The Midnight Stroll is an ideal reminder of why stop-motion and claymation nonetheless maintain such a timeless attraction, though animators in these kinds have had a tough few years. You barely see these strategies in use anymore, regardless of their increase within the early 2000s because of Aardman’s efforts. It’s unsurprising, I suppose, that they’ve fallen out of favor given the a lot larger monetary and time prices, however when accomplished properly, they’re magical. Simply take a look at Hen Run and The Nightmare Earlier than Christmas. This type has even made its mark in gaming with titles like Clayfighters and The Neverhood.
The Midnight Stroll is the most recent recreation to undertake this distinctive aesthetic type, with the developer MoonHood utilizing a mix of clay modelling, 3D scanning and stop-motion strategies to construct a superbly bleak world oozing with character. From the outset it’s apparent that there was a transparent inventive imaginative and prescient within the improvement of the title, with the graphical design, music, voice appearing and gameplay parts all coalescing into one thing higher than the sum of its elements.
Strolling down the remoted and surreal pathways of The Midnight Stroll jogs my memory closely of Tim Burton’s work, with the visuals mixing the lovable and the grotesque collectively each in design and animation. It isn’t outright scary, merely unnerving and alien, however builds the suspense up in a approach few different kinds can.
By means of instance, early on you encounter some big anonymous palms, every with a watch within the centre, merely watching you. They serve no function however to look at as your character – “The Burnt One” – passes, however nonetheless they stand tall, light and curious, surrounded by the awful rocky panorama. It’s unsettling, and it’s moments like this scattered all through The Midnight Stroll which construct an oppressive but whimsical ambiance.
The primary enemies you encounter aren’t nice to take a look at, don’t get me mistaken, nevertheless it’s not their twisted figures which fill you with panic, however their jerky, grotesque actions and the sounds which accompany their skittering. Even the voice appearing is concurrently surreal and candy; merely each component of the visible and sound design is completely executed.
Gameplay-wise the identical could be mentioned. The Midnight Stroll is billed as an atmospheric horror title, and while there are some trappings of horror in there – a couple of scary stealth sections and so on – I really feel it could possibly be higher described as a first-person puzzle journey with horror parts. You have got a couple of methods of interacting with the world, however primarily you might be tasked with utilizing the objects you discover round you to progress; typically through the use of matches and different objects to maneuver fires round.
This reliance on gentle and hearth matches extremely properly with the title’s total theming and gives a stark distinction towards different characters within the setting who exist solely within the darkness, while additionally offering a stable focus for the gameplay to revolve round. You even have the choice to shut your eyes, permitting your character to “see” the issues the eyes can’t see. While I perceive that this characteristic – and the reliance on sound-based cues – is anchored within the VR-focus of the title, it nonetheless works outdoors of this context; once more reinforcing and complementing the general atmospheric intention.
While I wasn’t a fan of the stealth sections, I see why they have been applied and I loved them way over I’ve accomplished in different related titles, so on the very least they get a passing grade, and fortunately The Midnight Stroll’s beneficiant checkpointing prevented them from getting too irritating. My solely gameplay criticism could be that it doesn’t actually evolve previous that, and might really feel somewhat repetitive in direction of the top when a few of these methods nonetheless had room to be expanded upon.
My largest concern with this short-but-sweet journey is the over-arching plot itself, which I felt was under-written and left me feeling un-fulfilled.
You’re tasked with escorting a flame to the highest of Moon Mountain and bringing gentle again to a world engulfed by darkness. Carrying mentioned flame is the ridiculously cute “Potboy,” your enigmatic and smiley companion towards the horrific beings attempting to eat it. You’re additionally joined by your own home, which walks together with you for some cause – actually, it has legs. The connection shaped between the trio could be very charming, and I loved seeing them journey collectively to their eventual objective.
The title is break up into 5 smaller sections, every introducing a brand new space and quick story concerning the world’s inhabitants – once more, these have been pretty, with some stunning characterisation and attention-grabbing takes on the assorted themes within the title proven inside every mini-arc. I notably beloved the design of the world’s inhabitants throughout these sections – once more, very Burtonesque however in the easiest way.
By the top nevertheless, it felt like our crew had merely gone by way of the motions with out a lot progress or actual company. This could possibly be intentional, however a part of me seems like there was a whole lot of potential right here for a bigger, extra deeply defined story round these unlikely heroes which merely wasn’t achieved. There’s a good selection in direction of the finale which I do know makes an attempt to convey an emotional payoff, however once more, it didn’t actually really feel all that significant for the world at massive and fell considerably flat, at the very least to me.
No matter this, I nonetheless assume The Midnight Stroll is value your time. It could not ship as sturdy a story as I’d have appreciated, however the world itself and the excellent ambiance is well worth the value of admission alone, and I can extremely advocate giving it a go.
The Midnight Stroll Launch Trailer
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