I don’t know how I end up playing horror games for the site, but here we are again, this time with OSome Studio’s White Night. Then again, I’ll play almost anything with an intriguing art style and I’m a huge fan of noir, so the minute I caught a glimpse of this minimalist black-and-white noir adventure, I was hooked. I bought it on the spot, without reading any coverage, and I’m glad. White Night, despite some flaws, is a lush and engaging ride, and I’m eager to finish telling you about my early impressions and get back to figuring out just what’s going on in that mysterious mansion. And just a note: some minor spoilers here, but nothing anyone wouldn’t discover in the first hour or so.
I streamed the first hour of gameplay last night, as I’ll be doing whenever I can with PHR from now on… except once the hour was up, no one wanted to stop. Sam and Sarah were with me in the chat, along with some viewers (hi!), and we were all engrossed in unraveling Selena’s story. White Night opens with a credit sequence that is lovely, if a bit long, that ends with an accident after the protagonist hits a woman — or thinks he does, because once he’s able to drag himself out of the car, there’s no evidence beyond the damage from hitting a tree. Not only is this the inciting incident that pushes him into the haunted mansion, the accident itself might factor into the larger story, as during play I discovered references to possible accidents or incidents while driving. Is the protagonist involved in a larger way? Are passerby maybe being drawn in? There are a lot of clues here that could fit together in a variety of ways — this is a game that gets your mind churning with possibilities.
The writing itself, however, is a little uneven. The artifacts found around the house, the journals and books and more, are fascinating, and seem much more revealing than in my last PHR for Resident Evil: Revelations 2, for instance, and while the writers do a fine job of developing voices for the various characters we encounter through these artifacts, there are… well, we’ll say there are some moments that are stronger than others. The protagonist’s internal monologue, though, is less hardboiled and more scrambled with cheese, if you will. Too bad the chat isn’t preserved in the stream playback, because we had a lot of funny moments exploring the dialogue. But the story so far seems to have some depth — this isn’t just a ghost story or a story of love gone wrong. There are hints of racial tension, power, corruption, politics, and the occult — an ambitious brew. I hope it all comes together in a satisfying way, because there’s a lot of potential for depth here.
In terms of mechanics, as the player, you’re navigating a dark house and using matches to light your way as you light fires and find light switches, and the matches cast an eerie glow on the far shadows. a splash of yellow in a void. Some of the game’s best visual work is in the details on the fringes, the things you’re not looking right at as you investigate, and this is one that will probably be best served by multiple playthroughs, if only to appreciate the stylistic elements. Screenshots absolutely do not do this title full justice; the lighting effects and little details are worth the cost alone. One of the more interesting (but also hilarious) gimmicks here is the tutorial tips, which pop up as the protagonists’ inner thoughts. “Oh, I feel better now; maybe I can run using the X button.” This technique both fits and doesn’t fit, and is certainly memorable.
The only real downfall to the game I discovered so far is the control scheme. This is a beef I frequently have with games — I crave a smooth experience — and here the view is limited, so you can’t rotate the camera to look around. I know this is part of the creation of atmosphere, but at the same time, if I was in a haunted mansion? Pretty sure I’d be looking around at all times, in all the directions. I would invent new directions. But that’s minor. The only major issue I had is that when the game transitions the player from one section of a room to the next, and the view changes, so does the direction. I ended up moving in circles several times in those moments, and that can be frustrating, especially if, say, you’re trying to escape a pissed-off ghost (or replaying a bit after the pissed-off ghost smacked you down).
The save system, though, is a thing of beauty. I will probably be the only person to say this, since the rest of the world seems to hate this kind of save system, but when the game directed me to rest in a marked chair (there are a few around) to rest as a save mechanism, I cheered. Taking a breather (like popping into the bathroom in Dead Rising) is a great way to stop and assess, and even though it ups the difficulty, I much prefer something like that to a save-anywhere mechanic, personally. Then again, though, can you really rest in a haunted mansion?
All in all, I recommend the title, and have posted the entire stream on our YouTube channel, but if you don’t want to sit through all that, there are some highlights. I expect I’ll be writing more about this game once I finish, since I’m very interested in the early presentation of racial tension and power dynamics, and I think this one will be a critical goldmine.
Highlight reel comes with a warning: There’s some, uh, colorful commentary, some of which is in response to the chatlog, and some just comes from me being, well, me and riffing on game elements and the fact that I got face-pounded a few times. UPDATE: Also, turns out I’m not quite used to editing highlights yet on Twitch, so they cut off a little abruptly at times. I’m learning, y’all. Gimme some time. For the full effect, go to the YouTube channel linked above and watch a whole 15-minute session.
The opening sequence of the game:
A little exploration.
A little more exploration, with a side of death.
