Celebrating All Things Spooky: The Lost Night

We cover all sorts of games during October that vaguely fall under the umbrella of “spooky,” but some games are perfectly suited for Halloween.

The Lost Night is an example, a short RPG that made me think I should have saved it for Halloween itself.

The basic idea is that you’re trying to find your way out of a spooky, Halloween-themed town filled with ghosts.

When a ghost attacks you, you fight in shoot ’em up style combat, dodging their projectiles while you shoot down miniature copies of the ghost to deal damage. Each type of ghost has its own movement pattern, which you’ll want to learn.

Combat rewards you with candy, which you can spend at vending machines scattered across the map to heal yourself and buy permanent stat upgrades. The ghosts get stronger as the game progresses, so those upgrades are definitely worthwhile.

Many obstacles block your path, and you’ll need to complete small tasks to proceed. For example, one NPC has lost a book, and will stand in your way until you find the book and it return it. In this way, it has you running back and forth across the map to unlock new areas.

Unfortunately, it starts to feel tedious after a while. Between the maze-like design of the town and the increasing difficulty of battles, I was tired by the time I reached the end even though it only takes a couple of hours to beat.

The Lost Night is cute, and I love its ideas. It also has a wonderful Halloween atmosphere that’s perfect for this time of year. It’s just a little too tedious for me to give it a wholehearted recommendation.