Getting some comments about that warning, so allow me to clarify some things! While the game does touch up on certain themes, it doesn't spend very much time with them, or elaborate very much at all. Which is odd, because Midnight Shadows ending has a very intense sequence where you directly follow a character through a lot of alarming motions. That game did not have a warning. The entire point of a warning like this, is so people who want to avoid those topics, can. Midnight Shadow's lack of warning, and this warning having no content details, leads me to believe that it was done as an intimidation method, rather than out of care for the player. But ultimately, I'm also trying to say that I don't think the content of the game shows enough of these things to be that alarming or upsetting. However, I should clarify that I'm using the content of Midnight Shadows as a benchmark for that assumption. So if I'm wrong about this, please don't hesitate to let me know! Thanks!
I think it's a little hard to say. The game doesn't linger on it and yes, the first 2 games covered equally upsetting topics with no warning. The fact it made that first comment about what you see in the game being spooky does seem like its just trying to be scary. On the other hand, the content CAN be upsetting - even as vague as it is - and the warnings are worded really strangely. I'm wondering if the warnings being 'spooky' is a translation issue rather than the creator's intent. I've never seen the original, so this is just a guess.
I agree with you. As someone who has an aunt with actual mental health issue... these kinds of "warning" in mainstream entertainment just rubs me the wrong way. With all due respect, what I've seen is so much more than just this mildly upsetting horror game. If anything, this "warning" could easily be mistaken as the devs/translators being clueless of what a genuine mental health issue looks like.
I think after Midnight Shadows, people were probably emailing them or sending them things about that sequence. I think that intro warning was a result of people messaging about how there wasn't a warning in that game.
here's my take from the perspective of someone who has mental health issues & does appreciate a heads up when certain topics are talked about: i think that even if this wasn't an intimidation method, they've gone about it completely the wrong way. having it immediately after a kinda jokey/spooky warning does kinda downplay it a bit for me. having such a vague warning doesn't help. usually any game with a content warning will just say what type of content may be disturbing/uncomfortable because triggers & mental health issues are so vast and different that just saying 'this may affect people with mental health issues' isn't actually saying anything at all. like, what am i supposed to take away from that? how am i supposed to know if this could affect me when i don't even know what the game is going to deal with? i don't know if this is an issue with the translation or not, but i do agree that even if it wasn't intentional, it does come across as trivialising these warnings a bit. i feel like with horror games you kinda have to go in with the expectation that its gonna deal with a certain level of fucked up shit, but those content warnings are there for if a game covers those extensively or in detail. i don't think this game falls into that for most people.
Honestly, the fact that at the beginning you look up, and when the camera pans back down to the roof without the kid, the simple fact that a pair of shoes was there really threw me off guard because in Japan, it's really common for people commiting suicide by jumping off a building to take off their shoes first
@Random Username not to sound offensive, but isn’t ritualistic suicide historic for Japan? Seppuku is a thing, after all, so perhaps they consider it something similar. Not trying to say anything, just an observation.
@Random Username the actual reasoning for the "little ritual" is to assure people that it wasn't a murder but indeed a suicide. it's fucking depressing.
Wait, are we sure that’s not what actually happened and that the game takes place in the afterlife, with potentially the English localization bowdlerizing the plot by changing the dialog to say you were cursed because you looked at the sky?
Heck yeah. I figured you'd get to this sooner than latter and here it is. For the most part, some disagreements aside, I think I do agree with your overall feelings. "Yomawari 3" does play it too safe with keeping things mostly the same, both in terms of gameplay and even reusing assets. Not to mention being easier and more handhold-y, both of which were to address complaints levied at the first game. On one hand, I don't mind since it's more of what I enjoyed and I played the first two entries back when they first released years ago so it's been a while for me but, on the other, some more noticeable improvements to the formula would have been nice. Though, that said, I am more understanding of why it's probably like this. The developer, NIS (Nippon Ichi Software), nearly went bankrupt a while back. Thankfully, they did manage to pull through but the scale of their games have clearly been impacted. For instance, they released a new mainline entry to their flagship series, "Disgaea", and it's been very contentious to put it nicely. So NIS are still trying to get back on track with some smaller and safer releases more or less. It does suck but at least they are getting there. With that out of the way, I guess my only major disagreement other is with the beginning warning segment. As contrived as it is for us, unfortunately, it's a very real issue in Japan. Yuzu, or whatever you named your character, faces heavy bullying and went to jump off the school roof. The shoes getting left behind is the telltale sign to show intent to others, that it wasn't a murder but actually suicide. This is an ongoing problem in Japanese schools so that warning makes more sense in that context. Heck, the only reason our character even survived is cause they accidentally performed the ritual to get spirited away. If that didn't happen, yeah, they'd be dead. Regardless, I'm glad to have heard your thoughts. It wasn't really what we were hoping it'd be, but I'm glad it exists nonetheless. I thoroughly enjoyed my time 100% completing the game and finding it's more obscure secrets. Like damn, I'm actually kinda bummed you apparently didn't come across the ghost-whale bullet-hell event on the shore. I had to take a double take when that happened to me. Got rewarded with a whale skull decoration for the room. That was just so random. But yeah, I guess all I got left is to pester you to try out "Mad Rat Dead" one day.
Thirded he should play Mad Rat Dead, incredible gameplay and heartwarming story. As for NIS as a whole, I hope people keep supporting them. I've never been a Disgaea fan but their other titles have been phenomenal.
4:00 yeah… as someone who was severely bullied at school, and almost committed the self-offing because of it, I think the warning might be for this section right here… The school’s bathroom was indeed my hiding place, and it looked as creepy and desolate as that, and my heart kinda skipped a beat when I saw it followed up by bullying… I kinda wanna play this game now though… the best type of horror is the one that hits home deep…
I love the warning at the beginning. It looks just like a regular video game warning so most people won't instantly read it, and then it hangs on screen just long enough for someone to end up reading it absentmindedly and then think "wait, what the hell?"
