NightCry (PC) Review

NightCry is not for the faint of heart. Gruesome violence and otherwise bloody displays are commonplace throughout the journey. The scissorwalker will appear mostly during scripted events, unlike NightCry's inspiration, Clocktower, where the pursuant scissor-wielding nemesis constantly appears at almost any given time. However, the scissorwalker is rather fast, and can easily catch up to the protagonists. Should it do so, prepare for a quick time event involving very rapid clicks, or dragging the mouse on the designated prompts. If failure is the result, it's game over.

Sprinting and running all uses stamina, which counts as health, as well. The only solution to warding off the scissorwalker is to find an effective hiding space, or use certain environments to an advantage. A very simple premise for survival, but this certainly doesn't come without its mechanical flaws. Traveling is done purely through point and click, but the issue is that in many cases, the click registration conflicts with the location and refuses to respond correctly, causing the protagonist to stall and "wobble" oddly in the same position. Not only is this poor optimisation, but it is extremely intrusive to the gameplay, since time is being wasted, and time is valuable when being pursued by a demon who shows no remorse.

When not being pursued, the heroes will explore unsettling environments aboard the ship, but also an island as well, where a lot can be learned about the situation on board. While there really aren't any actual puzzles to solve, most of the progression is done by observing objects and calling contacts on a smartphone. One particular feature is how some decisions will result in an early ending to the game's plot, but one that will leave a lot to be desired for the heroes. Luckily, in the timeline select feature, hints will be displayed that can stimulate the mind on what could've allowed the story to continue.

The biggest and most obvious issue is without a doubt NightCry's geographical and animation presentation. All characters have outrageously wonky move cycles, and at times, lack proper in-betweens frames for certain animations; for example, when stamina runs out, a character will instantly and abruptly be on all fours, with no collapse. Doors don't connect to the protagonist's hands, and objects such as flower vases, plants, and furniture are repeated way too often - even character models. One particular character gets killed off very early in the game, but shortly into the story, the same character model, although a completely different character, is oddly seen again.