Fires At Midnight Reviews

I’ve been following the development of this game for a while and was really excited when I finally got to play it. It’s a point-and-click visual novel game, with gorgeous graphics and a pretty cool “Second Layer” effect that lets you see the environment as how the character you’re playing as would perceive it. Which is actually pretty genius because it adds another layer to the storytelling without it being too didactic or clunky. Sound design was good and evocative; there were some really great tracks in there. The game has so many delightful homages not just to the technology in the 90’s, but the entire atmosphere design with the furniture, food and architecture that grounds it proudly in its setting in Malaysia. It swamped me with a feeling of nostalgia, even as I was navigating through the complexities of the relationship between Yun and Chitra. Yun and Chitra. Yun’s anxieties and frustrations with his and Chitra’s situation and their relationship became my own and I started to second-guess the decisions I was making, worried that I was guiding them down the path to immolation… or worse. When the perspective flipped, and I experienced the same events from Chitra’s perspective… now that was some wild stuff. Fires At Midnight is a deceptively simple game to play, and that is a strength because it serves to highlight the incredibly tightly woven narrative. It is a highly polished game with an attention to detail; an obvious labour of love.

Found out about this game as it was one of the finalists for the South East Asian Games Awards! I was hooked on the from the get go, the completeness of it's visual design and sound track drops you uncomfortably close into this relationship on the rocks. Design subtleties like the UV light cursor and how it revealed things lurking just under the surface, draw you even more into the micro-verse of this seedy 90s flat. It's sexy, grunge with a dash of horror thrown in. Captures that sort of slow-burn storytelling, the memories made apparent to the viewer as though you've lit the end of a cigarette and you watch the amber glow towards you. I've only completed one of the endings but I'm looking forward to see what the others will bring!

Amazing la, i wasn't expecting such good interesting quality game but it exceeded my expectation by miles. The layer thing with the mouse is a very nice immersive way that makes the game easier to complete which allows the user to focus on the story. Digital art was also very well done. good job guys i bought this game and also for my friend. both she and i love it

Exceptional story telling through heavy use of layers and symbolism. The story isn't shallow, don't be fooled by the supernatural premise, it's mature and delves into human psychology, behaviourism and mental illness. Beautiful portray of life in essence, where we're often misunderstood, hurt, haunted by experiences from the past, unable to reciprocate love and communicate to one another. Very pleasant to look at art style, I usually don't capture so many screenshots to look at them later and admire the work authors put into these drawings. Good soundtrack with fitting ambient atmosphere, although you could feel the limited budget here - please use more sound effects / background music in the future. I wholeheartedly recommend this one. edit: So few reviews, game not even rated. What a shame, such a unique experience.

As a Malaysian, I'm really proud of this production! What a nice story line and interaction to immerse yourself into this game. Hope there's a speed run for the script when replaying.

Very atmospheric game with a bizarre plot. Very well done depiction of the communication issues between a couple. Very nice artwork. Immersive game with a lot of ambiance. The main narrative, however, and the depiction of the dystopian world was a bit too absurd though.

I really appreciated playing this point n click, which was thoroughly different from those I've already played. The story is a non realistic one taking place in 1999, about how an unloved one in a couple may combust after a sexual act with their partner- but still, I might opine it's a true parable on unrequited love, the emphasis on unrealistic elements only serving the message's purpose. So, you decide first about the man's choices, reviewing objects in the room, creating memory flashbacks which orient the protagonists' fates, then the woman's ones, and some choices might be cruel concerning the end of the game if it is your first playthrough - I had a very bad ending for the man, which will make me think differently for my second playthrough. As for the artistic direction, it is very "artsy" indeed, a style that may displease some, but I found the graphical art and music very well done; as there is use of drugs throughout the game, it dispenses a very psychedelic and trippy vibe all along. There are equally some mild sex scenes, and horror, which could incommodate some very sensitive minds, but nothing terrible, or really shocking. All in all I found this to be a great and very original point n click; and although I think this game wouldn't be for anyone, due to it's style and some lengths, I'd recommend it without any hesitation to point n click lovers who would crave for something new and a little twisted.

Love the music. If not for that, I would have stopped before now. But this isn't a lot of fun, and not very interesting, even 70 minutes in.

While I do recommend it, please be aware the game is extremely overpriced for what you are getting. I had to wait along time for it to go on sale for at least half price, because I had a feeling it was good, but not 14$ CND good...the game barely makes it to 2 hours playtime, I could just refund it, however I did genuinely enjoy it, so I wont. The "game" is essentially a motion comic with like a single minigame which is a rip-off from Space Invaders, everything else is just basically clicking on stuff and choosing options to advance the plot, while it was always pretty easy to figure out where to click, I did run into two instance where I could not figure out where to click because it wanted me to click in a very specific spot, but nothing game breaking. The plot and the artwork is what initially got me so interested in the game, as the store description says, in this game universe banging someone without loving them makes you both burs into flames, which raises a ton of interesting questions and implications. For example, humanity is essentially doomed as it can no longer reproduce, and rape is both murder and suicide. The whole POV thing was really interesting, the man is constantly seeing boobs and genitals everywhere since he hasn't been unable to have sex in along time, for the woman, it goes more into horror territory, which I am not sure why they didn't add those tags. The game is set during the night before Y2K, which may be nostalgic for those who lived through it. The game really dives into the issues of the relationship, which as someone who went through the pain of divorce, was really triggering for me, but the world doesn't revolve around me lol Overall, if you want a solid one shot comic book (which reminded me of the works of Inio Asano on the first half), this one is pretty good. The game technically has 3 endings so it expects you to replay it at least 3 times to unlock them all, but I will probably replay it after a few months... the ending I got was depressing man..lol Just remember as I said, to wait for a sale otherwise you will feel like you are getting ripped off.

I just finished with my 1st playthrough, picked the party and got the 3rd ending. So far, I love with the story, the characters, and also the soundtracks in the game. Though I felt like some songs kind of 'disturbing' me on focusing to the story; with their vocals, and dialogues to read some more. Haih, kacau! I didn't expect the [spoiler]ghosts and horror elements[/spoiler] in Chitra's perspective, which is great! Some kind of good twist. Kudos! Since this game is made by Malaysian publisher, I'm so proud of it. Tahniah! Gonna play the game again to see other endings too!