Only Mike, Sam, and Emily survived for my first playthrough. Well, technically Josh also, but he then becomes a Wendigo in the epilogue. For my second playthrough everybody survived, though unfortunately that then revealed how there's very little deviation in play. For starters Mike & Sam can't die until the very end, which seemingly goes against the nature of what this game sold itself as. The most egregious example of their invincibility is when you're fighting off all of those wendigos in the prison as Mike, because if you purposely fail the QTEs he still survives anyway. Plus for the characters that survived the moments where they died in my first playthrough, they then basically cease to do anything of importance. Like Chris for example, who was originally left to die by Ashley, but on my second playthrough where she let him into the lodge he then pretty much turns into an uncharacteristic mute. At a certain point it doesn't matter who lives because they all just head back to the lodge anyway after all to let Mike & Sam do the rest.

The main difference was the extra scene with Matt and Jessica (which I didn't get to play during my first), though it's such a short segment and you don't even see them reunite with the rest of the cast anyway. Jessica in particular is exempt from like 80% of the game regardless of whether she lives or dies. It's really no different than the likes of the Telltale games; for all its heavy emphasis on player choice, none of it actually matters that much beyond some different bits of dialogue. Though what makes it worse is they have character sheets with bars and personality stats and everything, which only served to strengthen the illusion rather than serve much mechanical purpose.

It was OK overall (I still didn't enjoy it nearly as much as seemingly everyone else has even after my first playthrough, though), but I was really disappointed when I learnt how it's no different than any Telltale game speaking for the importance of your choices. It's the Mike and Sam thing that really bothered me in particular.

@yummylee: Yeah, doing some reading up and discovering that both the Killer and Monster are always the same (something I swear had been argued by all sorts of folks on message-boards), and that there really aren't that many occasions where the story plays out wildly differently based on your choices (as I recall, even young Bradley said he was "Shocked that certain parts of the story weren't set it stone", something I never really got from looking stuff up), it's definitely put a bit of a damper on things. I think in the end though, much like with Telltale's games, I'm able to get a lot out of it just on how much I enjoyed the little story they set up, and strength of the characters. I compare the "Your Choices Matter" thing to something like the Fargo TV Series always starting with the line "This tale is based on true events" (despite the fact that it isn't); it's just a way to contextualize a story in the way that it feels like there are stakes, to sort of ground things with at least the illusion that there's more to this than just a story. This isn't to say I desperately wish I COULD play the game twice and get two different stories, but I guess that's too much to ask for a game that clearly had a lot of money thrown at it anyhow.

Just one. Matt. He didn't have the flare gun and I had him try to save Emily.

I think some of the different routes talked about aren't in the what happens because of player deaths, but their actions in general beforehand. Depending on what you do with Sam she can either figure out who the killer is or get captured and need to be rescued for example.

Whether or not Emily and Matt are happily together at the end also depends on if you tried to save her and Matt had the flare gun to save himself. However, Matt only keeps the flare gun if you have him suggest not going to the watch tower.

How the end of the insane asylum with the wendigos plays out happened quite differently depending on if Mike can kill them or not. If you don't blow things up correctly you have to play as Sam to go save him. Whereas otherwise he shows up where Sam is and he is wrestling with a burning Wendigo.

And let's not forget how Josh's fate changes based on what we find beforehand.

Obviously major story beats will stay the same. I think that's safe to say in any game. Very few have actually branching paths. What matters is if individual experiences can feel different or not. Having played multiple times and watched friends play I think it's safe to say everyone can have a fairly unique experience. I don't think Mike or whoever needs to be able to be the killer or the monster needs to be a yeti instead for that to be the case.

By having some things set in stone they can add important details. I had a really fun time discovering josh was the killer with Sam before the game told me. And finding all the hints of cannibalism in the asylum with Mike before the man told the group about Wendigos. That wouldn't be possible if those things were all variable.

On my first run-through two people died. Matt (he had no flaregun) and Jessica (but not because of Mike fucking up, she died in that later segment).

I came out with two, many late departures...[sigh]. I am replaying the game with an eye towards finding all items and saving everyone. I'm in line to finish the game having done that, so I'm happy. I love this game so much, it just satisfied my need for a story based game with fun characters. I simply cannot wait to see what they will do next! I would love if they too an every other year approach, one Until Dawn and one new property. I think the title Until Dawn works for any sort of horror/survival game, so they can use a new story, new characters and even new mechanics or additional mechanisms.

The funny thing is I think UD makes me want to play Heavy Rain again! Until Dawn is lifting up the genre and providing new interest in the mechanisms they share.

Sam, Chris (I think? I'm sure someone got out of the house before the first choice) and Matt survived on my first run through. Messed up on the last Jess choice and I didn't realize running with Sam instead of choosing to save Mike was going to kill everyone. Oops.

Sam was my only survivor. I think I had some kind of shake in my hands or something - every time I was required to hold the controller still, I failed.

I finished my first playthrough with only Chris and Emily surviving, plus Josh, because based on achievements, him turning into a wendigo counts as surviving. I came real close with Jessica, but then screwed up in the end during her escape. Mike, Sam, Ashley, and Matt never had a chance with how badly I screwed up each of their pivotal moments.

I know people will always get upset with the illusion of variability in games like this, but my preference is always to have a good, cohesive narrative. In my eyes, choosing Sam and Mike as the unwavering 'stars' of the game was a necessary decision to ensure the story would work until the very last climatic movement. In some ways, I like the fact that Mike either survives or sacrifices himself to take out as many wendigos as possible and that's the only way his story can play out. Some day, maybe game developers will more consistently be able to create a truly variable game with high production at all ends, but my guess is that right now a 'cinematic' game like this just wouldn't be able to pull off too many different possible endings without having to cut major corners.

@sparky_buzzsaw: You must have succeeded on at least one or two 'Don't Move' events if Sam survived.

My first play through I lost 6 people. (Voted for 5, then immediately thought, "Oh wait, I forgot about him". Whoops.)

1. I was too slow saving Jessica, and she was killed by a Wendigo
2. Matt fell down into the mines and didn't have anything to protect himself (Emily had the flare gun), and he got killed by a Wendigo
3. I didn't find the clues that provided who the Wendigo was, so Josh died (He's the one I forgot)
4. I flipped the switch....
5. .....I guess because I didn't think it would immediately kill everyone else inside the house....
6. .....So Emily, Ashley, and Mike died in the explosion

Which left Chris and Sam alive.

The next day, I replayed the last chapter and saved everyone else, except for Jessica and Matt, who died earlier.

Ended up with only Mike, Jessica and Ashley. Sam died when I apparently moved during the last Don't Move segment. Would really like to play through it again, especially since I'm pretty sure I know what to do to save Jessica and Matt.

Finally played and finished this game. (You're welcome for the thread necro.)

I ended up with only Sam, Jessica, and Emily. I was apparently on a damn good run to save nearly everyone except no flare gun having Matt, when things all went to hell after missing one shot by a nano-second with Chris. Then Ashley opened the trap door, Mike got killed in the cabin explosion, and Josh got captured by Hannah and turned into a wendigo himself.

I saw every ending. I got a Platinum on it. great game, sequel long overdue.

Jessica is the hardest character to save BTW