I long for tense, atmospheric experiences that get me shivering and shaken and Yomawari: Midnight Shadows shook me to my core. It’s a masterful horror game that tops anything else on the Vita, and rivals many other things on the PS4 as it blends detailed sound-design with rich art and a somber narrative to craft a breath-taking horror experience. Some puzzle segments can be obtuse, and the ending lacks the same sense of accomplishment of the first game, but despite all that, Yomawari continues to perfectly define horror.
Yomawari Midnight Shadows follows its predecessor in major aspects but is getting better in others like the graphic style and the game's story. The playability keeps on the same level with minor improvements but is interesting to play. Graphically it has a notable upgrade and the atmosphere maintains a good level from the first game, especially in monster design and sound.
a simply incredible experience, tetric atmosphere, sounds that have nothing to envy a silent hill as the Japanese know how to do it, you have to have it
Here is my review about Yomawari Midnight Shadows
- Nice story
- Creepy sound effect
- Good artwork
- Better improvement about scary dark invironment
- Larger map including indoor map
- Can't hate mechanics and puzzles of the game
- More spirits jumpscare and try to kill protagonists
Yomawari: Midnight Shadows is wonderful, strange, scary, sad, creepy, startling and cute in equal measure. It deftly juggles a large number of emotions from one moment to the next, and if the story progress is frequently interrupted by exploring the town or getting killed while figuring out the next challenge, it never takes too long to get to the next part to be a serious interruption. If you played Night Alone you can jump right in with no learning curve, but if you missed the first one there’s only a small connecting point between the two games that’s more for fun than any level of necessary continuity. One of the things that took me by surprise with Night Alone is how the game stayed with me after it was done, getting better in memory than it actually was to play thanks to a story that made the rough parts worth fighting through. Yomawari: Midnight Shadows clears those issues away and looks good doing it, effortlessly turning a quirky one-off into one of the best new horror series in a long time.
There are challenging moments in the game that only make it more aggravating. It really tests your patience especially near the end where you experience a number of trial-and-error moments. However, I can’t say it bothered me as much this time around only because I had already dealt with it previously. On the other hand, it was fascinating being able to observe the fate of two different girls and see the plight from their individual perspectives. The visual and audio design shine brightly in this bleak journey that never breaks from its ambiance and distressing frame of mind. This carries all the way through to the ending which sets a somber mood. So if you’re looking for a frightening adventure that subverts your assumptions, and if you can get around the checkpoint system, the unnerving atmosphere of Yomawari: Midnight Shadows may do you in.
An adventure that should be played by every fan of the survival horror genre. It is not based on gaming cliché and has an amazing 2D style that shows that great games can be created without having too many resources.
Yomawari: Midnight Shadows is a pretty basic horror title, with a creepy and disturbing atmosphere, and an interesting bestiary. The game is not too difficult, the super-deformed art direction is a little bit anticlimactic, but overall it's a good scary ride.
A more linear, forgiving, and story driven game than its predecessor. It's an easier game due to what's probably better game design - this time around I could figure out how to keep ghosts at bay or distract them before they could murder me. The map is even larger, but this time around a cute little pup typically shows you where you need to be by leading the way. As a narrative it's very satisfying and the challenges, while less overwhelming than in "Night Alone," kept me coming back.
It definitely has that old survival horror feel that classics from the PS2 era had, but it's not really as scary as "Night Alone." Sure, one could argue "Night Alone" is a more frustrating game due to its unforgiving difficulty, cryptic story, and greater reliance on a trial and error, but the beauty of that was being constantly on guard with the haunting knowledge that one misstep sends you to a gruesome demise.
"Midnight Shadows" is maybe more fun in the long run, and there are still startling (and in my opinion, delightful spooky) moments that will kill you suddenly, but it's ultimately less scary and the hand-holding is a little obnoxious at times.
Yomawari Midnight Shadows
Creepy and frustrating
Yomawari Midnight Shadows is an adventure horror game where you play as both yui and haru
the game starts with the 2 girls watching fireworks in the mountains together..