...you know, now that you say that, i think there's a chance that the first screen was *not* a gimmick, or at least fully; they were trying to say "don't skip this warning or we won't cover your teraphist bill" Of course they blew it by making the second actual warning completely fucking useless, being nothing more than "this horror game is made of horror" cockwaffle, sooo shrug
Loved the first warning because an hour later my brother stuck his head into the half open door. Imagine sitting there, playing a horror game, headphones on and suddenly a head pops up in the doorway. Scared the shit out of me xD
Okay, I must really say that you should give Signalis a look, if you have the time. It is a real gem of a Survival Horror game and I see hardly anyone talk about it, which is a real, real shame. It has such an amazing and intriguing story, fantastic puzzles, great atmosphere and an amazing art style. It deserves to get a lot more attention than it gets!!!
I second that motion. Even though the Halloween hangover is clearing up as November rolls on, it's definitely something worth checking out. Also, the world of Signalis gives me the impression of "the Axis won World War 2 and went to space". I don't know if that's the exact case, but that's the vibe I got.
Was literally seconds from suggesting this one too. Extremely good game with a very interpretive set of endings, I'm curious to see how he'd piece things together
Definitely will check this one out once it's on sale. But since you mentioned Madoka Magica, there is actually a pretty good fangame based on that anime called "Grief Syndrome". It's pretty short (25-30 minutes for one loop), but it has a bunch of love poured into it like original music, five playable characters with unique playstyles (seven if you squint), ten different endings, multiplayer, multiple achievements and a very interesting hard mode system. Maybe that would be something that could be interesting for you :)
Hey Nitro Rad, you sort of brushed it off, but honestly I do think it was important to have that warning at the beginning of the game since the subject matter in the game does get pretty triggery. For those who don't know, here are some notable cw: This game does have a few scenes that involve characters jumping off of rooftops, especially in the beginning with it being implied having been done due to attempted suicide to escape some brutal harassment at school. There's also some heavily implied bits during the game from environmental storytelling about the boss ghosts such as the one involving the dogs (newspaper clippings and items you pick up involve giving away that the dogs were gruesomely murdered by some asshole in the neighborhood... in fact don't get attached to any animals in this game you see to be honest), child death (including one that has an unfortunate theorized implication that a possible child molester was involved which is why the ghosts in that area react the way they do when you use the camera item) and so on.
but wouldn't it be better to clarify what exactly those themes are instead of being so vague? The warning itself doesn't really tell you what specifically to look after. I feel like most games at least warn about explicit suicide mention or depictions of self-harm/suicide, and warn elderly and pregnant women not to play due to jumpscares. as it is, the warning seems pretty useless
Using the SH3 soundtrack at the beginning was simply perfect. I always found it so weird that SH3, one of the gleaming examples of what the pinnacle of horror games can look like, has one of the most relaxing and memorable songs out there. Fantastic.
Really has that drowsy, nostalgic feeling of teenage years. Despite it's brief stay and only being used once in the game, it is easily one of the most recognizable songs in the series.
At 4:29 When Camera pans down and PC is missing it was quite heavily implied they committed suicide because you can see a pair of shoes left behind near the edge. In Japan that's very sign that person jumped to their death, in Japan it's customary to take of your shoes when entering own or someone's else house to not carry in any dirt inside. When person doesn't want to carry any dirt into afterlife, they commit suicide barefooted.
There's one additional thing I wanna call awesome. Before I watched this video, I played the demo. So when Nitro Rad started talking about this bullied girl who gets cursed scenario, I was like "Wait... that's not what I was seeing... oh gosh does the demo legit have its own unique story?" Cuz in the demo you're a kid who, along with her two friends, decided to bust into the school at night to investigate rumors... but then you wind up chasing your cat who followed you.
This was the first Yomawari game I played, and I enjoyed my time with it, though holy crap were some of those ghosties hard to get around! Very frustrating, though yeah, thankfully it's rarely more than a few minutes of lost time. Though re: the warning at the beginning... I was a very badly bullied kid, and some of the bullying scenes really made me tense, since they reminded me of some of the stuff I experienced when I was young. I'm probably not alone in that sentiment.
I’ve been watching a lot of your old videos so when I saw this on my feed I thought it was just another one of those but when I realized it was uploaded 58 minutes ago I got so excited :’) can’t wait to dig in
I think the warning at the beginning is justified, still should have been more specific but yeah i imagine the intro to the game could be upsetting for some, especially since the themes of suicide seems to be more present in the narrative then you gave it credit for based on the clips shown here.
Always have loved more of a cutsy chibi artstyle mixed with surreal horror. Nitro always knows how to sales pitch a game to me. I don't mind spoilers too much and how he mentioned Madoka's infamous witches, I definetly have to try this.
As soon as you started talking about how good the Yomawari games are at evoking the feeling of being in a small Japanese town, and how some games really make you feel like you've been transported to another place, I immediately started thinking of the Yo-Kai Watch series, and lo and behold a minute later you mention it yourself! So now I'm curious; have you played the other main YW games that came out over here, and if so, what did you think of their environments? I myself live in a mid-sized town in a midwestern state, and the American town areas in YW3 felt amazingly true-to-life to me. I remember playing it for the first time and thinking "I could step outside and see this!"
Looks like this is more of a silent hill retribution style game. You commit self delete at the beginning at which point you go to purgatory and come out the other end a stronger person, and get sent back to before you died so you can make a different choice and choose to live instead.
I just thought of what a yomawari 4 could be like. The story of this game is you play as a young adult who is interested in the paranormal and also an inventor. He arrives at a abandoned city, there he meets a yokai or ghost that begs for his help explaining that all ghosts are trapped here by a powerful God or spirit that wants as many souls as possible, the spirit knows how to preform the ritual but it can only be done by a mortal. So the ghost and the explorer team up. Some of the items are reused like the rocks or planes but there's some new ones like salt which creates a wall the yokai can't pass through and you can build some ghost tech gear these are more offensive items like a stun blast or a shield that protects you
I'm honestly surprised but happy that Yomawari ended up getting two sequels. The first game always gave me the vibes of a title that'd be a one off treat but the price for lost in the dark deterred me 100% this time. Even though I enjoyed my time with 1 & 2, they never felt like $40 experiences and it seems like lost in the dark didn't do much to justify that price point. I hope they try to refine the series rather than milk it if they continue past this game but either way I'll pick this one up when it's on sale.
