A single playthrough of the new Alone in the Dark game will take you around eight hours if you rush, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Literally.

In Steam post, 40-person developer Pieces Interactive said players should keep in mind they’ll need at least two playthroughs to get the whole story thanks to its dual protagonists: Edward and Emily.

“If you rush through the main story, a playthrough will take approximately eight hours, but keep in mind that you will need at least two playthroughs to get the whole story (one as Edward, one as Emily),” Pieces Interactive said.

Alone in the Dark is a reimagining of the original 1992 horror game and stars Hollywood actors David Harbour as private investigator Edward Carnby, and Jodie Comer as Emily Hartwood. The pair are investigating the disappearance of Jeremy Hartwood, Emily’s uncle.

Elsewhere in the post, the developers insisted the main game will not be a “walking simulator” as some players of the demo had wondered. “The main game features a mix of exploration and dialogue, puzzle solving, and combat,” Pieces Interactive said.

The post also touches on Edward’s design, which is significantly different from the character’s appearance in previous Alone in the Dark games. For example, he doesn’t have a mustache in this new Alone in the Dark. The answer here comes directly from creative director, Mikael Hedberg.

Edward started out a private detective with a magnificent mustache and gradually became more of an action hero. “Edward started out a private detective with a magnificent mustache and gradually became more of an action hero in the later games,” he said.

“Like with most of our elements we went back to the original and had him pegged as a sort of scholarly detective. This was great, as we knew we didn’t want an action hero for our game, but when paired up with Emily he seemed a little uninteresting. Emily was this tormented character with a family connection to our story catalyst Jeremy Hartwood, so she came more naturally.

“The question then was, who was Edward to her. Turns out she hires him to help her. And she certainly wouldn’t hire just anybody. He had to be at least a little capable. To avoid the action type he fell into the reluctant hero slot and suddenly we had gone all this way to kind of wind up with a classic noir detective. I think with as little we actually knew about Edward in the original game, I feel like our Edward is pretty close. Except for his majestic mustache, of course.”

And finally, Alone in the Dark does not contain microtransactions or any other type of monetisation, Pieces Interactive insisted. “Our vision for the game was to deliver a classic horror experience, featuring combat, puzzle, exploration and a compelling story told from two different perspectives,” the developer added. The game is entirely playable offline.

Alone in the Dark launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC on 20 March 2024. Check out IGN’s Alone in the Dark: The Final Preview to find out how it’s shaping up.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].