On your walk home you hear a noise, one of the girls hide while the other investigates the noise…
Next thing you know the 2 of you are separated and you spend the rest of this 6 hour game trying to find eachother
Each chapter for the most part starts out with you playing as yui.. shes sort of ends up all over this creepy town that the game takes place in…
While playing as yui you have to pay attention to your surroundings, the game is then switched over to haru, who you will be playing most of the game as… shes the only girl with a map and based off of the information of your surroindings oyu have to figure out which part of town you need to go to…
And around this town is of course monsters and jumpscares… monsters that pose a massive threat and will one hit kill you.. you cant fight back.. you have a flash light though this flashlight does nothing to most…
you can pick up rocks to distract a couple monsters, but again, they do nothing for most…
Youll mostly be running trying to find your way around these monsters as if one grabs you you lose all progress since your last save…
You save your game at shrines and phones around the map using coins you find in the world…
you can also find charms around the world for a nice perk..
I found coins to be plentiful and they can be exploited… so saving isn’t an issue..
Finding the shrines however can definitely be an issue as theyre very spaced out…
Which means guaranteed frustrating moments of trial and error trying to get past to your desired location.. thankfully once you’ve offered a coun to a shrine you can fast travel to that shrine from other shrines….
The game doesn’t just take place in a town though… youll be in buildings and sewers for example.. and these are the most infurating moments of the game as youre dealing with the puzzle that is this haunted house while youre trying not to get snatched up by annoying enemies and killed by the games cheap traps…
this game is full of cheap feeling deaths, not only from its traps but from many of its boss encounters…
As youlld find yourself in impossible to escape situations made more frustrating by tge pixle perfect demanding dodges… I died many what I feel to be undeserved deaths from this game…
And the checkpoints here are brutal…
But I loved the atmosphere here…
The games world is wonderfully crafted and creepy.. the story is well written and intriguing… youll be on your toes at all time dying to see how the story turns out
Though its full of frustration, Midnight shadows is definitely an adventure game worth checking out
I give Yomawari Midnight Shadows
a 7.5/10
Level designers really did their job on this one. While the city is big, and you can go wherever you want, they still gently guide you to your destination. Somehow, you just end up there. Bossfights were a little too challenging for my taste, but not too much- I still managed to get through after a few retries.
All in all, the game is rather good, but not great. Not so hard, not really scary. The plot doesn't shine either- twists, turns, ghost stories... just aren't there. And the gameplay itself was so repetitive it made me feel tired after few hours of constant playthrough. Yes, they did try to design a lot of levels, different types of enemies, but ultimately you just keep running away from ghosts until you reach the required place. Watch a short cutscene- and it starts all over again.
I wouldn't finish the game if it weren't for the atmosphere and graphics.
Yomawari – Midnight Shadows wirkt mit 2D-Perspektive und **** Kinderköpfen wie ein harmloses Japano-Rollenspiel der Marke EarthBound. Doch hinter der Knuddelfassade steckt knallharter Survival-Horror – komplett mit waffenlosem Versteckspiel und zermürbender Silent Hill-Atmosphäre. Auf der Suche nach ihrer Freundin Yui schleicht die kleine Haru in tiefster Nacht durch ihr menschenleeres Heimatdorf. Der Blick reicht dabei nicht viel weiter als der Schein ihrer Tachenlampe – sodass die urplötzlich auftauchenden, eklig bis grotesken Monster den Spieler leicht in den Instakill treiben. Verhindern tut das ein beherzter Sprung in den nächsten Busch oder die heillose Flucht – wenn die Puste nicht vorher ausgeht. Eine ständige Furcht ist die Folge – die zahlreiche Jumpscares, unregelmäßige Speicherpunkte und ein verstörendes Sounddesign noch verstärken. Außerdem manipuliert das Spiel wie einst Eternal Darkness das Fernsehbild – so behindert etwa ein Spinnennetz kurzzeitig die Sicht auf den Screen. Dennoch frustriert Yomawari – Midnight Shadows bei all dem Schrecken nicht – denn gesammelte Items bleiben auch nach dem Tod im Inventar, während eine Schnellreisefunktion die Exploration erleichtert.
I enjoyed my time with Yomawari: Midnight Shadows if only for the experience of seeing all of the enemy designs. It has some spooky elements and it doesn't break down into any kind of mess. I do have to say that the art style itself has some great moments. The game has a couple of shining moments where the devs use multiple perspectives on several of the 2D backgrounds to effect a scene transition as you walk through the woods. That was surprisingly beautiful for a game of this type. If you're in the mood for a short, kind of spooky but still cute adventure you should probably give this a go.
SummaryThe dark is no place to be alone. After a beautiful show of summer fireworks, two young girls begin to make their way home. However, a mysterious attacker separates them, and both must brave the haunting night filled with unspeakable terrors and survive the darkness.