Yomawari: Lost in the Dark

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A cursed girl, a night town full of ghosts, and only a flashlight.

Platforms: PC, Switch, PlayStation
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (87% of 376 reviews); 4.5 of 5 from 467 ratings on the PlayStation Store
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard or controller: move, run, hold the flashlight, hide, and hold a button to close your eyes
Made by: Nippon Ichi Software
Released: 2022

Get it on Steam Nintendo eShop PlayStation Store (PS4)

What frightens A cursed girl must walk her town's streets at night to recover her lost memories, while gruesome ghosts lurk in the shadows; her heartbeat quickens as they come near, and she survives only by running, hiding and shutting her eyes against their gaze.
Content: blood, bullying, disturbing imagery.

Yomawari: Lost in the Dark is the third game in Nippon Ichi Software's Yomawari series of night-time ghost horror. A young girl wakes in a dark forest and learns she has been cursed; to break it she must search her town at night for her lost memories while malevolent ghosts hunt her through the streets.

About Yomawari: Lost in the Dark

Yomawari: Lost in the Dark was made by Nippon Ichi Software and published in the West by NIS America in October 2022, on PC, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. It follows Yomawari: Night Alone and Yomawari: Midnight Shadows with a new story, so it can be played first.

A young girl awakens in a dark, unfamiliar forest with no idea how she got there. A mysterious figure tells her she has been cursed, and the only way to break it is to explore the streets of her town by night and recover the memories she has lost. The look is soft and almost cute, a small girl drawn from above in hand-painted streets, which makes the ghosts that come out of the dark all the more grotesque.

The night belongs to the spirits. Your flashlight shows secrets and specters alike, and the sound of your own heartbeat tells you how close something is. You cannot fight back: you run until your stamina gives out, duck into bushes and behind signs and, new to this game, close your eyes to avoid the gaze of the evil spirits watching you. Sound design and darkness carry most of the dread, and some scenes deal with bullying at school.

It suits players who like slow, tense exploration of a frightening place, Japanese ghost stories and games about hiding rather than fighting. For the first time in the series you can change the girl's hairstyle, clothes and accessories.

How to play Yomawari: Lost in the Dark

Explore the town at night with your flashlight to find clues to your lost memories.
Listen to your heartbeat: it speeds up when a ghost is near.
Run, or hide in bushes and other cover, when a spirit spots you.
Hold the button to close your eyes when a spirit's gaze is on you, and open them once it passes.
Pick up and carry the objects the story asks for, and drop them when you need to run.

Screenshots

Yomawari: Lost in the Dark screenshot: the girl seen from above by a small green statue in dark grass, an exclamation mark over her head

Yomawari: Lost in the Dark screenshot: a classroom of faceless students standing around desks, insults scrawled in red on one desk

Yomawari: Lost in the Dark screenshot: the girl on a rooftop over a ruined town at sunset, mountains and sea behind

Tips

Watch how each ghost moves before you try to slip past it.
Do not run everywhere; keep some breath for when a ghost gives chase.
Check every glint in the flashlight beam; collectibles and clues are easy to miss in the dark.