{"id":22031,"date":"2018-05-29T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/white_night"},"modified":"2018-05-29T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-05-29T18:00:00","slug":"review-white-night-switch-eshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2018\/05\/29\/review-white-night-switch-eshop\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: White Night (Switch eShop)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/white_night\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/white_night\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id=\"\">\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"White Night Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/89827\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/89827\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"White Night Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\"\/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>The year is 1938; the economic tsunami that is the Great Depression is sweeping over America and late one night a man finds himself driving home from a local bar, located on the outskirts of Boston in an inebriated state. As he crosses over a bridge at a steady pace in his automobile, a ghostly silhouette of a girl walks out, leaving the man with no option but to veer off into a ditch in order to avoid colliding with her. When finally regaining consciousness, the man realises he is outside an eerie mansion in severe pain and in desperate need of help. This is the opening act of <strong><a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/white_night\">White Night<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>If this premise sounds clich\u00e9 for an adventure puzzle game featuring elements of survival horror, that\u2019s because it is. Between the story and gameplay, White Night is rather formulaic. The obvious difference here, when compared to other titles under the same banner, is the bold visual direction. The black and white film noir aesthetics are what the game is built around. From the beginning, this art style does a good job representing the era the story is set in, even if it doesn&#8217;t necessarily reinvent the graphical wheel.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"White Night Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/89823\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/89823\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"White Night Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\"\/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Starting outside the lonely mansion, you\u2019re taught how to inspect your surroundings, including how to interact with individual objects and also access the local newspaper \u2013 which is basically used in this context as a hint section recapping anything noteworthy. There\u2019s also some world building with the paper making reference to relevant topics of the time. Shortly after learning the basics, you\u2019re sent on your first key recovery quest, which requires you to push aside a statue in a graveyard so you can open the front doors of the creepy house your character is so desperate to gain entry to.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s from here the drama escalates. Upon entry, you learn how to light the limited amount of matches at your disposal to prevent the darkness from smothering the protagonist altogether, all while searching the surroundings for any useful objects or clues about your location and the whereabouts of the residents. Eventually, you find switches and other sources of light including fireplaces, but not all rooms are like this\u00a0\u2013 meaning you&#8217;ll need a sufficient amount of matches on you at all times. If you don\u2019t have light, it\u2019s game over. This mechanic adds an extra dimension to the gameplay, but it\u2019s not necessarily one that hasn\u2019t been done before.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"White Night Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/89826\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/89826\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"White Night Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\"\/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>As you progress, you\u2019ll encounter objects that must be interacted with at a closer proximity under match light. There are also symbols to take note of, along with letters and notes written by family members of the house as well as paintings on display that link to bigger mysteries. Encountering apparitions becomes more common over time, with these supernatural spirits posing a threat to your existence. If you need a moment to catch your breath, there are rest areas in the mansion acting as save points. It\u2019s very much rinse and repeat, with the main requirements to piece together information with the items, objects and clues you uncover \u2013 enabling you to move the story along. Again, even with the odd twist and scare, it\u2019s nothing new, but what is there in terms of puzzling is at least skilfully strung together when you aren\u2019t fumbling about in the dark because of the art style.<\/p>\n<p>The atmosphere is arguably another standout trait alongside the visuals. From the minute you enter the house, there are plenty of noises like ringing bells to hooting owls and the sound of thunder outside. The constant bumps in the dark certainly make you feel like you are within the presence of supernatural forces. The stylish jazz from time to time is easy to associate with the era the game takes place in. Unfortunately, what removes you from the experience a lot of the time is the dialogue. The character will often spout silly lines about how he just had to enter a particular dark or dangerous location. On the plus side, there\u2019s voice acting and enough constructive tips to make you forgive him for his other comments.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"White Night Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/89822\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/89822\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"White Night Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\"\/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>The film noir aesthetics might be reminiscent of the Wii exclusive <strong><a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/wii\/madworld\">MadWorld<\/a><\/strong> (minus the blood), however, the fixed camera angles and sluggish character movement more closely resembles a classic <strong>Resident Evil<\/strong> title. The fixed camera shots have a tendency to create problems when you\u2019re moving the character about, and can also completely disorientate you when you move from one area (or room) to another. The way these angles are aimed, doesn\u2019t always make solving certain puzzles the easiest \u2013 with thorough checks of each area required because of this design choice and the black and white visuals. A dynamic camera would have been the more functional option. Loading sequences are also quite lengthy at times. Fortunately, there are few of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>White Night does serve up some scares and a few twists along the way, however, there\u2019s nothing particularly different about what this title has to offer over only a handful of hours, even with consideration of the black and white film noir aesthetics including the special mechanics built around it. Despite its eagerness to run with clich\u00e9s, it at least sticks with its style through to the end and does everything competently enough to make it a satisfactory experience for anyone looking for a colourless curio.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The year is 1938; the economic tsunami that is the Great Depression is sweeping over America and late one night a man finds himself driving home from a local bar, located on the outskirts of Boston in an inebriated state. As he crosses over a bridge at a steady pace in his automobile, a ghostly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22031\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}