Nippo Ichi’s upcoming night exploring game Night Watch might look cute, but don’t be fooled, as its monsters are actually pretty horrifying. 4Gamer’s latest update on the game shows us even more of those spooky monsters.
As we know so far about the game, you’ll play as a young girl who is out to look for her older sister and pet dog after they’ve gone missing. You’ll do this by boldly sneaking out of the house, armed with just a flashlight and maybe some rocks.
As you search around at night, you’ll occasionally find objects or some clues that just might lead to your missing loved ones; however, there are monsters and ghosts that will get in the way, and you’ll encounter more and more of them as you advance through the game.
While walking around in town, you’ll find clues by checking through trash or bulletin boards, where you’ll occasionally find some notes. The above screenshot shows the girl checking the bulletin board, which has a notice giving a clue about a dog barking. Yeah, that’s not scary at all, because that’s totally a normal thing to leave on a bulletin board, right?
There are various places to visit in town, such as the old school, the forest, and a shipping district, where you’ll find empty shops and mannequins. At least I hope that’s a mannequin that just got lost.
You’ll find items that might seem pointless at first, but they’ll all have their own uses. For example, the toy shovel will help you dig out whatever is in that mound of dirt, and it might even be a key item.
Monsters all have their own characteristics and will “aggro” in different ways. Some of them will react to light, while others react to sound.
The “Blind Ghost” a blind spirit that had lost its eyes and life in some kind of incident. It wanders around at night and reacts to footsteps or any kind of sound.
The “Monster Cat” is actually a monster with a giant cat’s hat. It tries its best to pretend being a cat, but then changes its form and goes after you if you get too close.
The “Rock Face” is a mysterious being face-shaped being that lives in the forest and hills. It normally doesn’t move on its own, but it’ll attack you if you shine any light on it.
“Mr. Night Watcher,” is a strange creature that will follow the young girl from a distance if it finds her walking around.
Sometimes, you’ll have no choice but to run, but other times you’ll get to fight against monsters by using various items. For example, you could throw a rock or a coin somewhere for monsters that react to sound, and work your way around them.
While we’ve seen plenty of scary monsters, not all of them are bad. Some of them actually have sad stories, and are wandering around at night looking for something that’s important to them, just like the young girl. If you pay close attention to their movements, you just might find out a little bit more about them.
Sometimes the monsters are just mysterious. Take the “Headless Horse,” for example. You can see them running around, but they’ll always vanish away at the exact same spot. Hmm.
The “Wandering Miss Mary Doll” is a doll that was thrown away by someone. With nothing else but her grudge and sadness, she goes around looking for her owner. You’ll find a cell phone in town, which occasionally rings to tell you where you can find the doll.
The “Park Daruma” is a giant daruma doll that hangs out at the park. It doesn’t have any eyes painted on, and when it sees a child, it just wants to play. It’ll give you a present for spending time to play with it.
As you advance through the sub-stories, you’ll come across some small items or memos that are related to monsters. These items are kept as collectibles in the young girl’s journal, and can be revisited later so you can learn more about these monsters.
Night Watch will release in Japan on October 29, 2015 for PlayStation Vita.