I cannot emphasize how much I appreciate this: I don't mean to just be one of those early comments, but I actually had a really rough day and seeing this notification instantly made me smile, I love watching these videos while sitting in my little foam chair.
Seeing you play Yamawari, aka cute chibi horror, reminded me of something. Have you ever tried "Yuppie Psycho" or "The Blind Prince and the Liar Princess"? They're great games and I'm sure you'd like them. (Although the latter is not horror at all, it's more like a heartfelt tragedy with a monster.) Also you should definitely give a look at the ongoing "Physical Exorcism" series. It's a bit of a spiritual successor to the edgy phase of RPG maker games and it's worth checking out. (Loser's Reborn is part of the series btw.)
I'm going to play Yuppie Psycho and review it on my own channel when things settle down for me. I'd overlooked it many times while browsing the eShop, because the title and thumbnail really don't scream "horror game" O_O
i love the use of the sims 2 gba music in this video.. i actually never ever can either hear or recognize any background music in whatever i watch on youtube but sims music is THAT much engraved in my brain it takes all 16kb of it's capacity.. would be cool to see nitrorad video about sims handheld games since i saw you kinda wrote about it on mastodon blog...
@@deadeyeguys not to spoil anything but i hope james [since supposedly he played the series] is *aware* of how this games are connected and how lore of this games can make someone high from all the adrenaline while discovering all the details.. thanks to odin for ppl gettin interested in sims again :>
@@disgustedalien not sure if you're on his patreon but he's mentioned reoccurring characters like dusty hogg and stuff like that, but i don't think he's aware how deep the rabbit hole goes LMAO. i just think it's funny to imagine him trying to piece together the lore of the whole franchise because it's a Lot. i have been obsessed with wanting to know everything about the series for like 2 years and i still find out new stuff all the time LOL
@@deadeyeguys not on his patreon sadly... but i dedicated my life to sims handheld games and still after so many years i get to know more stuff so i totally get ya.. it's never enough and let's hope our nitro rad guy will give us this video gift about sims :>>
Two steps forward, two steps back. It's another Yomowari game, but it's also just another Yomowari game. But hey, the use of the bell did add another dimension to the proceedings.
.... are.. are you sure she didn't jump from that roof, and her spirit is between life and death...... And accepting the cat has died reflects that we understand that we're literally walking around the afterlife, fighting to keep our humanity and hopefully go back to our physical body before it's too late? Otherwise, we lose our attachment to our body, become a birb yokai, and bad end?
"I don't see what these trigger warnings are for." ** "Okay, so the game starts with your very young character being severely bullied and flat out assaulted until they commit sui*ide by jumping off the roof, after which they wake up in a world full of monsters who will brutally murder them on sight..."
I love you nitro rad, I’m 25 and found your channel a year or two back, watched all your videos and love hearing your opinions I tend to agree with you a lot, the old horror games where how I found you but I love all the different games you review hope you are well and happy holidays man
Seeing a new Nitrorad viideo pop up in my recommended is always a highlight of my day, especially when it's for an indie-horror game! Side note: In all seriousness, I feel like the warning the game gives players may be due to the bulling in the intro. As someone who was bullied at school growing up, I can see this game's prologue really upsetting people who went through similar experiences.
at 4:27, you can see his shoes left behind. in japan, that means the person whos shoes belong to jumped and killed themself. so i guess it does have triggering mental health topics. but that probably comes up later im only 5 minutes in and im going to look like an idiot commenting before i should edit: i am the smartest person alive tremble before me
Same here. I also sometimes found rocks useful for getting past those white things with round heads--sometimes if you toss a rock then shut your eyes they'll hang out where the rock went momentarily.
Glad to see you check out this one as well! Your review on the first 2 games got me to try and FALL IN LOVE with the series, I was so excited for the 3rd game. You honestly nailed it on the head with it being more of the same and the lack of enemy variety is apparent. I've got mixed feelings about the price hike, from my personal playthrough I got about 2x the playtime (with lots of checking every nook and cranny) compared to the first two, but it still feels like a jump in price for not much change in substance.
Thank you for reviewing this game. Really like this game, the art style beautiful. The story as usual, they didn't give any mercy to the mc. Especially in Midnight Shadow, that Yui story really sad.
I really enjoyed the first two games and was really looking forward to Lost in the Dark when it got announced but after playing the demo I'm gonna wait til it goes on sale.
The warning sign is not really relevant in west. But it's kinda needed especially in East Asia. Since we already know that East Asia are known with the pressure from the society which resulted to higher suicide rate. Japan is (what I believe) treating suicide seriously so. Also other thing might be from translation decision. It could be they don't have much knowledge to western world or they don't have much free will to change/remove the script or they are not as professional as persona, sega, etc (The warning translation does not look natural) which is completely understandable.
I don't think the warning trivializes it, a lot of people get in to a bad mindset at just the imagery of a noose or juimping, especially if you're japanese.
A pleasant surprise to see you cover this game outside of the spooky month of October but I suppose being unexpected boosts the horror factor. It'll be nice to see you show off more of this cute horror series. 0:44 - It's funny hearing you explain why you prefer the first game over the second, as the reasons you give make me feel as if I'd prefer the second game over the first one. Different tastes for different folks. 3:44 - A character creator was not expected. I suppose that could quickly establish a sense of personal attachment to the character, thus making the player even more concerned for the horrors that await their created character. It's still a very surprising thing to see pop up in a horror game of all places. 9:24 - So oddly enough, this game might have more appeal to someone who hasn't played other entries in this series. The consistency of the style and setting is cool but it does seem they could be more adventurous with what they from game-to-game. 14:30 - Oh my gosh; that is awesome. I do love me some motion controls and that is a really cool subtle way to include it.
I’ve heard so much about this game back when it came out in 2017,and I didn’t get the chance to play this back then. I’d definitely gonna check these games out on the Switch.
