The Casting of Frank Stone review: Melding two worlds into one horror title

Supermassive Games is on the hunt for their next ‘champion’ series. The studio known for film-like survival horror returns with the release of their latest, The Casting of Frank Stone. The studio made a name for itself with narrative-driven horror that looks oh so cinematic. Until Dawn, The Quarry, and The Dark Picture Anthology Series are among their pedigree of story based slashers. The Casting of Frank Stone is their newest iteration that captures many of Supermassive’s iconic format and playable elements. But what’s different this time around? The story is set in the world of another beloved horror title: Dead by Daylight. The resulting game is a blending of two worlds into one exciting title. Horror game fans are sure to be pleased with plenty of chills, thrills and spills on this adventure. Minor story spoilers to be found ahead.

The Casting of Frank Stone is a time-jumping narrative that follows a cast spanning three different decades. This trope isn’t new to Supermassive Games’ titles. Many of their past entries have incorporated a jump back to the past, like Until Dawn or Little Hope. Where those narrative prologues tend to set up the larger story, ‘Frank Stone‘ chose to follow an interweaving structure throughout. At pivotal points, the chapters jump back and forth between the decades. This either fleshes out characters or elaborates on the story to affect the “present” story. This method feels fresh as it kept us on our toes wondering how decisions could affect characters and the narrative. The interweaving breaks gave us breathing room to pace with the story. The result feels more like a gothic novel instead of a slasher movie at times.

The tone itself is one area where gamers and horror fans will have their interest piqued. Supermassive Games’ titles explore various horror genres and offer something new depending on your interest. For example, Man of Medan creates a ghostly sea tale. Conversely, The Devil In Me is a Saw-like slasher movie. The Casting of Frank Stone strikes a tonal balance of B-movie slasher and Victorian gothic. A creepy English manor setting helps a lot, to create an unnerving atmosphere. Additional that tone is set by the interludes from the nefarious Augustine Lieber. It’s a welcome change for anyone who like Mike Flanagan’s Haunting of Hill House‘s or Del Toro’s Crimson Peak.

The Legend of Frank Stone

The Casting of Frank Stone follows a weaving narrative between three moments in time: 1963, 1980, and 2024. In 2024, a group arrive at an English manor to meet with Augustine Lieber to conduct a business arrangement. This deal centers around an extremely rare cult-classic film that has grown in infamy for movie buffs: “Murder Mill.” The 1980 plot focuses on a group of friends filming the low-budget slasher movie in their small town. Their movie takes inspiration from the real-life serial murders that happened in their town of Cedar Hills in 1963. The story does well by playing off the anticipation of how each decade affects the other, and how the lore of Murder Mill’s production created this infamous film.

Just like every Supermassive Games title, there is an eclectic group of characters that play off classic horror movie tropes. You have the stubborn leader (Chris), the artistic introvert (Linda), the schemer (Stan), the rebel (Bonnie), and the cop (Sam) to name a few. What makes The Casting of Frank Stone unique from its predecessors is that the large cast of characters is spread throughout the decades instead of together in the story. Unlike Until Dawn or The Quarry, where they’re all trapped in one setting, The Casting of Frank Stone makes it clear that time is the true barrier … and its connection. Sure, some characters may appear in multiple decades, but each segment feels like its own horror film in the grand scheme of the main movie.

You have the ragtag teenage movie crew from 1980; they’re mixed with teen drama, movie ambitions, and small-town life. You have the tortured adults from 2024; they’re dealing with the harsh realities of life and what Augustine has up her life. And then there is the unsuspecting pair from 1963 who didn’t know they were walking into their scary movie. No matter what type of horror experience you prefer, there is a little something for everyone. Plus, some of the characters are so vastly unique from one another that you’ll naturally develop favorites of who you’ll want to root to survive or not.

