Important notice: I ran the game with no issues on one of the computers that couldn't run the previous episode. In general, fortunately, it seems to have fewer reported issues or, at the very least, they took care to fix them.
From the opening moments, and remembering how the first game started, I'm pretty sure one of the creators suffered a serious trauma related to a dog as a child.
Then it gets even more shocking. And it's just the tutorial.
It's one of the valid reasons this game got an M rating, compared to the T rating of [b]Night Alone[/b].
Not much has truly changed in the couple of years (only one year for Steam users) between episodes. The trouble with aligning with interactable objects is mostly gone, and most encounters with [i]yokai[/i] felt a bit fairer while playing, with fewer chances of being jumped on with no chance to react; more of them also act according to whether the torch is on or off. It's more generous with essential coins for saving and activating fast travel points, as I often found more than I could hold. Objects on the ground, whether consumables or collectibles, are still represented by twinkles but are more visible, and when a collectible is found, there is now a prompt to see it directly rather than having to find it among the others.
The "boss fights", which are rather escape sequences or avoiding attacks while interacting with objects, are still one of the weakest spots, as due to often dubious hitboxes they can easily turn frustrating and force numerous repeats, not helped by how sparse save points can be at times. Some regular encounters can still be unfair, and the coding is not 100% clean: I had to reset a couple of times due to the character getting stuck into objects, and once I had to backtrack a lot because an event hadn't triggered earlier (luckily it was a matter of returning to that location through quick travel). On top of that, the slow movement speed and the frequent backtracking can again leave the impression of padding out a short game.
But if [b]Midnight Shadows[/b] won't last many hours, it's still fairly longer than the predecessor and offers a wider variety of locations, not just urban outdoors and woods; there are several indoor areas where Jizo statues are replaced by phones. Among the exterior areas, I found the concept of exploring a partially dried-up artificial lake most interesting.
The graphics, already pretty to begin with, benefit a lot from this increased variety, even accounting for most [i]yokai[/i] being recycled; of special note are some scenes, like the opening, where movement is mostly limited to left and right, and multiple layers of parallax are used to great effect. The child drawings of maps, inventory, and diary are always delightful.
The sound design scores another win as, once again, it is based entirely on sound effects; the only music you will listen to is in the ending credits.
Even if a few instances of more "explicit" horror are present, the atmosphere still counts mostly on tension, melancholy, and a strong sense of solitude. Just be aware that this is a [i]really[/i] sad game, much more than the predecessor; not very recommended when feeling down.
Once again, not a title I'd go as far as calling a "masterpiece", but certainly better than the original and expanding on its potential; most deserving of cult classic status.
Among a sea of horror games, [b]Yomawari[/b] keeps standing out as a fresh take.