Damn, I really hope they'll finally come up with something more original and groundbreaking if they ever make another Yomawari game. There's so much potential that just isn't being used here
James, my man, when the camera pans back down a little pare of shoes are on the roof. Our character killed themself. That’s why the warning was there at the beginning and that’s why the plot happens. How did you not notice that?!
I was so excited when I saw the game came out, played it all night and I'm glad you covered this one too, your original yomawari video convinced me to play it before I watched the spoilers part, and they've become some of my favorite horror games, I hope they make a fourth one with more enemy variety and more stuff to do!
This is my first yomawari game and I like it a lot, so if I play the prequels I think I will love them too, the ending it’s good but a little sad, and I think the warning it’s more for the Japanese people than the western audience
Yeah, Level 5 (the developer of yokai watch) has a really good talent at making rly nostalgic cozy locations with tons and tons of detail to them. I love yokai watch :)
It kind of feels like the Yomawari series is getting into that rut that many series get in where they keep making the same game with only slight differences. That's not to say that this is a bad game, but it doesn't feel like a new installment. Which is going to be a problem if the fourth game follows the trend.
Probably due to Nintendo’s stingy distribution price on their cartridges. Just to note they’re much cheaper on the other systems and that was the case with the vita at first too.
@@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective actually the physical ps4 copy is also 50 bucks. Besides their other titles on other platforms are rather pricey too. Older titles do get heavily reduced on sales at times though
The use of The Sims 2 DS OST is wise. Really solid background music for reviews. Also, this sounds like baby’s first Yomowari game. Maybe I should play them in reverse? Lol
16:40 Spent a good 3 minutes trying to remember where I'd heard that music before lmao, Urbz sims in the city was such a good game. well, at least the handheld version was good
Knew you'd check this out as soon as I saw the reveal. Yomawari is a cool franchise. You starting with the Silent Hill music sets the mood. I can't watch this review because I haven't played the game yet, but you sold me on the first two! So have this comment for now. Have a great day James!
I’m hoping that sometime before October is over you’ll cover Pocket Mirror Goldentraum if you like rpg maker horror this game is a 100% recommendation and it has a prequel , little goofy two shoes , coming out ON Halloween I personally have nothing but praise for this game , the art , the music the STORY it’s immaculate
Nitro Rad looked away from the screen. He saw a cat. But the cat was cursed, and now Nitro Rad is cursed. D : Personally, I liked Midnight Shadows more BECAUSE it had a narrative. XD I know you've never liked the story-collecting stuff, but I miss when games used to have lots of files and sidequests.
If anyone is on the fence I would say he's a little harsh here, I've been having a blast, never gotten as irritating to me as Midnight Shadows. As an aside I have not completely finished the game (about two thirds through by my estimation) but I have found the pacing much better than the first two and the linear areas better designed than those in Midnight Shadows (at least in my experience). They've hit a good balance even if the reused elements are irksome. This is a special series so if you like the look of it and don't mind getting your patience tested now and then it's well worth trying any of these games.
The warning at the begining reminds me a lot of delta rune and it's ominous eula that is comprised entirely of "YOU WILL ACCEPT EVERYTHING THAT WILL HAPPEN FROM NOW ON"
As the platformer guy you should check out Lunistice sometime. New indie platformer that came out a few days ago. Just a fun 3D platformer styled like a PS1-esque game. I think you might like it. Great review as always though 👍
![Yomawari: Midnight Shadows [Explained]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/uWE9ImgxwQ0/mqdefault.jpg)
Getting some comments about that warning, so allow me to clarify some things!
While the game does touch up on certain themes, it doesn't spend very much time with them, or elaborate very much at all. Which is odd, because Midnight Shadows ending has a very intense sequence where you directly follow a character through a lot of alarming motions. That game did not have a warning.
The entire point of a warning like this, is so people who want to avoid those topics, can. Midnight Shadow's lack of warning, and this warning having no content details, leads me to believe that it was done as an intimidation method, rather than out of care for the player.
But ultimately, I'm also trying to say that I don't think the content of the game shows enough of these things to be that alarming or upsetting. However, I should clarify that I'm using the content of Midnight Shadows as a benchmark for that assumption. So if I'm wrong about this, please don't hesitate to let me know! Thanks!
I think it's a little hard to say. The game doesn't linger on it and yes, the first 2 games covered equally upsetting topics with no warning. The fact it made that first comment about what you see in the game being spooky does seem like its just trying to be scary.
On the other hand, the content CAN be upsetting - even as vague as it is - and the warnings are worded really strangely. I'm wondering if the warnings being 'spooky' is a translation issue rather than the creator's intent. I've never seen the original, so this is just a guess.
I agree with you. As someone who has an aunt with actual mental health issue... these kinds of "warning" in mainstream entertainment just rubs me the wrong way. With all due respect, what I've seen is so much more than just this mildly upsetting horror game.
If anything, this "warning" could easily be mistaken as the devs/translators being clueless of what a genuine mental health issue looks like.
I think after Midnight Shadows, people were probably emailing them or sending them things about that sequence. I think that intro warning was a result of people messaging about how there wasn't a warning in that game.
It seems likely to me that this warning was, at least in part, the result of possible backlash after the last game didn’t feature a content warning.
here's my take from the perspective of someone who has mental health issues & does appreciate a heads up when certain topics are talked about:
i think that even if this wasn't an intimidation method, they've gone about it completely the wrong way. having it immediately after a kinda jokey/spooky warning does kinda downplay it a bit for me. having such a vague warning doesn't help. usually any game with a content warning will just say what type of content may be disturbing/uncomfortable because triggers & mental health issues are so vast and different that just saying 'this may affect people with mental health issues' isn't actually saying anything at all. like, what am i supposed to take away from that? how am i supposed to know if this could affect me when i don't even know what the game is going to deal with?
i don't know if this is an issue with the translation or not, but i do agree that even if it wasn't intentional, it does come across as trivialising these warnings a bit. i feel like with horror games you kinda have to go in with the expectation that its gonna deal with a certain level of fucked up shit, but those content warnings are there for if a game covers those extensively or in detail. i don't think this game falls into that for most people.
