It felt like the only way to know for sure. I resorted to checking the stats screen after each decision was made to see how that impacted the levels of each trait. They don’t immediately scream “This would make Kristina feel guilty” or “This’ll increase acceptance”. For many of the choices, I had absolutely no idea how they would impact these stats. The 3 core stats you’ll want to alter can define the narrative and ending you’ll get (from a range of 4).
The issue I found with these stats is that it’s not immediately apparent how certain choices will affect the traits or friendships. These can be viewed any time from a dedicated screen. They are however impacting the background stats and relationships with other characters. On the surface, these decisions appear to do nothing but offer an illusion of choice. In one branch of the narrative, it doesn’t matter what the player chooses, Kristina ends up being chased around. In another section, while being stalked by, you’re given the choice to hide or take a look at what’s out there.
No matter what you choose, Kristina will end up closing her eyes. You’re then presented with a choice – Keep your eyes open or close them. In one section, a character asks you to close your eyes. I’m not usually averse to choices that have little to no bearing on the story itself so long as it helps develop the characters. There’s also a large number of fake choices in I Saw Black Clouds. It certainly feels that I Saw Black Clouds has a narrative destination it wants you to reach but offers choices which are counterintuitive in actually reaching it. It made no sense and was out of context, as if the character was replying to something Kristina was supposed to say and hadn’t.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, the character across the table blurted out “No, I think she was killed”. Later, while having a conversation with another character we chose not to say anything, again a valid choice presented by the game. We had ignored it in favour of getting some more beauty sleep. Later, there are numerous mentions made to the time Kristina saw a ghost – only on that particular play through, we hadn’t seen a ghost. We decided to ignore it and go back to sleep, a valid option presented by the game. At one point, Kristina was woken up by knocking at her door. The core issue that I Saw Black Clouds has, the reason my wife and I descended into fits of confused giggles, is that the branching narrative can ignore the choices you’ve made previously. Instead, you shepherd Kristina through these scenes via quick fire decision making. Lastly, despite featuring some fight scenes, there’s no QTE sections in this game. Tailoring these stats is integral to finding some braches of the narrative (more on these in a second) that are otherwise locked away.
Each decision made is tracked against a series of characteristics that shapes Kristina’s underlying traits and relationships with 2 key characters. A lesser used aspect of FMV games is also included in I Saw Black Clouds too – relationship and trait tracking. There’s quite a difference in the paths you can travel down here with 2 main branches with different themes. Those options can send you down different branches of the story.
The game itself is presented in the industry accepted standard for interactive movies/FMV games these days you’re treated to sections of a movie and at certain junctures, you’re presented with options to choose from. Retracing the life of her friend, she’ll visit some spooky and unnerving locations around Shropshire as she tries to get to the bottom of a morbid secret. As she snoops around, she’ll meet a cast of characters, each as suspicious as the last. Guided by a supernatural force, she’s compelled to investigate the events leading up to Emily’s apparent suicide. She has returned to her British hometown after the mysterious death of her friend Emily. I Saw Black Clouds follows the path of a woman named Kristina, played by Nicole O’Neill (Penny Dreadful, Red Sparrow).