The main story beats are handed out as expected, but the bulk of the lore and the background reside in item descriptions and the girl’s journal observations (charmingly, all collected items are described via the protagonist’s handwritten notebook, completed in a child’s hasty scrawl). Each night sees you searching a specific area of the town for clues each major new discovery or event moves the story onto the next night and a new area. Torch in hand, you head out to find them. You take on the role of a young girl your sister and dog, Poro, are missing somewhere around the mysterious town. Yomawari: Night Alone taps into that feeling like no other game I’ve played. Everything’s the same, and yet everything has changed.

However, it soon becomes clear that Yomawari is exploiting that feeling we have all had: of being a child, and being out in our hometown in the dead of night for the very first time. On the face of it, setting an isometric survival horror adventure in a small Japanese town, resplendent in a beautiful chibi art style, seems like an offbeat choice. The Disgaea games may be their golden goose (a series with which this games shares a strong visual aesthetic), but Yomawari is their crown-jewel. Vita owners already owe developer NIS an awful lot: they bring myriad niche Japanese titles to the west, and Yomarawari: Night Alone simply cements their status as one of the best developers and supporters of the system. Yomawari: Midnight Shadows will debut in the Fall of 2017 for PS Vita and, unlike Night Alone, PlayStation 4. Reviewer’s note: while writing this review, developer NIS announced a sequel is planned for Q4, 2017.

Yomawari night alone music