The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes: Beginner’s Guide, Tips & Tricks

by Falagar / Game Guides, General Guides, Tips & Tricks / 24 Jun 2021

House of Ashes, the latest chilling entry by Supermassive, is now available. In this spine-tingling adventure, you’ll follow five American soldiers exploring what they believe to be a weapons silo in Iraq. Their discovery, however, leaves them dumbfounded. Unravel the eerie events that lead to their demise and stay on the edge of your seat. House of Ashes’ plot is reminiscent of previous games in the Dark Pictures series.

As the story unfolds, key choices and high-stakes events will influence the outcome, offering a multitude of possible endings. Dive into this advanced House of Ashes guide crafted for new players.

Inverted controls are disabled by default. If non-inverted gameplay suits your preference, there’s no need for tweaks. However, you can switch things up in the settings to your liking.

Experiment with inverted and non-inverted aiming and movement controls in the settings menu, ideally at the beginning of the game. You might prefer inverted controls for some aspects but not others. So, take them for a spin before settling on your preferred setup.

No Turning Back: Thoroughly explore a room before moving on to the next objective. Chances are, once the story progresses, you won’t be able to backtrack and uncover hidden images or secrets.

The game often presents multiple paths, leaving you guessing which advances the plot. Timers could abruptly advance the story to a new scene, catching you off guard. Don’t rush ahead without searching for clues. Take your time, and stroll at a leisurely pace to better spot secrets.

Set the Appropriate Brightness: Brightness settings depend on personal preference. Adjust it to a level that is comfortable for you, which might be higher than the game suggests. As a horror game, darkness is a given. Just make sure you can see enough. Boosting the brightness won’t spoil the scares; on the contrary, it’ll make the terrifying visuals all the more vivid. Appropriate brightness is essential for scenes with low visibility.

Grab a Controller: Though a controller isn’t necessary for playing House of Ashes on your PC, you might find it more enjoyable than using a mouse and keyboard. Navigating exploration zones with a mouse can feel cumbersome. A controller could make exploring smoother, despite the zones not being optimally designed. Test both early on before committing to either.

Accessibility Settings: Don’t overlook the game’s accessibility options, which can enhance your experience. Tailor these settings to your playstyle. As you’d expect in a horror game, House of Ashes features numerous button prompts. Several accessibility settings relate to quick-time events. For example, normal quick-time events require pressing various buttons at specific moments. One accessibility setting lets you press a single button instead.

Quick Time Events, although largely unaffected by your choices, significantly impact the game. Feel free to skip them if they don’t interest you. Making on-the-spot decisions can be challenging, both for you as a player and for the five characters under your control. Mistakes are bound to happen, so don’t sweat it. Additionally, the Curator, a secondary character introduced after the prologue in The Raid, sporadically offers guidance throughout the story.

However, the Curator’s advice isn’t always foolproof. So, tread carefully when following his suggestions. But if you’re a fan of horror games, House of Ashes will surely captivate you.

Falagar

He is the founder and editor of Magic Game World. He loved gaming from the moment he got a PlayStation 1 with Gran Turismo on his 7th birthday.
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