The Midnight Walk Review: Gorgeous Clay, Hollow Heart
A real-claymation dark fairy tale built for VR. Ace grew to appreciate it, Ryan fell for Potboy, and John, our resident ex-goth, really wanted to love it.
On paper, The Midnight Walk should have been a slam dunk. It's an indie dark fantasy built from real clay models scanned into the game and animated in stop motion. It's spooky, charming and narrative-driven, with a Nightmare Before Christmas look. John described his favorite genre as "indie charming horror." Ryan's family watches Nightmare Before Christmas every Halloween and every Christmas. Ace was hyped.
Then we played it.
What is it?
You're the Burnt One. You rise from the dead, put in your eyes, then attach your ears, and set off with Potboy, a tiny walking pot carrying the last flame in a world where the sun and moon have gone dark. Your goal is to carry him up Moon Mountain and relight the sky. It plays out over five tales of fire and darkness, mixing walking-sim exploration, light stealth and simple puzzles.
The opening is a highlight, as you literally assemble your senses. And the audio is the star: binaural sound you can pinpoint, plus a mechanic where you close your eyes to hear hidden things.
What we loved
I did not expect to like Potboy as much as I did. He is the most amazing, cutest, coolest little dude ever.
Ryan went looking for Potboy merch online. (Searching for "Potboy figurine" turned up some questionable results.) The music, especially the three-pulse cue when Potboy lights a fire to end a chapter, grew on all of us. And the clay character designs, like the eerie Griners, are excellent.
Where it lost us
It never felt like it had a heart. It felt like somebody painting by numbers going, "How do we make a creepy game?"
John, a lifelong Tim Burton and Coraline fan, felt like the game ticked boxes instead of coming from a genuine weird vision. Even the claymation, impressive as it is, felt unnecessary to him once it was scanned in. Other games have achieved a similar look for far less effort.
- The world feels empty. Ryan loved the characters but never connected with the foggy, barren world. (It's the end of the world, so that's partly the point.)
- The puzzles are very simple. Light the candles, fire the match cannon, and on to the next. Even the close-your-eyes listening mechanic was barely needed. John found the coffin bones faster by just opening coffins.
- It's spooky, not horror. Hiding in a cabinet from an enemy with sewn-shut eyes doesn't scare anyone. Ryan's term for it: "spooky light."
- The ending feels rushed. The last two chapters fly by, as if the budget or the ideas ran out.
Is it a VR game?
It sure feels like one. The near-sighted fog, the scale, the way it plays. None of us played in VR, and all three of us wonder whether VR would turn "meh" into something special, like the difference between watching a roller coaster video and riding one.
The price
It's about five hours for $40. When we each picked what we'd pay, John said $19.99, and Ace and Ryan both said $24.99.
Save your money, man. Wait for a sale.
The VGP take
The Midnight Walk isn't a bad game. Ace grew to appreciate its themes after sitting with the endings for a while (there are two, and we won't spoil them), though he doesn't plan to replay it. Ryan loved its characters. John never found the heart he wanted.
If you're craving dark, charming adventures, start with Little Nightmares, Inside and Limbo, or try Ace's pick, My Friendly Neighborhood ("Resident Evil, but with Muppets"). If you have a VR headset, The Midnight Walk might be worth a look on sale. Either way, Potboy deserves better.