Silent Hill fans say Ascension "makes the pachinko game look like a heartfelt passion project"

gamesradar.com:

Silent Hill: Ascension premiered last night, and I don't think I've ever seen the long-suffering Silent Hill fandom look quite this miserable before.

If you've not been keeping track of Ascension, it's effectively a Telltale-style narrative adventure game viewed through a livestream where viewers get to vote on what happens next. The story takes place over the course of months, with new episodes premiering every night. If you watch live, you can participate in community quick-time events that affect character stats like 'hope,' but you're able to vote on story decisions between episodes - which means, of course, that the results of those votes generally won't play out in real time.

It's a neat idea in theory, but Silent Hill fans started getting pretty skeptical ahead of launch, when a preview video detailed a Twitch-style streaming interface with live chat and enough meters and currencies to put the average Ubisoft game to shame.

To vote on story decisions, you need to spend influence points. Whichever option receives the most influence points from the community by the time the relevant episode premieres will then affect the story. To get influence points you can do things like participate in little puzzles, or complete daily tasks like watching catch-up videos or continuing login streaks. Or - of course - you can spend money to buy influence points.

There's also a battle pass you can purchase, which offers influence point bonuses and items you can use to customize your in-app avatar, which - under some extremely specific circumstances - has a chance of making a cameo appearance in a future episode. It also offers stickers you can spam on-screen for anybody who's participating in live chat. A colorful sticker that