The Midnight Walk finds you in a gloomy world where fire is your friend (mostly) but a living lantern is an even greater buddy (always).
You are The Burnt One, and you find yourself wandering through a world overtaken by darkness. Given that it’s perpetually night here, fire is an extremely valuable light source (and thankfully there’s some matches lying around to help you with that). Then again, you might not really want to see the things that are skulking around this world more clearly. There are some really creepy claymation monstrosities that are out to get you as you explore the game’s five different stories, and they are more than happy to give you an eyeful of their every unsettling detail as they devour you whole.

Now, I am especially susceptible to claymation creatures. A youth spent stumbling across claymation horrors like Large Marge in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure has given me a tremendous weak spot, and this game hits that hard with its creative array of monsters and just how fast they can start to chase you down (thank goodness for frequent hiding places). However, this game also tries to redeem the creepy claymation creature for me with Potboy, our scary, yet endearing and cute companion for most of the journey. Something about his uneasiness to go on this adventure and the slow trust you build with him over the course of the game left me caring a great deal about his safety. Valuing him as a friend in a frightening place that I’m glad I didn’t have to walk alone.
The Midnight Walk is frightening in its encounters with its many creative monsters, but it also highlights how important it is to have someone to face your fears with together, even if you were initially scared of that buddy to begin with.
The Midnight Walk is available now on the PlayStation Store and Steam.