In the entertainment industry, authenticity is a rare feat these days. When differentiating yourself from the crowd, many take the easy route of walking the road with the most successful results. Luckily, one new indie game that has stood out since its reveal this past year aims to drive home the immersive experience in a more hands-on approach – MoonHood’s The Midnight Walk. Boasting its claymation and stop-motion design up front, this cozy horror title molds a sculpted path with twists and turns.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The Midnight Walk is a dark fantasy adventure title handcrafted by the folks at MoonHood, a small independent studio in Sweden. This story is told through the watchful lens of The Burnt One, who befriends a lost lantern named Potboy, whose flame is the only way of bringing back the light in a world basked in darkness. While this is its first project behind this banner, the co-creators worked on the 2021 gothic fairy-tale action game Lost in Random and the 2018 puzzle platformer Fe. These past projects dive into the darker aspects of fantasy storytelling, specifically Hans Christian Andersen, whose spirit rings true within the poignant poetic dialogue of The Midnight Walk.
When it comes to being authentic, MoonHood has delivered quite the spectacular result, as all of the over 700 assets in the game were hand-crafted using natural materials like clay, and 3D-scanning them into the game engine. We’ve seen claymation done before in recent years, with games like South of Midnight and Harold Halibut, but The Midnight Walk fully embraced the pursuit and executed something that seamlessly blends reality and fantasy. There’s something so oddly eerie yet beautiful to watch with stop-motion animation, especially with claymation, which hones in on the whimsical architecture of the environment but sends shivers down your spine when it needs to.
With visuals reminiscent of The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Midnight Walk guides you along the Midnight Walk, a treacherous path filled with mystery, wonder, and horror. Throughout this seven to six-hour game, players must endure the assortment of grotesque monsters whilst learning about the citizens who live along the road. Simplicity is at the heart of its gameplay, with the overall objective of making it to Moon Mountain, you’ll tackle different playstyles, which include shooting a matchbox gun to closing your eyes to stop monsters from devouring you in the most disgusting ways possible. While it can be said that a lot of attention was paid to the scenery and characters, the gameplay feels tethered to the story in a way that almost feels like you aren’t playing a game.
RELATED: Top 10 Indie Games to Watch For in 2025
Immersion is a prominent feature in The Midnight Walk, especially for virtual reality. While the game feels more suited for VR, features like the eye-motion sensitivity and audio design still capture the essence of immersion. The Midnight Walk needs to be played with headphones, as there are times when you must count on your sense of hearing to distinguish where hidden items are along the way. The innovation, particularly with the immersive design, is admirable, but there were certain parts where these features would feel underutilized in the puzzles. That said, it’s guaranteed to be a must-play for survival horror fans on both console and VR systems.
To aid the immersive experience, MoonHood has created some unique characters, especially Potboy. This lovable fireball has the perfect match of identity through design, capturing a character that grows throughout the game. With a central focus on light and darkness in The Midnight Walk, Potboy brings the light quite literally through his spontaneous dances to his frequent enthusiastic waves. For the darkness, the fire-eating monsters are grotesque and enthralling. One of the creepiest creatures within the game is the Grinner, a hideous monster with an infectious smile and piercing eyes.
As you go through the Midnight Walk, stories of power, greed, acceptance, and identity are touched upon with simplicity and charm. Without diving too deep, some Acts are explained better than others, leaving some important information to be derived from shell-like recording devices scattered around the area. The focus shifts near the middle of the game, but starts to steer back into place near the last hour or so. As for the relationship between The Burned One and Potboy, there seemed to be less attention aimed there, which could’ve been a beneficial component to build story depth.
While the narrative could’ve used a bit more fine-tuning, one of the highlights is the soundtrack from this hand-crafted world of darkness. Composer Joel Bille’s score is a character within the story, as its voice is frequently represented in many scenes. Bille captures the wonder and mystery of The Midnight Walk as soon as The Burned One steps foot on the walk, immersing players with their orchestral music sprinkled with a hint of blues from brass and string instruments. The variety presented is admirable, capturing the essence of sincerity, demise, and sadness, with intensity and curiosity.
The music serves to emphasize the emotional story between Potboy, the Burned One, and your moving abode, Housey. The bravado during those intense moments with The Midnight Walk tugs at your heartstrings and sends shivers down your spine, which is a moving experience to have while watching a scene. The expressions and movements of the characters, especially Potboy, speak louder than words, as the art of claymation hones in on these animated features. It’s effective and doesn’t go overboard with expressiveness and the stereotypical nature of caricatures.
The Midnight Walk works its magic through its twisted visuals and captivating designs, crafting an utterly beautiful world filled with mystery. While the narrative and gameplay didn’t necessarily reach the quality seen in the rest of the game, The Midnight Walk molds itself into one incredible display of stop-motion storytelling that lets the clay do the talking. MoodHood brought the best out of claymation and knows how to handcraft something unique and heartfelt in immersive horror games.
Rating: 4 out of 5
A PlayStation 5 copy of The Midnight Walk was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Most Viewed
-
Bob looking angry in Thunderbolts*
