved the opening scene, and the idea of a grimdark horror story that didn't pull any punches is right up my alley.”
- “Very interesting plot with really creative ideas.”
- “The short runtime—typically three to four hours for most players—leaves many plot points unresolved, a consequence of its episodic structure.”
- “The implication of the imagery is that we are a tortured soul in purgatory/hell/jahannam/tartarus/ignorance/etc. This ill-defined premise is not a story, and if it were, it has been better executed many times before and since by other creatives across every medium.”
- “The story is also barely coherent and I was left very confused.”
music
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
54%
8%
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality and ability to enhance the atmosphere, with many players recommending the soundtrack for purchase. However, some users noted that the music can be overpowering, often drowning out character dialogue, and expressed frustration over the lack of options to adjust audio settings. Overall, while the soundtrack is considered a highlight, its integration with gameplay could be improved.
- “The character designs, the idea of moral choices, the tone, and especially the epic soundtrack all foretell something great.”
- “The music was a great choice and gave a wonderful atmosphere to the areas; lucky thing you can purchase it as a DLC!”
- “Music is amazing and matches with the scene's atmosphere perfectly.”
- “Characters whisper their dialogue for no reason, and are often drowned out by the soundtrack.”
- “Can't even turn off the music.”
- “The integration and mechanics are clunky, and the background music really gets in the way of trying to concentrate on the game.”
graphics
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
42%
8%
The graphics of "The Dark Inside Me" are a mixed bag, with many praising the richly detailed and stylized visuals that effectively create a grim atmosphere suitable for its horror themes. While some players appreciate the unique aesthetic and the effort of a single developer, others criticize the graphics for being unappealing or inconsistent, particularly in gameplay compared to cutscenes. Overall, the visuals are noted for their ambition and detail, but opinions vary widely on their execution and impact on the overall experience.
- “Visually, The Dark Inside Me presents a grim and oppressive aesthetic that suits its themes.”
- “The 2.5D graphics are intentionally raw, with dark environments and stylized, almost grotesque characters.”
- “Alright, the graphics are very good, richly detailed with a great use of colors and designs, especially when it comes to the monsters. It just makes you stop and look at all the details and designs, and what's even more impressive is that this was done by a single developer.”
- “The graphics are unappealing, the sound design is forgettable, the gameplay is ill-considered, and the narrative is non-existent.”
- “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
- “Don't bother with this game unless you are alright with navigating atrocious pixel hunting, horrible English, frustrating controls, a story arc choppier than gas station surveillance footage, all with graphics and scenery that look more suited to mobile gaming than PC, coming from a developer requesting more coin to make more of...this.”
gameplay
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
74%
13%
The gameplay is a blend of traditional point-and-click mechanics with psychological horror elements, but it suffers from frustrating pixel hunting and clunky controls that detract from the experience. While some players appreciate the unique style and narrative choices, many find the lack of item identification and awkward movement mechanics to be significant drawbacks. Overall, the gameplay is seen as rough around the edges, with potential for improvement in future installments.
- “Presented as the first episode of a planned series, it mixes traditional point-and-click adventure mechanics with psychological horror and narrative choices that test moral boundaries.”
- “The gameplay follows the conventions of classic point-and-click adventures but with a grim twist.”
- “In terms of gameplay, it is a point-and-click adventure game where you have to find items to use on other items in order to advance the story (which is totally fine).”
- “The gameplay is extremely frustrating and strange, to the point of being unbearable.”
- “The mechanics are even weirder; it's nearly impossible to tell where to go, and all of the pointing and clicking relies on irritating pixel hunting to find most items.”
- “The gameplay is awkward since the main character does not move intuitively, as his walk cycle is a lovechild between tank controls and 3D - this is deceptive, as the game opens by telling you to use 'WASD' for control, but using a cursor leads to more accurate results.”
atmosphere
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
41%
14%
The game's atmosphere is a standout feature, characterized by a dark, oppressive, and surreal quality that evokes early European horror cinema. Players often feel trapped within this mesmerizing yet nauseating environment, enhanced by a compelling soundtrack that complements the eerie visuals. However, some elements, such as small item visibility and inconsistent voice narration, can detract from the overall experience, though the atmosphere remains engaging and immersive.
- “Good sound, nice looking environments to explore; it's actually quite atmospheric for most of the game.”
- “Although I usually avoid horror games, this game's main thing isn't jump scares; the atmosphere will keep you on the edge of your seat.”
- “The player is not meant to move smoothly through it but to struggle, to feel trapped within its oppressive atmosphere.”
- “The result is an atmosphere that can be both mesmerizing and nauseating, at times recalling the grotesque surrealism of early European horror cinema.”
- “The English subtitles were often misspelled and the voice narration completely killed any eerie atmosphere the game was attempting to go for.”
humor
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as inconsistent, often landing between unintentionally funny and outright dumb, with voice acting that feels robotic and poorly executed. While some moments may elicit laughter, the overall delivery lacks subtlety and is marred by technical issues that disrupt immersion. Players who appreciate this style of humor might find enjoyment, especially if they can access the game at a lower price.
- “It doesn't help that everyone is voice acted hilariously bad, honestly talking like robots.”
- “It's handled with the subtlety of a punch to the groin, making it come off as dumb at worst, and hilarious at best.”
- “There's also a bunch of little things that shatter the immersion, like cutscenes hilariously sped up, sound effects abruptly cut off, random lag, terrible posing for stationary characters that scream 'I'm in a video game!', spelling errors.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
67%
Overall, users report mixed experiences with stability; while some have encountered bugs, particularly when using the WASD keys for movement, others have experienced smooth gameplay without any glitches. The point-and-click navigation is generally reliable, suggesting that players may want to avoid using the keyboard for walking to prevent freezing issues.
- “There were no glitches or bugs during my playthrough.”
- “The game ran smoothly without any interruptions.”
- “I experienced a stable performance throughout my entire gaming session.”
- “It is a little bit buggy.”
- “The simple point and click and space bar for inventory works well, but don't use the WASD keys to walk; it freezes sometimes. Just click the destination you want and it will walk for you.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
67%
Overall, the game's optimization is generally well-received, with users noting that it performs adequately even on older hardware and shows improvements compared to the demo version.
- “Optimized performance (it's better than the demo)”
- “Optimized performance (it's better than the demo)”
- “Not a bad optimization; on my old hardware, it works fine.”
- “- Optimized performance; it's better than the demo.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious and uninteresting, with challenging navigation that makes it difficult to progress. The overall experience is marred by frustrating mechanics, further compounded by subpar voice acting.
- “This is a pretty tedious and uninteresting adventure game; it does have some voice acting, but the voice acting is bad.”
- “The dark inside me is a point-and-click game, yes, but finding where to click is so difficult and super tedious.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers highlight that the character development is enhanced by compelling designs, meaningful moral choices, and an engaging tone, all of which are complemented by an epic soundtrack that sets the stage for a memorable experience.
- “The character designs, the idea of moral choices, the tone, and especially the epic soundtrack all foretell something great.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
While the point-and-click mechanics may not resonate with all players, the emotional impact of the game is somewhat hindered by frustrating click detection issues, which can detract from the overall experience. The puzzles are generally clear, but the gameplay challenges may overshadow the emotional engagement for some users.