Honestly, the fact that at the beginning you look up, and when the camera pans back down to the roof without the kid, the simple fact that a pair of shoes was there really threw me off guard because in Japan, it's really common for people commiting suicide by jumping off a building to take off their shoes first
@Random Username not to sound offensive, but isn’t ritualistic suicide historic for Japan? Seppuku is a thing, after all, so perhaps they consider it something similar. Not trying to say anything, just an observation.
@Random Username the actual reasoning for the "little ritual" is to assure people that it wasn't a murder but indeed a suicide. it's fucking depressing.
@Random Username it’s kinda like here in the states when someone dies you throw their shoes onto the power lines
Is there a Japanese horror piece called "Empty Shoes"? 'cause I wouldn't be surprised if there was.
Wait, are we sure that’s not what actually happened and that the game takes place in the afterlife, with potentially the English localization bowdlerizing the plot by changing the dialog to say you were cursed because you looked at the sky?
Heck yeah. I figured you'd get to this sooner than latter and here it is.
For the most part, some disagreements aside, I think I do agree with your overall feelings. "Yomawari 3" does play it too safe with keeping things mostly the same, both in terms of gameplay and even reusing assets. Not to mention being easier and more handhold-y, both of which were to address complaints levied at the first game. On one hand, I don't mind since it's more of what I enjoyed and I played the first two entries back when they first released years ago so it's been a while for me but, on the other, some more noticeable improvements to the formula would have been nice.
Though, that said, I am more understanding of why it's probably like this. The developer, NIS (Nippon Ichi Software), nearly went bankrupt a while back. Thankfully, they did manage to pull through but the scale of their games have clearly been impacted. For instance, they released a new mainline entry to their flagship series, "Disgaea", and it's been very contentious to put it nicely. So NIS are still trying to get back on track with some smaller and safer releases more or less. It does suck but at least they are getting there.
With that out of the way, I guess my only major disagreement other is with the beginning warning segment.
As contrived as it is for us, unfortunately, it's a very real issue in Japan. Yuzu, or whatever you named your character, faces heavy bullying and went to jump off the school roof. The shoes getting left behind is the telltale sign to show intent to others, that it wasn't a murder but actually suicide. This is an ongoing problem in Japanese schools so that warning makes more sense in that context. Heck, the only reason our character even survived is cause they accidentally performed the ritual to get spirited away. If that didn't happen, yeah, they'd be dead.
Regardless, I'm glad to have heard your thoughts. It wasn't really what we were hoping it'd be, but I'm glad it exists nonetheless. I thoroughly enjoyed my time 100% completing the game and finding it's more obscure secrets. Like damn, I'm actually kinda bummed you apparently didn't come across the ghost-whale bullet-hell event on the shore. I had to take a double take when that happened to me. Got rewarded with a whale skull decoration for the room. That was just so random.
But yeah, I guess all I got left is to pester you to try out "Mad Rat Dead" one day.
Nippon Ichi Software is creative but they've always tittered on Indie status
Seconded he should for sure play Mad Rat Dead that story js pretty great.
Thirded he should play Mad Rat Dead, incredible gameplay and heartwarming story.
As for NIS as a whole, I hope people keep supporting them. I've never been a Disgaea fan but their other titles have been phenomenal.
4:00 yeah… as someone who was severely bullied at school, and almost committed the self-offing because of it, I think the warning might be for this section right here…
The school’s bathroom was indeed my hiding place, and it looked as creepy and desolate as that, and my heart kinda skipped a beat when I saw it followed up by bullying…
I kinda wanna play this game now though… the best type of horror is the one that hits home deep…
I hope things are better for you now, dude
@@Garland235 they are, thank you.
Those days are long gone…
Turns out, if you push through, things really do get better ^~^
@@BioTheRebel Glad you are doing better
comment is fine but whats with all the ….s
@@salemmarz3809 beg your pardon? :v
I love the warning at the beginning. It looks just like a regular video game warning so most people won't instantly read it, and then it hangs on screen just long enough for someone to end up reading it absentmindedly and then think "wait, what the hell?"
...you know, now that you say that, i think there's a chance that the first screen was *not* a gimmick, or at least fully; they were trying to say "don't skip this warning or we won't cover your teraphist bill"
Of course they blew it by making the second actual warning completely fucking useless, being nothing more than "this horror game is made of horror" cockwaffle, sooo shrug
Loved the first warning because an hour later my brother stuck his head into the half open door. Imagine sitting there, playing a horror game, headphones on and suddenly a head pops up in the doorway. Scared the shit out of me xD
Okay, I must really say that you should give Signalis a look, if you have the time. It is a real gem of a Survival Horror game and I see hardly anyone talk about it, which is a real, real shame. It has such an amazing and intriguing story, fantastic puzzles, great atmosphere and an amazing art style. It deserves to get a lot more attention than it gets!!!
I second that motion. Even though the Halloween hangover is clearing up as November rolls on, it's definitely something worth checking out.
Also, the world of Signalis gives me the impression of "the Axis won World War 2 and went to space". I don't know if that's the exact case, but that's the vibe I got.
Third, to be honest, Signalis is my personal GOTY so far. Never forgetting my time with it.
fourth on the motion
Its on gamepass right now. Cool game
Was literally seconds from suggesting this one too. Extremely good game with a very interpretive set of endings, I'm curious to see how he'd piece things together
Definitely will check this one out once it's on sale. But since you mentioned Madoka Magica, there is actually a pretty good fangame based on that anime called "Grief Syndrome". It's pretty short (25-30 minutes for one loop), but it has a bunch of love poured into it like original music, five playable characters with unique playstyles (seven if you squint), ten different endings, multiplayer, multiple achievements and a very interesting hard mode system. Maybe that would be something that could be interesting for you :)
Seven is a bit of a stretch considering one is meant to be completely useless and another is a bit of a secret and is intentionally really clunky
@@youdonotcare okay, that's fair I guess ^^ I changed it a bit in the main comment now :)
Thanks for the recommendation, Madoka Magica's my favorite!
ll
Wait, for real? I've gotta check that out, then!
I absolutely love the Yomawari series so happy you're playing this game.