A fateful choice has consequences

In terms of gameplay, The Casting of Frank Stone carries elements from its predecessors, but it tries new aspects too. Firstly, its version of The Butterfly Effect is still in play, so every decision you make could change the plot of the story and permanently kill the characters. There are plenty of collectibles located throughout the story; in the case of The Casting of Frank Stone, there are even more items hiding to be collected, like trinkets, dolls, and files. If you’re an achievement/trophy hunter, this addition is right up your alley. Plus, Quick Time Events (QTE) make a return during conversations and important moments, but they have a new design.

The infusion of Dead by Daylight into The Casting of Frank Stone extended beyond only the plot. For fans of that game, you could see design elements carried over. The QTE button was redesigned to be the generator skill check, generators appeared as part of the story, the Relliks were dolls of the killers, and plenty of references were included featuring Killers, Survivors, and lore from the game. At times, the influences felt more like cameos and easter eggs for DBD fans instead of naturally part of the story. Don’t get me wrong, I loved all the nods and inclusions (especially being a DBD fan!), but if this game is set in the world of Dead by Daylight, there should be a stronger connection to that world than nods.

One aspect that The Casting of Frank Stone emphasizes more is the importance of puzzles. Think of past survival horror titles like Resident Evil and Silent Hill; there are a few puzzles that push the player to explore locations to uncover new plots or collectibles. These puzzles added fun to mix and felt like a break from the main narrative. I just wish that there were more of them included! From the ones we did have, there were big expansive puzzles and some quick ones that only involved finding one item.

On the cutting room floor

The introduction of The Cutting Room Floor and The Plunderer’s Instinct were two new successful game mechanics. These modes should always return in future installments because they added so much value for replayability and exploring. The Plunderer’s Instinct allowed players to send out a radar when trinkets were nearby. This made it easier to collect one batch of collectibles, and it saved so much time in the long run. On the other hand, The Cutting Room Floor was a perfect way to replay past scenes and explore new paths. The mode allows you to see the branching paths in the narrative and revisit scenes to change the timeline. For replayability, it made it easier to jump back in and know where you might’ve gone wrong.

Still, the feature doesn’t help to solve some of the game’s more pressing matters. One of the main concerns is the complexity of The Casting of Frank Stone’s story. With three story paths and a cast of characters, a lot is going on from the main story. The result is a lot of interwoven lore to keep track of. Between Dead by Daylight’s lore, Frank Stone’s background, the movie, and the manor, the narratives feel all over the place. At times, players might miss significant details because the game glossed over it or you focused on something else. Therefore, we advise players to should take some time to dissect the game’s offerings to discover the true story. This approach will help you in the long run to appreciate it even more.

All killer, some filler

Another issue is the run-time: the game feels short. The 1980 plot gets the bulk of the focus, which helps as it is the stronger and deeper narrative. However, The Casting of Frank Stone felt like there was more to the story that was missing. While the 1963 story feels like a prologue, the 2024 portion could’ve had even more focus on it. Those characters were great too, and we needed to explore even more of that manor for what other horrors hid inside. Plus, with the removal of other classic Supermassive Games elements (e.g., the collectibles that foreshadowed future events), the game felt even more direct and linear in its progression.

And we’d be remiss to forget about some of the weird bugs that would pop up randomly. For instance, picking up certain Relliks would trigger an announcement screen with their name while others would get nothing. I wasn’t sure at times if I had successfully found the item until I checked my inventory. This error happened more often, so it became quite noticeable compared to everything else.

The Casting of Frank Stone was a fun and captivating horror drama. The slasher and gothic influences were felt throughout the story, and the cast of characters brought life to every scene. The connections to Dead by Daylight provided exciting nods for fans of the series. Thus, the inclusion of new elements added great replayability for those fans. However, its complex narrative took away from its story in what was already a short run-time. You’ll get hooked into the game and it’ll leave you wanting more by the time the end credits roll around.

The Casting of Frank Stone is available to play now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam / Windows.