You emerge from hiding after hearing some gruesome slurping sounds, only to find Sis’s flashlight abandoned. At home, the protagonist is too traumatized and ashamed to tell her sister (“Sis”) what really happened, and Sis leaves in search of Poro, after instructing our protagonist to hide and close her eyes tight for her protection. Your dog, Poro, leaps after it and is immediately swatted by an unseen oncoming truck, the first of many jump-scares and harrowing incidents to befall our heroine. Deciding to turn back from a road tunnel too dark to venture into, the game suggests by way of tutorial to pick up and toss a rock. Night Alone is split into a number of chapters as evening draws into the small hours. The most persistent and fierce tend to be aggrieved in some way, and the narrative involves bringing rest to their troubled souls. Some spirits (like the child spirit) will move to attack the player in darkness, freezing when they are spotted, and some are impassive and can be cautiously tip-toed around. Many foes can only be seen with the flashlight, and others immediately attack the player from a distance if one is careless enough to tread into their line of sight. The player must rely on quick wits and sprinting for the nearest hiding spot to evade enemies. The protagonist is, like in other survival horror games Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Outlast, completely defenseless.
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The town is full of malicious spirits that will often pursue the player, resulting in instant death (the screen turns to black with red blood splatter, and a fleshy tearing and chewing sound is heard). Street lights flicker ominously and Richard Houck-style vending machines hum and glow in alleyways. The principle gameplay is the player, as the little girl protagonist (never named), searching a suburb for her lost dog and sister. Yomawari is an isometric game without any 3D assets, and conveys its tone primarily through its sumptuous artwork, lighting, and sound design. This essay will review the core gameplay of Night Alone, explore the folkloric dimensions of the story, and suggest how Yomawari highlights Western cultural deficiencies through its successful storytelling and distinction from white cultural norms. It is the product of a culture that is modern in its embrace of technology, consumerism, and commerce, yet thoroughly self-conscious of its imaginative religious history and its metaphysical principles.
As the romanized-but-not-translated title might suggest, Yomawari: Night Alone is steeped in Japanese folklore. Despite this, Night Alone cuts across age demographics and is suitable from the PEGI 12 rating all the way through to adult gamers, otakus, and foreign culture buffs.
It is genuinely scary (at times) and features infrequent cartoon gore.
The player character is a little girl with a red bow drawn in simple anime style a sort of Minnie Mouse from a more mature world. It has enjoyed commercial success across multiple platforms (PC, Nintendo Switch, and PS Vita) and spawned a sequel, Midnight Shadows. Yomawari: Night Alone is a survival horror videogame from Nippon Ichi Software, released in fall 2015 in Japan before being rapidly localized into English in 2016.