Yomawari: Midnight Shadows Review - Yui and Haru get stuck in a world of dark spirits.

Many horror games in 2017 are all about realistic visuals. You know what titles we mean: those you wander in first person with only one flashlight in your hand, knowing that there can be a small girl or a mutated monster everywhere. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Outlast 2 and many others have shown that this is a proven method for horror. Nippon Ichi Software's Yomawari: Midnight Shadows, however, opt for a slightly different approach - cute visuals besides terrifying violence and supernatural peculiarities.

The characters look like figures from an animé for children, one look at the game world is enough to realize that this is not a game for children. Everything is shrouded in darkness and different shades of brown, gray and black; without ever getting boring, because the eye for details in the environment keeps you on the lesson.

The story follows Yui and Haru, two little girls who go out at night to watch fireworks. On their way home they lose each other and need to survive the night and avoid different spirits who sit behind them and take every chance to kill you. An important detail here: the spirits are invisible unless you immediately notice them with light.

This makes it easy to run an area full of ghosts and monsters if you are not careful, but there is a nice little addition that causes you to hit the deadly terror immediately and that is the heart rate monitor bottom of the screen. This becomes the closer you get closer to spirits, increasingly intense. This works on two sides: it warns you of danger and lets you grab your flashlight at the same time to see where the danger comes from.

The invisible is the most scary of this game, the fear of not being around the corner, and the emphasis is on the sound. The music is almost non-existent and with only the sound of your own footsteps to keep your company it's easy to scare when your heart rate starts and begins to shine (also indicating that spirits arrive). As expected, this also works double for jumpscares, but it's not a game that's trusted only - this is being applied scarcely and carefully, and it usually occurred at unexpected moments without the usual pre-sense and usual build-up.

Spirits can be found in all sorts and sizes, which helps keep the game refreshing and entertaining. One minute you can be chased by a shadow figure, after which a gigantic doll face appears at the end of the street. These are all deformed, ugly and distorted; making it extremely effective in contrast to the cute and orthodox designs of the girls, something that creates enormous shocks when they appear.

Each of these can be too clever and you usually run away. Stones can be used to distract them, but honestly we only used it once. We often chose the hazenpad to hide us since it works as a guarantee. The more banger you get, the less long you can run, so it's not possible to run around the world right away. It's possible to hide in places like bushes, which darkens everything on the screen and reduces your chaser to a glowing fog that circles and looks after you in an intense stand-off.

The world itself balances size very well with accessible. The world is big, but everything opens up in a logical way, with subtle hints that guide you the right way. Whoever wants to explore every corner and hole can prepare for quite a few hours of gameplay, especially if this also involves the collection of 'collectibles'. However, the world is never so big that you get stuck and not wet where you have to go. However, if you get caught by a mind, you start again with your last save. Everything that you have collected and released from the world remains unchanged. A more forgiving option than in many other horror games, but one that we value and never causes frustration.

Another element is something that causes it: the framerate cuts in and chases exploring the world from time to time. This was never long and persistent, but enough that strikes you and you get some experience. Something i was not looking for while exploring.

Something different to the horror are the moments when big monsters appear. Where the game begins with all sorts of different spirits that you are looking forward to, including some of which i only caught a glimpse because i ran out of fear, this feeling was completely lost in the big monsters. Some are certainly disturbing, but most are extremely 'over-the-top' and ridiculous, so the fear factor immediately disappears in the game when they appear on the scene.

Clearly, i enjoyed the dark side and twisted layout of Yomawari, and apart from some fruitless enemies, it was the atmosphere i loved most. It even reminds me of the horror 'masterclass' Silent Hil 2. I got the same unpleasant, crowded, ominous feeling while searching for security and i was constantly watching - reinforced by the unexpected jumpscares '.

Yomawari has surprised me, both by the cute visuals that gave me a false feeling and literally (i have been shocked numerous times). It does not rely on cheap shock techniques, but puts down a twisted scary world that, although sometimes not quite obvious, creates a horror experience that i recommend for every fan of the genre. Especially if you are looking for something else.

➕ Dark and stuffy atmosphere; open but accessible world; detailed environments; false sense of security; effective shocks.

➖ Some enemies are weird and not scary; framerate cactus of a toe in.

Thanks for your precious time.

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