The Dark Inside Me

About

"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 Play through the game's story or campaign solo

61%

Audience ScoreBased on 97 reviews

story15 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

The graphics are visually appealing and richly detailed, especially the monster designs.
The game has a dark and intriguing atmosphere, with a story that incorporates elements of horror and mystery.
The music and sound design contribute well to the overall experience, enhancing the game's eerie tone.

The gameplay is frustrating due to poor controls, pixel hunting, and a lack of clear item interaction cues.
The story is disjointed and often incoherent, leaving players confused about the plot and character motivations.
Voice acting and dialogue are subpar, detracting from the immersion and overall quality of the game.

story
86 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
76%
7%
The story of "The Dark Inside Me" is widely regarded as incoherent and confusing, with many players expressing frustration over its vague narrative and disjointed plot elements. While some appreciate the dark themes and horror inspirations, such as "Hellraiser" and "Jacob's Ladder," the overall execution leaves much to be desired, often feeling muddled and lacking clarity. Despite its intriguing premise, the narrative fails to provide a satisfying or cohesive experience, leading to mixed reactions from players.
- “I loved the opening scene, and the idea of a grimdark horror story that didn't pull any punches is right up my alley.”
- “Despite all minor flaws, the story is quite bizarre and interesting.”
- “Very interesting plot with really creative ideas.”
- “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.”
- “Sometimes you read a story or play a game and think 'this part didn't make sense to me.' In this game, literally nothing at any point makes any sense whatsoever.”
- “The story is also barely coherent and I was left very confused.”
music
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
53%
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 overpower character dialogue, making it difficult to hear important lines, and expressed frustration over the lack of options to adjust audio levels. Overall, while the soundtrack is a highlight, its integration with the game's audio could use improvement.
- “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.”
- “Would really like to stop the music as it gets tiresome.”
- “The integration and mechanics are clunky, and the background music really gets in the way of trying to concentrate on the game.”
graphics
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
34%
9%
The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the rich detail, color use, and overall aesthetic, especially considering it was developed by a single person. However, some players criticize the visuals as unappealing or inconsistent, noting issues like lack of resolution options and pixelated graphics that detract from the gameplay experience. Overall, while the artwork and design are often highlighted as strong points, they are sometimes overshadowed by gameplay frustrations and narrative shortcomings.
- “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.”
- “While the visuals were extremely good for a low-budget indie title, the story is a hot mess and the puzzles are either mindless or nigh impossible without pixel hunting.”
- “The artwork is top-notch, especially the lighting, and the sound design complements the gameplay and increases the suspense.”
- “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
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
73%
14%
The gameplay is primarily a point-and-click adventure, but it suffers from frustrating mechanics such as poor item identification and clunky controls, leading to a tedious experience characterized by pixel hunting. While some players appreciate the unique style and potential for improvement from the developer, many find the overall execution lacking, with awkward navigation and an unengaging narrative. Overall, the gameplay is seen as rough and underwhelming, making it difficult to recommend.
- “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).”
- “Second is the gameplay itself: it's a point and click adventure game, and the gameplay is a bit rough, though the developer (one man team) is open with his community and seems willing to listen to ideas on how to improve future games.”
- “Gameplay: unique style, mixture of stills and animation sequence.”
- “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 mix 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
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
32%
16%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive environments, strong sound design, and effective use of music, which enhances the overall experience. However, some players find the dark settings and small item visibility frustrating, detracting from the enjoyment. While the atmosphere is often described as mysterious and dramatic, issues like poor voice narration and clichéd elements can undermine its potential for true horror.
- “Good sound, nice looking environments to explore; it's actually quite atmospheric for most of the game.”
- “The game immediately surprised me with its unusual atmosphere.”
- “Although I usually avoid horror games, this game's main focus isn't jump scares; the atmosphere will keep you on the edge of your seat.”
- “The atmosphere of mystery in which you fail literally from the first minutes of the game!”
- “The English subtitles were often misspelled and the voice narration completely killed any eerie atmosphere the game was attempting to go for.”
- “Cliché shock, gore, and sex take away from what could be a truly terrifying atmosphere.”
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 players may find enjoyment in its absurdities and glitches, the overall comedic delivery lacks subtlety and can detract from immersion. For those who appreciate a specific brand of humor, it may still be worth trying, especially if acquired 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, the game's stability is mixed; while some players report a smooth experience with no glitches, others encounter bugs, particularly when using the WASD keys for movement, which can cause freezing. It is recommended to use point-and-click navigation to avoid these 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 improved performance 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, contributing to a lackluster adventure.
- “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, suggesting a promising and immersive 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 still notable, as the puzzles evoke a sense of engagement and challenge. However, issues with click detection can detract from the overall experience, potentially hindering emotional immersion.