The game often throws multiple types of enemies into an area, forcing you to sometimes think on your feet if you accidentally trigger something you shouldn’t have. The aforementioned ghost children only pursue you when you have your back to them, so you have to turn and face them with your light on until you can walk backward and force them off screen. There are headless enemies that can’t see you so they only know where you are when you start running. Most ghost types have unique patterns, though. The girl can’t fight back and instead has to find ways to avoid her spectral pursuers. Ghost are more like obstacles than enemies. Many of the early chapters have the girl unintentionally stumbling into the misfortunes of another spirit or demon, which she helps to solve. You can learn a lot from the little girl’s insights into the things she picks up.įor most of the game, there’s not really an antagonistic force. Just about everything in Yomawari has a story if you’re willing to dig enough for it. Paying attention to newspaper clippings you find and some of the bulletin boards in town sheds some light on what exactly is happening without the game outright telling you. The little girl gets abducted and taken to a factory by a monster at one point in the game the main enemy here is the creature that kidnapped her, but there’s also a lot of small children ghosts placed in the area. In order for the player to dig out details, they need to uncover and explore every inch of the town, and everything down to enemy placement ties into this. This is normal to her, and that’s how it’s presented. She doesn’t seem to be concerned with the all the ghosts and monsters around her, in this town, it seems to be understood that weird things happen after the sun sets. You’re meant to sympathize with the little girl and her plight, and Yomawari does this by showing you everything through her eyes. The game doesn’t spoon-feed you background information, and that’s kind of a good thing. Getting pulled into the mystery and events in Yomawari is very easy. You can also learn a lot about the little girl, as every item she collects gives you a bit more insight into who she is. You don’t have to do these side-quests, but often times they help unearth tiny tidbits of lore about the town and its inhabitants. For example, one puzzle involves you unlocking a chicken coop, and then later that night all the chickens get out. Things you do in previous chapters will open up new side-quests and events in the subsequent ones. This acts as a guide to advance the game’s plot, but there’s plenty to do outside of each chapter other than search for her missing family.
The game is divided into chapters, and at the start of each one, the girl will bluntly state what area she needs to look in. There’s a lot of exploration in the game, mixed with elements of stealth and puzzle solving.
Yomawari is most easily described a horror-adventure title. The little girl begins to worry and so starts her adventure through the strange and haunted town of Yomawari. The girl’s older sister says that she’ll go find Poro, and what was supposed to take a few minutes ends up being hours without Poro or her sister returning.
Upon returning home with an empty leash, the little girl explains to her older sister what happened. The game ties this moment into the tutorial almost seamlessly and is a good way to make you feel responsible for what happens. Along the way, they play a game of fetch which results in Poro getting off his leash and the girl losing her friend. The game opens with you playing as a little girl walking her dog, Poro, home. Yomawari takes a minimalist approach to its story. There’s always hidden gems out there, though, and it’s with confidence that I can say Yomawari: Night Alone is one of the better horror games released this year. Even this has its limit, and the oversaturation of Five Nights, Amnesia, and P.T. Horror games have returned to the simplistic after the action-horror boom inspired by Resident Evil 4, relying on stalker-like scenarios mixed with jump scares to keep things feeling fresh. Trends kill things very quickly in horror, as you can only do the same thing so many times before it gets stale. They’re in one of the few genres where design elements can evolve, devolve, or completely change all within the span of a few years.
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