Yomawari: Midnight Shadows

About Yomawari: Midnight Shadows

Yomawari: Midnight Shadows is a top-down horror adventure by Nippon Ichi Software, published in the West by NIS America on October 24, 2017 for PC and PS4 (it also came out on PS Vita). It reached Switch in October 2018 as part of Yomawari: The Long Night Collection, together with Yomawari: Night Alone. It follows Night Alone, with a new pair of girls, Yui and Haru, in a new night.

As summer vacation ends, the two friends climb to a mountain clearing to watch the fireworks. On the way home in the dark something attacks them, and they are separated. The game then follows each girl through her side of the town as she searches for the other.

You explore streets, woods, shrines and buildings in the light of a small flashlight. The girls are drawn small and cute, and the spirits stand out against them: a pale shape the size of a house next to a streetlight, a blood stain in an empty corridor. You cannot fight. When a spirit is near, the girl's heartbeat quickens and her stamina bar pulses red; then you run, hide behind bushes and signs, or throw an item to distract it, and each spirit calls for its own answer. You also push crates to climb past blockades, and find omamori charms that make stamina last longer or let the girls run faster. Notes and strange writings left around the town hint at what is going on.

The fear is that of a child alone outside at night: the dark past the edge of the flashlight and the thing you only see when it is already near, with the odd jump scare. Not every creature is a threat, and learning which ones are is part of the night. Nintendo Life found it about twice the length of Night Alone, around six hours, and felt the longer run shows the limits of its loop of sneaking and fleeing. Metacritic's critics rated the PS4 version 77, and Steam players are Very Positive. It suits players who liked Night Alone, or who want a slower, quieter horror game about sneaking and exploring rather than combat.

How to play Yomawari: Midnight Shadows

1. Walk the girl through the dark town and light the way ahead with her flashlight.
2. Listen for her heartbeat: when it quickens and the stamina bar pulses red, a spirit is near.
3. Duck behind bushes or signs, or run, when a spirit comes close; each one behaves differently.
4. Pick up items in the woods and streets, throw them to distract spirits, and push crates to climb past blockades.
5. Collect omamori charms to make stamina last longer or run faster, and read the notes you find to learn what happened in the town.

Tips

• Treat the heartbeat as your warning: stop and look for cover as soon as it picks up.
• Watch a spirit for a moment from cover before you move; each has its own habits, and what gets you past one will not work on the next.
• Running drains stamina fast, so keep some in reserve for when you truly need to flee.
• Not everything that moves in the dark is out to get you; watch before you run from it.
• Pick up omamori charms when you see them; the stamina and speed they give make later chases easier.

Questions