Hunt the Night Review: Hard, Challenging and Retro

Playing Hunt the Night makes I have realized why I, as a player, like Hard games. Many games allow the players to level up. This difficulty can be through having stronger and harder-hitting enemies with patterns players need to learn to overcome the slaughter. The overcoming of difficulty can be through the game, where a player can often play more of the game and level up. This levelling up is not just general levelling a power system but rather the classic way of collecting weapons and objects which help the gameplay.

Hunt the Night is about balance, where one can acquire new gear, which helps with a boss and the enemies. The balance of feeling more powerful is well-tuned by how the game rewards players. But also, all the encounters require a lot of timing and skill. Hunt the Night, along with its challenging but rewarding difficulty gameplay, is very well supported by its tone and art style. The Story of the game can be derivative. But it fits nicely into this creepy and fun world beautifully rendered in pixels.

Hunt the Night is available on Steam for $19.99 USD.

Story – Dark and Moody

Hunt the Night takes place in a world where humans and monsters live in a cycle. This is a world where Humans occupy the day while the horrible Lovecraftian monsters are at Night. Humanity is trying its best to survive every night without dying from these horrid creatures. This is where some humans come together to survive and, as the game title says, Hunt the Night. 

Story in Hunt the Night

This group are called ‘The Stalkers,’ We play as Vesper, who, along with all her brethren, is trying to stop this cycle. Vesper, at the start, is hiding secrets of herself as she goes through this world. That’s all I am going to say about the story, for I don’t want to spoil it for others who are going to play the game. The game’s storytelling is through its lore and notes, along with a few conversations in the world. These interactions are intentionally vague and just enough to set the tone of the world. 

The story, for me, is the background of the game. It is more of what sets the tone for the experience. The story is very reminiscent of many games which are shrouded in mystery. The style of a grim dark world and its horror moments and lighting are well done. The game’s tone is well done and leaves one with the feeling of exploring this dying world, barely hanging by a thread. On the whole, it is a very well-done aspect of the game.

Gameplay – Fun and Challenging

Hunt the Night’s combat is a mixture of melee and ranged combat with a huge emphasis on dodging. The combat is predominantly melee based on a few weapons with variations. The melee combat files the ranged aspect in an exciting sense. There are only six bullets max a player can hold, but these six bullets are rarely directly recharged in combat. Every time a player manages to hit three melee attacks, they are rewarded a shot.

Boss Patterns In Hunt the Night

So this becomes a great flow with Melle being incentivised with its Dodge. At the same time, the ranged combat is the reward for the melee. This is helpful in an arena with a mixture of enemies; it is ideal for dealing with the ranged enemies and then using the melee to change the bullet to deal with the ranged ones. As mentioned, this leads to a great flow. This is further enhanced with many additions, such as the equipment, Quasi loot system and enemies.

Weapons, Enemies and Patterns

For the non-boss enemies in the game, there is a pattern which is encouraged. The enemies can be melee based or ranged and must be dealt with accordingly. The Melle enemies are the ones which are the first to handle as this gives on the ammo for the ranged ones. The doge ability is very important here; Melle cancelling is good to get out of bad stops. This is complemented by the weapons, which vary in three main aspects; Speed, Damage and Range. This leads to almost all the weapons being useful in different scenarios.

Hunt the Night Character Screen

The enemies complement the combat well with their well-choreographed attacks and patterns. This is most apparent when it comes to bosses. They have set patterns which are fun with different stages. The various ways to move in the game and the weapons are a great combination. And especially in Boss Fights, it comes together beautifully well.

Equipment, Puzzles and Exploration

There is equipment and loot to help the gameplay. Some various grenades and powerups can be equipped between combats to help them now with their game. These, for me, are pretty fun additions that enhance the game’s simple build-crafting aspect. This and the Ailment effects are a great combination of things. Saving in the game is very much reminiscent of the Souls games. These are just points on the map with crow statues which are save points which refill all the equipment and bullets.

Landscapes In Hunt the Night

Puzzles and combat help the player navigate and explore this world differently, with many paths being open to all as one start and o[pttions to go in orders as wanted by the player keeping the gameplay loop fun and varied. Puzzles are encountered throughout the narrative, which may require you to find feathers that hint at how to progress. In the game, features are like notes left by other characters. 

Graphics & Sound – Beautiful and Moddy

The game looks beautiful with its beautiful retro art style. The graphics are colourful at the same time, very much moody and dark across. The creepiness of the world comes across in these visuals. There are no may not many options in terms of settings, but the game as a whole looks stunning. The world is fun and keeps one exploring.

Hunt the Night Settings Page

The music is very much set to this great tone, but on the whole, it blends into the background. The sound design of the enemies and weapons has good indications during combat. The game comes together well as a cohesive whole.