TheNightfall
- January 12, 2018
- VIS-Games
Get on SteamVictoria moves with her family to a new city to start her new job. But the first night in her new house is completely different than expected.
Reviews
- The game has a good atmosphere and sound design that helps build tension.
- Visually appealing with decent graphics, especially on PC.
- Fans of previous ViS games or adventure-style horror games may find enjoyment in the experience.
- The voice acting is poor, detracting from immersion and fear.
- Gameplay often feels tedious, with excessive wandering and a lack of clear direction.
- Many players found the game not scary, with ineffective jump scares and a weak storyline.
- gameplay6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The gameplay is described as goofy and poorly paced, with a focus on aimless exploration that leads to confusion and boredom rather than engaging content. Players feel that the game is overpriced for the limited actual gameplay time, which they estimate could be significantly shorter than advertised. Overall, the experience is seen as frustrating and not worth the investment unless heavily discounted.
“So whether you like those kinds of games will determine how much you like the gameplay.”
“In a forum post, the developer lists the game time as between 6-9 hours; from the notes I've written down in terms of what you actually have to do for the gameplay, unless I've just scratched the surface of this 'content', the game feels like it needs to be about half an hour long; but I spent more than 3 hours in this and it is nowhere near worth the price, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to see it through and then do a content% speedrun to see what the actual gameplay time is as I'm pretty sure most of the game length is confusion/boredom.”
“It's extremely goofy, it's not particularly scary, it's horribly paced and the general gameplay concept of 'wander around the house until something happens' is just... it hurts my brain.”
“In a forum post, the developer lists the game time as between 6-9 hours; from the notes I've written down in terms of what you actually have to do for the gameplay, unless I've just scratched the surface of this 'content', the game feels like it needs to be about half an hour long; but I spent more than 3 hours in this and it is nowhere near worth the price. I'm pretty sure most of the game length is confusion and boredom.”
“Right now though I've collected an 'Atari' cart with 'The Nightfall' as the title (like the game you are actually in because maybe memes, this might be memes) and while it loads a start screen, it just makes the screen get a bad VHS filter overlay and not actual gameplay like the other carts; this could be a really obtuse puzzle that I haven't found yet, but basically good lord stay away from this for this price and this honestly isn't even sale bait unless it's like less than $5 and you don't respect your time.”
- story5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The story in the game is generally considered weak and not a primary focus, with some players finding it disjointed and lacking depth. While there are elements to keep players engaged, the difficulty in locating essential notes for progression can lead to frustration. Overall, the narrative fails to deliver a compelling experience, leaving many reviewers disappointed.
“The story wasn't the focus, but there was enough there to keep you engaged.”
“Nothing truly scary, but the storyline had its moments.”
“The only big negative for this game is that in the last half, the notes you need to pick up to progress the story can be really easy to miss, potentially causing you to wander around the house looking for them, even if you walked right past them earlier.”
“Visually the game is okay, but the storyline is poor.”
“Cannot recommend as not enough effort or logic was given to the story.”
- atmosphere5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, with well-executed sound effects that enhance the eerie environment. Players appreciate the combination of a beautiful setting, creepy elements like dolls and clowns, and a progressively intensifying sense of fear, although some note a lack of major scares. Overall, the game's atmosphere effectively supports its puzzle-solving and exploration elements.
“I loved the atmosphere and the dolls, and I find clowns scary.”
“The house itself is gorgeous, the sound design is pretty decent and the atmosphere is, at times, thick.”
“There hasn't really been a major scare that I have seen yet, but the atmosphere does get scarier throughout the game's progression.”
“But the house itself is gorgeous, the sound design is pretty decent, and the atmosphere is, at times, thick.”
“The sound and sound effects were very well done and really helped build the atmosphere.”
- music4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players expressing strong dislike for the soundtrack, suggesting it would be better without lyrics. However, others found the music fitting and appreciated the nostalgic inclusion of retro gaming elements, which added a unique touch to the overall experience.
“This is done in a nice way, the graphics are good, the soundtrack is quite fitting; you can pick up 'Atari 2600' carts and play them on an in-game console along with a number of 'C64' discs which seem to be just interesting visualizations programmed to accurately load in the time it used to take a C64 to load... this is really an odd couple of inclusions & it's the best part of the game.”
“She drinks all the soda, burns the pizza, listens to symphonic rock, drop-kicks the guitar in the music room, plays with the kids' toys and video games, and just generally runs around the house wreaking havoc until about four hours to dawn when the lights go out and she actually has to do something in the game.”
“And as for the soundtrack - I absolutely hated it, I'm sorry.”
“It would be better if there were only some kind of music without words.”
“The music is chaotic and distracting, making it hard to focus on the gameplay.”
- graphics3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics received mixed reviews, with some players noting significant graphical glitches and a lack of polish, while others appreciated the overall quality and unique visual elements, such as the inclusion of retro gaming references. Despite the issues, the graphics were described as good, contributing to an intriguing horror atmosphere.
“This is done in a nice way, the graphics are good, the soundtrack is quite fitting; you can pick up 'Atari 2600' carts and play them on an in-game console along with a number of 'C64' discs which seem to be just interesting visualizations programmed to accurately load in the time it used to take a C64 to load... this is really an odd couple of inclusions & it's the best part of the game.”
“I am iffy on the price but it has good graphics and a promising horror setting.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has been criticized for significant graphical glitches, delays in event triggers, and an overall impression of insufficient effort from the developers, leading to a frustrating experience for players.
“It was very difficult to find anything really good in between the graphical glitches, long loading times to trigger events, and a general feeling of a lack of effort from the developers.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it nearly impossible to enjoy any part of it.”
“I experienced constant frame drops and stuttering, which ruined the overall experience.”
