This article has a talk page!
|
To do:
|
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me is an interactive drama and survival horror video game. It is the fourth installment in The Dark Pictures series. The narrative follows a documentary film crew who must survive a labyrinth of deadly traps set by a copycat serial killer.
While the game was praised as a decent murder mystery thriller with an enjoyable cast of characters, it was heavily criticized for its tumultuous launch, which was plagued by numerous bugs and technical issues, many of which remain unfixed to this day.
Scrapped Mechanics#
"Deal With Death" Currency#
"Obols" are collectible coins that can be found throughout the game and exchanged for character models in the Dioramas shop. The feature is unique to this installment as it did not see a return in the sequel, Directive 8020.
The Curator was originally going to be able to revive characters for obols, tearing a page out of his book while doing so. The Curator would have offered this deal if Erin died in the Blackout room. But, if the player had refused this deal, he would then offer it again if Charlie died in the Ignition room.
- In the final game, he does, however, tear a page from his book in his final meeting1 if the player unlocks the "Lake" ending.
Had this mechanic remained in the game, this would imply that he brought Du'Met back to life, potentially explaining how the killer managed to survive being blown to smithereens Bug's Bunny style.
ID/File Name |
Event |
Audio File |
Transcript |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
exchange |
|
||
|
obolsexplain |
|
||
|
obolsremind |
|
||
|
reviveoffer |
|
||
|
dealwithdeath_accept |
|
||
|
dealwithdeath_refuse |
|
||
|
reviveoffer |
|
||
|
anotherreviveoffer |
|
||
|
dealwithdeath_refuseagain |
|
||
|
insufficientobolsagain |
|
||
|
eventheoddsatacost |
|
||
|
obols_agreed |
|
Character Introduction Screens#
The Dark Pictures games, along with other Supermassive titles such as Until Dawn, typically introduce their cast through slow-motion establishing shots that display each character's name while highlighting aspects of their personality. However, The Devil in Me was the first game to break this tradition.
But early development footage shows that this was not always the case. Originally, the introductions appear to have taken place during the scene where the film crew loads their luggage into the car. This was likely removed during development, as the final game instead introduces the characters through the videotapes watched by the serial killer. Reintroducing the cast immediately afterward may have been considered redundant, leading to the sequence being cut.
Scrapped Sequences#
Many of the game's events were altered or removed during development, with entire sequences being significantly shortened, repurposed, or cut altogether. The content below is presented roughly in chronological order.
Charlie outside the Suffocation Room#
In the teaser trailer released on October 22, 2021, Charlie is shown witnessing Erin trapped inside the Suffocation room. This scene is impossible to achieve in the final game, as Charlie is either dead or actively escaping the killer by that stage of the story, suggesting the sequence was altered or moved during development.
Kate in the Saw Blade (it even rhymes)#
ArtStation writer Daniel Wade accidentally shared an image of Kate wearing the collar seen in the saw blade trap room. In the final game, the trap contains only mannequins and, while it can be interacted with, it is never actually used, nor can any of the main characters die from it.
The image shows Kate wearing the exact same collar, strongly suggesting that the trap was intended to play a larger role at some point during development before being scrapped. Further supporting this theory is the fact that, after players discovered the image and began reporting on it, the newsletter was updated and the render was removed.2
In 2023, a full year after the game's release, the render resurfaced when it was reuploaded by Supermassive's lead character artist, Jon Stewart.3
Use Kate as Bait#
In the final game, Jamie, Kate, and Erin realize that one of them must act as bait to lure out the killer. When Kate asks who should do it, Jamie immediately volunteers, claiming that she is tired of running. However, unused dialogue suggests that this sequence originally played out differently. At some point, Kate was once considered a possible bait candidate and includes a fail state in which Jamie accidentally closes a wall on her, leaving Kate trapped and ultimately killed by the murderer.
|
Oh dear, I do believe I have the vapors. |
ID/File Name |
Event |
Audio File |
Transcript (Scroll for more) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
? |
- The Curator also has a unique comment for this event, which naturally also goes unused.
ID/File Name |
Event |
Audio File |
Transcript |
|---|---|---|---|
|
blocked_kate |
|
Kate squished like a Grape#
While Jamie is the one placed in control of the glass trap in the final game, cut voice lines reveal that the roles were originally intended to be interchangeable, with Kate potentially taking Jamie's place and deciding whether to let herself be crushed or press the button to sacrifice Jamie instead. It's unclear why this was cut. It's possible that removing the earlier scene where Jamie can volunteer as bait for the killer reduced the opportunities for the screwdriver to be passed between the two characters. This could have resulted in situations where a character would die simply because the screwdriver was with the wrong person, but that's mere speculation.
ID/File Name |
Event |
Audio File |
Transcript (Scroll for more) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
? |
:* Kate can't bring helself to press the button, and dies:
- {| class="wikitable" style="width:55rem"
|+ ! width="8%" |ID/File Name ! width="8%" |Event ! width="10%" |Audio File ! width="45%" |Transcript (Scroll for more) |- |? |? | style="margin:auto" | |style="padding: 0px; overflow: hidden;"|
|}
:* Kate presses the button to save herself, sacrificing Jamie.
- {| class="wikitable" style="width:55rem"
|+ ! width="8%" |ID/File Name ! width="8%" |Event ! width="10%" |Audio File ! width="45%" |Transcript (Scroll for more) |- |? |? | style="margin:auto" | |style="padding: 0px; overflow: hidden;"|
|}
Kitchen Sequence#
Cut dialogue implies that Jamie and Charlie were originally meant to search the Kitchen for a key to unlock the Meat Locker. In the final game, however, the Meat Locker is already unlocked and open, having been deliberately left that way as a trap to lure them inside and lock them in.
ID/File Name |
Event |
Audio File |
Transcript (Scroll for more) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
? |
- Since the game can be played with a friend, both Jamie or Charlie have dialog for being shocked by the electrified door.
ID/File Name |
Event |
Audio File |
Transcript (Scroll for more) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
? |
Scrapped Locations#
Hotel's kitchen#
Although the kitchen is only seen briefly during a cutscene, unused dialog suggests it was once planned as a fully explorable area.
References#
|
The Dark Pictures Anthology series | |
|---|---|
|
PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
|
|
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, Windows |
|