Hey Nitro Rad, you sort of brushed it off, but honestly I do think it was important to have that warning at the beginning of the game since the subject matter in the game does get pretty triggery.
For those who don't know, here are some notable cw: This game does have a few scenes that involve characters jumping off of rooftops, especially in the beginning with it being implied having been done due to attempted suicide to escape some brutal harassment at school. There's also some heavily implied bits during the game from environmental storytelling about the boss ghosts such as the one involving the dogs (newspaper clippings and items you pick up involve giving away that the dogs were gruesomely murdered by some asshole in the neighborhood... in fact don't get attached to any animals in this game you see to be honest), child death (including one that has an unfortunate theorized implication that a possible child molester was involved which is why the ghosts in that area react the way they do when you use the camera item) and so on.
but wouldn't it be better to clarify what exactly those themes are instead of being so vague? The warning itself doesn't really tell you what specifically to look after. I feel like most games at least warn about explicit suicide mention or depictions of self-harm/suicide, and warn elderly and pregnant women not to play due to jumpscares. as it is, the warning seems pretty useless
Using the SH3 soundtrack at the beginning was simply perfect. I always found it so weird that SH3, one of the gleaming examples of what the pinnacle of horror games can look like, has one of the most relaxing and memorable songs out there. Fantastic.
Really has that drowsy, nostalgic feeling of teenage years. Despite it's brief stay and only being used once in the game, it is easily one of the most recognizable songs in the series.
the character does commit suicide in the beginning, the shoes are left on the roof, a sign of suicide in japan.
Nothin' better than cute chibi horror
He reviewed the past two so why not...
tehe but cat is also cute 2:45
name a better combination.....you can't! :O
At 4:29 When Camera pans down and PC is missing it was quite heavily implied they committed suicide because you can see a pair of shoes left behind near the edge. In Japan that's very sign that person jumped to their death, in Japan it's customary to take of your shoes when entering own or someone's else house to not carry in any dirt inside. When person doesn't want to carry any dirt into afterlife, they commit suicide barefooted.
There's one additional thing I wanna call awesome.
Before I watched this video, I played the demo. So when Nitro Rad started talking about this bullied girl who gets cursed scenario, I was like "Wait... that's not what I was seeing... oh gosh does the demo legit have its own unique story?"
Cuz in the demo you're a kid who, along with her two friends, decided to bust into the school at night to investigate rumors... but then you wind up chasing your cat who followed you.
The original video is NOSTALGIC, can't wait to watch this!
I was already curious if James had heard of this game releasing. Glad to see he did.
This was the first Yomawari game I played, and I enjoyed my time with it, though holy crap were some of those ghosties hard to get around! Very frustrating, though yeah, thankfully it's rarely more than a few minutes of lost time.
Though re: the warning at the beginning... I was a very badly bullied kid, and some of the bullying scenes really made me tense, since they reminded me of some of the stuff I experienced when I was young. I'm probably not alone in that sentiment.
11:55 - I spot the Sims 2 DS music >:) Fr im happy people start to recognise how catchy that OST is
I’ve been watching a lot of your old videos so when I saw this on my feed I thought it was just another one of those but when I realized it was uploaded 58 minutes ago I got so excited :’) can’t wait to dig in
I think the warning at the beginning is justified, still should have been more specific but yeah i imagine the intro to the game could be upsetting for some, especially since the themes of suicide seems to be more present in the narrative then you gave it credit for based on the clips shown here.
Your videos always bring me so much joy, James!!!
Always have loved more of a cutsy chibi artstyle mixed with surreal horror. Nitro always knows how to sales pitch a game to me.
I don't mind spoilers too much and how he mentioned Madoka's infamous witches, I definetly have to try this.
wtf is up w your username
As soon as you started talking about how good the Yomawari games are at evoking the feeling of being in a small Japanese town, and how some games really make you feel like you've been transported to another place, I immediately started thinking of the Yo-Kai Watch series, and lo and behold a minute later you mention it yourself! So now I'm curious; have you played the other main YW games that came out over here, and if so, what did you think of their environments? I myself live in a mid-sized town in a midwestern state, and the American town areas in YW3 felt amazingly true-to-life to me. I remember playing it for the first time and thinking "I could step outside and see this!"
I can't believe I rewatched the other yomowari episodes just a week ago, perfect timing!
Nice Madoka reference, those witches are so creepy
Looks like this is more of a silent hill retribution style game. You commit self delete at the beginning at which point you go to purgatory and come out the other end a stronger person, and get sent back to before you died so you can make a different choice and choose to live instead.
I just thought of what a yomawari 4 could be like.
The story of this game is you play as a young adult who is interested in the paranormal and also an inventor. He arrives at a abandoned city, there he meets a yokai or ghost that begs for his help explaining that all ghosts are trapped here by a powerful God or spirit that wants as many souls as possible, the spirit knows how to preform the ritual but it can only be done by a mortal. So the ghost and the explorer team up. Some of the items are reused like the rocks or planes but there's some new ones like salt which creates a wall the yokai can't pass through and you can build some ghost tech gear these are more offensive items like a stun blast or a shield that protects you
I'm honestly surprised but happy that Yomawari ended up getting two sequels. The first game always gave me the vibes of a title that'd be a one off treat but the price for lost in the dark deterred me 100% this time. Even though I enjoyed my time with 1 & 2, they never felt like $40 experiences and it seems like lost in the dark didn't do much to justify that price point. I hope they try to refine the series rather than milk it if they continue past this game but either way I'll pick this one up when it's on sale.
I cannot emphasize how much I appreciate this: I don't mean to just be one of those early comments, but I actually had a really rough day and seeing this notification instantly made me smile, I love watching these videos while sitting in my little foam chair.
If you want another game like this, I'd recommend Darkwood. Top down, Way more intense resource management. Plenty of grim narrative.
Seeing you play Yamawari, aka cute chibi horror, reminded me of something.
Have you ever tried "Yuppie Psycho" or "The Blind Prince and the Liar Princess"?
They're great games and I'm sure you'd like them. (Although the latter is not horror at all, it's more like a heartfelt tragedy with a monster.)
