Short Version: A simple, but very subtle and profound coming-of-age story. Yomawari: Night Alone is a really good horror game that left a big impression on me, due to its memorable imagery, relatable setting and a simple world full of mystery and adorable creepiness. It’s a really short and easy game, but I enjoyed myself throughout the whole thing. Highly recommend PS Vita owners to buy it. Loads of suspenseful and thought-provoking fun!
Long Version: I’ve never been a fan of horror games at all. I’ve personally thought of myself as too much of a scaredy-cat to go through any of them; and I also think that most of them are pretty boring and predictable when factoring out the jump scares. However, whenever the planets align, I come across a game or two that captivate me so much that I end up giving them a shot. Yomawari: Night Alone is one of those games, and I love it. It is very simple in nature and definitely doesn’t do anything revolutionary, but everything that it does is executed very well. The relatable setting of a small child wandering through the night is only made stronger by the game’s simple, but clever and powerful tutorial.
Close Your Eyes…
The game starts with a small, unnamed girl with her dog Poro staring into a large tunnel. Because tunnels are dark and scary, they decide to walk back home. Here, is where our tutorial begins, teaching you the basics of the game. Without spoiling anything, here is the part where the player’s careless, trivial actions make a big impact that are the cause of the entire story happening. Essentially, the dog goes missing, so the girl goes to her older sister for help. The also unnamed older sister eventually goes missing as well, and it is up to you to explore the dark streets alone in order to find them both.
With only a flashlight, a few items and couple a hiding spots, Yomawari is not one for heavy action. As you walk around the silent streets, you will definitely bump into many kinds of ghosts and monsters that you can’t fight at all. Actually, all you need is to get hit once in order to die, and then get booted to the last checkpoint. There’s definitely no room for fighting here, so get ready to sneak past enemies, hide from them or simply running away in the hopes that they don’t get you. From this point forward is where the game really shines.
Dark World
The contrast of its cutesy art style and the crude, intense imagery of the monsters make for a creepy, but compelling picture of two different worlds occupying the same space. Since most of the monsters are deeply rooted in Japanese ghost stories and folklore, many American players might not “get it,” but it still doesn’t stop the game from giving you goose bumps from time to time. What makes this game even more interesting is the fact that you will never see the same monsters in the same places. I’ve seen videos of people struggling or getting killed by certain ghosts that I’ve never seen before, or at least didn’t see until late into the game. There are some enemies that only appear in certain areas, but you will never know that until you take the time to explore the town and find all of the many collectibles scattered around.
Another important thing that adds to the great atmosphere is the sound, or lack thereof. Throughout the entirety of the game, there is no music to be found, with the exception of the one song that plays during the end credits. This lack of music gives the sound effects some ample time to breath as you walk around the empty, dark streets and faintly hear the sounds of vending machines, faulty street lights, crickets and the whispers of the ghosts surrounding you. These tiny details were pivotal in making the atmosphere as creepy as it was. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t find myself in a situation like that in real life, which makes the atmosphere not only relatable, but also effective and believable. You would not catch me praising the sound in this game so much if it had an orchestrated soundtrack or employed some heavy-handed action music for every time you see a ghost. This feeling that I get from playing this game is a prime example of having less can sometimes be more. You can even listen to your own heartbeat, which is an important mechanic in the game.
[I originally posted this review on The Buttonsmashers. You can read the rest of the review
by clicking here or just listening to the video version above.]
Game Review – Yomawari: Night Alone
0Short Version: A simple, but very subtle and profound coming-of-age story. Yomawari: Night Alone is a really good horror game that left a big impression on me, due to its memorable imagery, relatable setting and a simple world full of mystery and adorable creepiness. It’s a really short and easy game, but I enjoyed myself throughout the whole thing. Highly recommend PS Vita owners to buy it. Loads of suspenseful and thought-provoking fun!
Long Version: I’ve never been a fan of horror games at all. I’ve personally thought of myself as too much of a scaredy-cat to go through any of them; and I also think that most of them are pretty boring and predictable when factoring out the jump scares. However, whenever the planets align, I come across a game or two that captivate me so much that I end up giving them a shot. Yomawari: Night Alone is one of those games, and I love it. It is very simple in nature and definitely doesn’t do anything revolutionary, but everything that it does is executed very well. The relatable setting of a small child wandering through the night is only made stronger by the game’s simple, but clever and powerful tutorial.
Close Your Eyes…
The game starts with a small, unnamed girl with her dog Poro staring into a large tunnel. Because tunnels are dark and scary, they decide to walk back home. Here, is where our tutorial begins, teaching you the basics of the game. Without spoiling anything, here is the part where the player’s careless, trivial actions make a big impact that are the cause of the entire story happening. Essentially, the dog goes missing, so the girl goes to her older sister for help. The also unnamed older sister eventually goes missing as well, and it is up to you to explore the dark streets alone in order to find them both.
With only a flashlight, a few items and couple a hiding spots, Yomawari is not one for heavy action. As you walk around the silent streets, you will definitely bump into many kinds of ghosts and monsters that you can’t fight at all. Actually, all you need is to get hit once in order to die, and then get booted to the last checkpoint. There’s definitely no room for fighting here, so get ready to sneak past enemies, hide from them or simply running away in the hopes that they don’t get you. From this point forward is where the game really shines.
Dark World
The contrast of its cutesy art style and the crude, intense imagery of the monsters make for a creepy, but compelling picture of two different worlds occupying the same space. Since most of the monsters are deeply rooted in Japanese ghost stories and folklore, many American players might not “get it,” but it still doesn’t stop the game from giving you goose bumps from time to time. What makes this game even more interesting is the fact that you will never see the same monsters in the same places. I’ve seen videos of people struggling or getting killed by certain ghosts that I’ve never seen before, or at least didn’t see until late into the game. There are some enemies that only appear in certain areas, but you will never know that until you take the time to explore the town and find all of the many collectibles scattered around.
Another important thing that adds to the great atmosphere is the sound, or lack thereof. Throughout the entirety of the game, there is no music to be found, with the exception of the one song that plays during the end credits. This lack of music gives the sound effects some ample time to breath as you walk around the empty, dark streets and faintly hear the sounds of vending machines, faulty street lights, crickets and the whispers of the ghosts surrounding you. These tiny details were pivotal in making the atmosphere as creepy as it was. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t find myself in a situation like that in real life, which makes the atmosphere not only relatable, but also effective and believable. You would not catch me praising the sound in this game so much if it had an orchestrated soundtrack or employed some heavy-handed action music for every time you see a ghost. This feeling that I get from playing this game is a prime example of having less can sometimes be more. You can even listen to your own heartbeat, which is an important mechanic in the game.
[I originally posted this review on The Buttonsmashers. You can read the rest of the review by clicking here or just listening to the video version above.]Game Review – Blazblue: Central Fiction
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