Yomawari: Midnight Shadows

Yomawari: Midnight Shadows[a] is a survival horror video game developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and Microsoft Windows via Steam. The game is a sequel to Yomawari: Night Alone, which originally released in 2015 in Japan. It was released in Japan on August 24, 2017 and in western territories in fall 2017.[1][2] It was released in Asia with Traditional Chinese subtitles under Sega.[3]

Yomawari: Midnight Shadows
Developer(s)Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher(s)
  • JP: Nippon Ichi Software
  • WW: NIS America
Platform(s)PlayStation 4
PlayStation Vita
Microsoft Windows
Nintendo Switch
Android
iOS
ReleasePlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
  • JP: August 24, 2017
  • NA: October 24, 2017
  • EU: October 27, 2017
  • AU: November 3, 2017
Windows
October 24, 2017
The Long Night Collection
  • JP: October 25, 2018
  • EU: October 26, 2018
  • NA: October 30, 2018
Android, iOS
  • JP: August 29, 2019
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

The game was released in October 2018 for the Nintendo Switch, alongside its predecessor, as part of Yomawari: The Long Night Collection.[b][4][5] The game was later ported for Android and iOS in Japan on August 29, 2019.

Plot

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After going to a late summer fireworks festival together in the mountains, the girls Yui and Haru got lost on the way back home. When they let go of each other's hands, they got separated. Mustering up their courage, the two girls explore an ominous night town which is completely different during daytime and where someone is lurking in the shadows. As the story advances, the player will switch between the perspectives of Yui and Haru. The actions, decisions and information you get from playing as one will impact the story of the other.

Gameplay

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Players explore a town at night in order to bring the two girls back together and find the way home. The only source of light is a flashlight. While exploring, the player finds items and strange 'spirits', who are lurking in various places such as shades of mountains, street corners, and below a street light, and sometimes attack the player. When a spirit is around, the girl's heartbeat will increase. Since the girls cannot fight, the player has to find ways to overcome the spirits, for example by running away, hiding, or using an item. Since each spirit has its own characteristics, the best method to use differs per spirit. Players can push large objects, such as wooden boxes, in order to create stepping stones, which enables the player to get past blockades. As the story progresses, the player finds charm-like items, called 'Omamori', which have an influence on the stats of the girls, such as making stamina harder to reduce, or increasing the girls' run speed.[6][7][8]

Reception

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The PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[9][10] In Japan, Famitsu gave them each a score of one eight, one seven, and two eights for a total of 31 out of 40.[12]

Sequel

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Yomawari: Lost in the Dark was developed and published by Nippon Ichi and released on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on April 21, 2022 in Japan.[16] It was released on October 25, 2022 in North America and on October 28, 2022 in Europe for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 alongside a port for Microsoft Windows.[17]

Notes

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  1. ^ Known in Japan as Shin Yomawari (Japanese: 深夜廻)
  2. ^ Known as Yomawari: Night Alone & Yomawari: Midnight Shadows for Nintendo Switch (夜廻と深夜廻 for Nintendo Switch, Yomawari to Shin Yomawari for Nintendo Switch) in Japan.

References

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  1. ^ Romano, Sal (April 27, 2017). "Yomawari: Midnight Shadows coming west for PS4, PS Vita, and PC this fall". Gematsu. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  2. ^ Romano, Sal (July 4, 2017). "Yomawari: Midnight Shadows launches October 24 in North America, October 27 in Europe". Gematsu. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  3. ^ "《深夜迴》繁中版今日發售《箱庭公司創造記》繁中版上市日期決定". 巴哈姆特電玩資訊站 (in Chinese). August 24, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  4. ^ Romano, Sal (May 30, 2018). "Yomawari: The Long Night Collection announced for Switch". Gematsu. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  5. ^ "『夜廻と深夜廻 for Nintendo Switch』"夜"を探索するホラーゲームが2本セットになって10月25日発売決定!【先出し週刊ファミ通】". Famitsu (in Japanese). July 3, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  6. ^ Romano, Sal (May 1, 2017). "Yomawari: Midnight Shadows first details, screenshots". Gematsu. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  7. ^ Romano, Sal (May 18, 2017). "Yomawari: Midnight Shadows details exploration actions, more". Gematsu. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  8. ^ Nelva, Giuseppe (May 18, 2017). "Yomawari: Midnight Shadows for PS4, PS Vita, and PC Gets New and Dark Screenshots". DualShockers. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Yomawari: Midnight Shadows for PlayStation Vita Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Yomawari: Midnight Shadows for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  11. ^ Hatmaker, Alyssa (October 27, 2017). "Review: Yomawari: Midnight Shadows (PS4)". Destructoid. Gamurs. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  12. ^ a b Romano, Sal (August 8, 2017). "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1497". Gematsu. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  13. ^ Cunningham, James (October 25, 2017). "Review: Yomawari: Midnight Shadows (PS4)". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  14. ^ Rodríguez, Aarón (November 30, 2017). "Análisis de 'Yomawari: Midnight Shadows' (PS4)". MeriStation (in Spanish). Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  15. ^ "Yomawari: Midnight Shadows review – spirit of survival horror (PS4)". Metro. DMG Media. November 1, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  16. ^ Hashimoto, Kazuma (December 23, 2021). "Yomawari 3 Gameplay Details and Screenshots Revealed". Siliconera. Gamurs.
  17. ^ Mateo, Alex (May 25, 2022). "Yomawari: Lost in the Dark Game Heads West for Switch, PS4, PC". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
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