Also you should definitely give a look at the ongoing "Physical Exorcism" series. It's a bit of a spiritual successor to the edgy phase of RPG maker games and it's worth checking out. (Loser's Reborn is part of the series btw.)
I'm going to play Yuppie Psycho and review it on my own channel when things settle down for me. I'd overlooked it many times while browsing the eShop, because the title and thumbnail really don't scream "horror game" O_O
i love the use of the sims 2 gba music in this video.. i actually never ever can either hear or recognize any background music in whatever i watch on youtube but sims music is THAT much engraved in my brain it takes all 16kb of it's capacity.. would be cool to see nitrorad video about sims handheld games since i saw you kinda wrote about it on mastodon blog...
the sims series as a whole is very intriguing with it's history & in game lore, id love to see james cover it lmao
@@deadeyeguys not to spoil anything but i hope james [since supposedly he played the series] is *aware* of how this games are connected and how lore of this games can make someone high from all the adrenaline while discovering all the details.. thanks to odin for ppl gettin interested in sims again :>
@@disgustedalien not sure if you're on his patreon but he's mentioned reoccurring characters like dusty hogg and stuff like that, but i don't think he's aware how deep the rabbit hole goes LMAO.
i just think it's funny to imagine him trying to piece together the lore of the whole franchise because it's a Lot. i have been obsessed with wanting to know everything about the series for like 2 years and i still find out new stuff all the time LOL
@@deadeyeguys not on his patreon sadly... but i dedicated my life to sims handheld games and still after so many years i get to know more stuff so i totally get ya.. it's never enough and let's hope our nitro rad guy will give us this video gift about sims :>>
I forgot there was a third game coming out! I'm so excited!
A little of a shame it's lackluster. :c But thanks for the honest review as always.
*Shoutouts* to the Poniko plushie replacing Madotsuki...
Your reviews like this are always so fair and do justice to make the good parts shine! Always a pleasure to see a new upload
Two steps forward, two steps back. It's another Yomowari game, but it's also just another Yomowari game. But hey, the use of the bell did add another dimension to the proceedings.
Oh cool! I didn’t realize there were three of these, I thought there was only one and this was it.
.... are.. are you sure she didn't jump from that roof, and her spirit is between life and death...... And accepting the cat has died reflects that we understand that we're literally walking around the afterlife, fighting to keep our humanity and hopefully go back to our physical body before it's too late? Otherwise, we lose our attachment to our body, become a birb yokai, and bad end?
Yess new Nitro Rad video!! Played it before, game is amazing!
"I don't see what these trigger warnings are for."
**
"Okay, so the game starts with your very young character being severely bullied and flat out assaulted until they commit sui*ide by jumping off the roof, after which they wake up in a world full of monsters who will brutally murder them on sight..."
I love you nitro rad, I’m 25 and found your channel a year or two back, watched all your videos and love hearing your opinions I tend to agree with you a lot, the old horror games where how I found you but I love all the different games you review hope you are well and happy holidays man
Seeing a new Nitrorad viideo pop up in my recommended is always a highlight of my day, especially when it's for an indie-horror game!
Side note: In all seriousness, I feel like the warning the game gives players may be due to the bulling in the intro. As someone who was bullied at school growing up, I can see this game's prologue really upsetting people who went through similar experiences.
Thanks for uploading on my birthday. I love your videos… and you 🫶
at 4:27, you can see his shoes left behind. in japan, that means the person whos shoes belong to jumped and killed themself. so i guess it does have triggering mental health topics.
but that probably comes up later im only 5 minutes in and im going to look like an idiot commenting before i should
edit: i am the smartest person alive tremble before me
9:16 that's literally slenderman lmao. Btw that Sims 2 DS music during the presentation part was on point.
I found that the rocks were useful in getting past the laughing yokai that carry hatchets.
Same here. I also sometimes found rocks useful for getting past those white things with round heads--sometimes if you toss a rock then shut your eyes they'll hang out where the rock went momentarily.
Glad to see you check out this one as well! Your review on the first 2 games got me to try and FALL IN LOVE with the series, I was so excited for the 3rd game. You honestly nailed it on the head with it being more of the same and the lack of enemy variety is apparent. I've got mixed feelings about the price hike, from my personal playthrough I got about 2x the playtime (with lots of checking every nook and cranny) compared to the first two, but it still feels like a jump in price for not much change in substance.
Awesome Halloween special Nitrorad! Epic to see! 😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you for reviewing this game. Really like this game, the art style beautiful. The story as usual, they didn't give any mercy to the mc. Especially in Midnight Shadow, that Yui story really sad.
I really enjoyed the first two games and was really looking forward to Lost in the Dark when it got announced but after playing the demo I'm gonna wait til it goes on sale.
The warning sign is not really relevant in west. But it's kinda needed especially in East Asia. Since we already know that East Asia are known with the pressure from the society which resulted to higher suicide rate. Japan is (what I believe) treating suicide seriously so.
Also other thing might be from translation decision. It could be they don't have much knowledge to western world or they don't have much free will to change/remove the script or they are not as professional as persona, sega, etc (The warning translation does not look natural) which is completely understandable.
I don't think the warning trivializes it, a lot of people get in to a bad mindset at just the imagery of a noose or juimping, especially if you're japanese.
"Odservo" and "SENSEs: midnight" are two modern day classic survival horror games that no one is talking about that might be worth checking out.
A pleasant surprise to see you cover this game outside of the spooky month of October but I suppose being unexpected boosts the horror factor. It'll be nice to see you show off more of this cute horror series.
0:44 - It's funny hearing you explain why you prefer the first game over the second, as the reasons you give make me feel as if I'd prefer the second game over the first one. Different tastes for different folks.
3:44 - A character creator was not expected. I suppose that could quickly establish a sense of personal attachment to the character, thus making the player even more concerned for the horrors that await their created character. It's still a very surprising thing to see pop up in a horror game of all places.
9:24 - So oddly enough, this game might have more appeal to someone who hasn't played other entries in this series. The consistency of the style and setting is cool but it does seem they could be more adventurous with what they from game-to-game.
14:30 - Oh my gosh; that is awesome. I do love me some motion controls and that is a really cool subtle way to include it.
