The Midnight Walk Review — Show Me The Light

The first thing you notice upon launching The Midnight Walk is the striking and charismatic art style. It is a delight to the eyes. Developer MoonHood crafts this grim yet charming world of darkness using clay and stop-motion animation, all while balancing gameplay mechanics to suit both flatscreen play and VR play. This ambition drives The Midnight Walk to deliver an experience that will satisfy gamers of the light horror genre akin to Tim Burton’s adventures.

NOTE: This review is based on the PS5 version of the game (not VR version).

Taking on the role of The Burnt One, players team up with an adorable and naive companion, Potboy, lighting up a world plagued by darkness. The Midnight Walk is broken up into five chapters, each telling different tales and tackling varying themes surrounding an admirable cast of peculiar characters. 

The Midnight Walk is around 3-5 hours long, so I won’t be diving into the story elements of this game too much. I will say that not all of the stories captivated me the way they needed to, but I enjoyed more than I didn’t. The worldbuilding is extravagant, with many hidden collectibles to amplify what you already know about the world on the golden path. The ending was great, too.

The characters in this world are largely affected by the darkness that consumes it, and look to borrow inspiration from the aesthetics found in The Nightmare Before Christmas (but even more decrepit). It was a joy to progress to the next chapter to see what kind of odd characters Potboy and I would run into next.

The game is linear in the way that you almost never backtrack, and you are always moving forward in the narrative. Your base of operations is called Housy, a walking house that follows along the way. When you enter Housy, you can view the collectibles you’ve found, which consist of statues/dolls, music discs, and Shellphones, which have audio memos from the wacky characters that live in this world in despair. The world is dark and at times scary, so moments of reprieve are always welcomed, whether that be visiting Housy or resting at a campfire with a recurring character. 

Let’s talk about Potboy. I found myself connected to Potboy almost instantaneously. He literally is the shining light in this very dark world, and his personality and how he interacts with the environment is so endearing. Potboy navigates the world with you every step of the way and assists you during the puzzles and interactions with the friends and foes you meet along the way.

I think what I wanted more from The Midnight Walk was a bit more variation in the puzzles and gameplay mechanics. I understand and respect the direction to create an experience that can be played in flatscreen and VR, but I do feel that decision may have provided some limitations in terms of the variety of the overall gameplay. 

Most puzzles are built around matches, Potboy’s fire or closing your eyes to find hidden objects, which were really fun but felt a bit monotonous towards the end of the game. One gameplay mechanic I was fond of was the glowing eyes found throughout the environments. If you close your eyes in front of a glowing eye, it will alter the world around you. 

The Midnight Walk’s soundtrack needs to be played on my record player immediately. The instruments feel so raw and crisp, from the cello to the saxophone, composer Joel Bille has leaned into the aesthetic and themes of the world to create a cohesive soundtrack that feels authentic to the world of darkness that surrounds you. The audio design is fantastic, too. Some puzzles require you to hear where objects are, and that is made easy with the attention to detail here.

MoonHood had a clear vision with The Midnight Walk, and it shows. The game itself doesn’t break any boundaries in terms of game mechanics, but the world-building and art direction have my standing ovation. I genuinely enjoyed my time with The Midnight Walk and will be there day one for MoonHood’s next venture.