5/5 ★ – Lammy's review of The Midnight Walk.

The Midnight Walk Post-Plat Review: Before I say anything else, this game is gorgeous and you should play it simply because of how pretty it is. Anyway, The Midnight Walk is an independently produced walking sim adventure game with some spooky but not quite horror elements by Swedish developer MoonHood. Playing as a being known as the Burnt One, you embark on a first person trip to accompany a strange fire-carrying Potboy along the Midnight Walk up to Moon Mountain with the goal of reigniting the long vanished sun. Along the way, you meet a menagerie of creatures and characters, many of which need a fire of their own relit. As narratives go, the setup here is simple yet effective; much of the game's overall story is told visually through your journey through the world. As I mentioned, the game is visually stunning, with a claymation-esque artstyle that is easily the best game I've seen all year, hands down. This aesthetic wonder is complimented by a remarkable soundtrack, mostly consisting of somber piano and violin tracks that perfectly accent the game's dark yet hopeful mood. Gameplay is very barebones here; it's a walking sim after all, so other than a few light puzzles and the occasional monster to avoid there's not much going on. I don't think that's much of an issue, though, since the point of the game is to experience the journey and the atmosphere created along the way, and over-complex mechanics would just distract from this journey. Ultimately, The Midnight Walk is a brief, arresting view into games as a medium for artistic expression. It's meant to make you marvel at its world, it's soundtrack, and its themes in an interactive way without bogging you down in too many complicated systems to blur the message. In this, it succeeds handily, and I truly think that it's a game that most people should play, or at least experience. This one gets a 10/10 from me.