I’ve heard so much about this game back when it came out in 2017,and I didn’t get the chance to play this back then. I’d definitely gonna check these games out on the Switch.
Can't have a Yomawari game without a dead pet.
Damn, I really hope they'll finally come up with something more original and groundbreaking if they ever make another Yomawari game. There's so much potential that just isn't being used here
James, my man, when the camera pans back down a little pare of shoes are on the roof. Our character killed themself. That’s why the warning was there at the beginning and that’s why the plot happens. How did you not notice that?!
I was so excited when I saw the game came out, played it all night and I'm glad you covered this one too, your original yomawari video convinced me to play it before I watched the spoilers part, and they've become some of my favorite horror games, I hope they make a fourth one with more enemy variety and more stuff to do!
i loved opening this video in the early morning and immediately hearing my favorite sh3 track💛 nice way to start this video and my long day ahead
2:00 - LOL at you calling this Mr. Lanky thing Slenderman. XD Also by than I noticed you replaced your cute little Mado doll with Poniko, aww. ^^;
"Dont worry, we dont fall down there"
*Sees boots next to the ledge of roof, which means that kid did a Kermit meme video off the roof*
Oh no
Y'know since you mentioned Yokai Watch, I honestly wanna see you review that series, or atleast 2 and 3. Maybe Blasters as well.
Wooo new nitro. I keep seeing this game on my steam
Last time I was this early, my favorite store hadn't opened yet.
Was not expecting another game in this series, but I'm happy there is one. These games are interesting
This is my first yomawari game and I like it a lot, so if I play the prequels I think I will love them too, the ending it’s good but a little sad, and I think the warning it’s more for the Japanese people than the western audience
'all about exploring on your own and uninterrupted' - said as he gets his shit rocked by a ghost in the footage lmao
Yeah, Level 5 (the developer of yokai watch) has a really good talent at making rly nostalgic cozy locations with tons and tons of detail to them. I love yokai watch :)
The abstract design of the witches is both amazing and unsettling, and anything that has a similar style is very much welcome.
that sky god kinda reminds me of one of the big bads of Gegege Kitaro, Backbeard, a big black ball with a realistic human eye in the middle
that urbz music near the end caught me so off guard lmao. loved that game as a kid
I appreciate you Nitro, and I appreciate your videos. Have a blessed day.
It kind of feels like the Yomawari series is getting into that rut that many series get in where they keep making the same game with only slight differences. That's not to say that this is a bad game, but it doesn't feel like a new installment. Which is going to be a problem if the fourth game follows the trend.
Always love your reviews
2:47 I love cats.
NISA localized games always seems to have the issue of being way to pricey compared to what the game offers
Probably due to Nintendo’s stingy distribution price on their cartridges. Just to note they’re much cheaper on the other systems and that was the case with the vita at first too.
@@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective actually the physical ps4 copy is also 50 bucks. Besides their other titles on other platforms are rather pricey too. Older titles do get heavily reduced on sales at times though
3:48 "ok that's pretty rad"
But would you say it was.....
Very rad?
Yoooooo, a new Yomawari game, that's awesome
You are a hussler, bud! I love your channel!
The use of The Sims 2 DS OST is wise. Really solid background music for reviews.
Also, this sounds like baby’s first Yomowari game. Maybe I should play them in reverse? Lol
I love learning that a UA-camr has a cat
16:40 Spent a good 3 minutes trying to remember where I'd heard that music before lmao, Urbz sims in the city was such a good game. well, at least the handheld version was good
Knew you'd check this out as soon as I saw the reveal. Yomawari is a cool franchise. You starting with the Silent Hill music sets the mood. I can't watch this review because I haven't played the game yet, but you sold me on the first two! So have this comment for now. Have a great day James!
I’m hoping that sometime before October is over you’ll cover Pocket Mirror Goldentraum if you like rpg maker horror this game is a 100% recommendation and it has a prequel , little goofy two shoes , coming out ON Halloween I personally have nothing but praise for this game , the art , the music the STORY it’s immaculate
Three cheers for Yomawari!
Does anyone else have the yomawari collection on switch and the spine on the cover goes into the back of the cover too much?
great! this series deverses more attention!
It's old, but i was reminded of Darkwood, should try that some time
I have never heard anyone describe something fast as "bazinga speed" but I'm so fucking using it
Nitro Rad looked away from the screen. He saw a cat. But the cat was cursed, and now Nitro Rad is cursed. D :
Personally, I liked Midnight Shadows more BECAUSE it had a narrative. XD I know you've never liked the story-collecting stuff, but I miss when games used to have lots of files and sidequests.
What is that guitar melody in the first minutes? Sounds very nice
It's a track from Silent Hill 3. I'm not sure which one, but you can't go wrong listening to that soundtrack. D :
@@StrawberryShorty found it, It's End of Small Sanctuary, thanks.
If anyone is on the fence I would say he's a little harsh here, I've been having a blast, never gotten as irritating to me as Midnight Shadows. As an aside I have not completely finished the game (about two thirds through by my estimation) but I have found the pacing much better than the first two and the linear areas better designed than those in Midnight Shadows (at least in my experience). They've hit a good balance even if the reused elements are irksome.
This is a special series so if you like the look of it and don't mind getting your patience tested now and then it's well worth trying any of these games.
The story of the game looks so different to the one presented in the demo, how curious
The warning at the begining reminds me a lot of delta rune and it's ominous eula that is comprised entirely of "YOU WILL ACCEPT EVERYTHING THAT WILL HAPPEN FROM NOW ON"
Bullying can be a triggering topic to some fyi so the game wasn't actually trying to be "intimidating". Maybe I'm wrong, I dunno.
Will you be reviewing Sonic Frontiers? I would really like to hear your take on the game!
As the platformer guy you should check out Lunistice sometime. New indie platformer that came out a few days ago. Just a fun 3D platformer styled like a PS1-esque game. I think you might like it. Great review as always though 👍
Can you take a look at Kya Dark Lineage for PS2? It is one of my favourite PS2 games and I think you will love it as well.
11:55 holy crap is that sims 2 DS music?