GAME REVIEW – Midnight Girl (PC)

By Marty Mulrooney

Midnight Girl is a 2D point-and-click adventure game developed by Italic ApS, a Copenhagen-based indie game company founded by Thomas Ryder and Camilla Pedersen. Set in France during the mid-1960s, players take control of late-teen tomboy Monique, an amateur cat-burglar living in Paris who ends up crossing paths with a legendary thief called The Night Owl.

Fans of The Silent Age – which AMO’s 2016 review described as ‘a gripping tale of time travel gone wrong’ – will immediately recognise the simplistic yet beautiful art style of Midnight Girl. It should therefore come as no surprise that they share the same art designer: Thomas Ryder created the graphics, music and design for both games, making this new release something of a spiritual successor. This is only a good thing, as Midnight Girl immediately charms with its visual presentation.

The game is split into 12 chapters, with each chapter set in a specific location. The first chapter takes place in Monique’s apartment building as she prepares for her latest heist, serving as a gentle introduction to both the protagonist and the mechanics of the game. Moving around within and interacting with the various environments is all controlled with a simple left click of the mouse, and the game’s inventory is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Using its side-on perspective to great effect, the player can double-click to make Monique run and she’s certainly no slouch. Many of the chapters involve locations with many different interior rooms that must be revisited once certain items have been discovered. Backtracking can easily bog down an adventure game, but Midnight Girl avoids this issue by making traversal effortless, smooth and quick.

There’s a delightful rhythm to the gameplay, which – although not particularly challenging – continually makes the player feel clever as they pick up new items and zip through the current level to use them on the various hotspots they have mentally stored away. Finding something as simple as a coin can set in motion a chain reaction of puzzle-solving success, and progression always feels natural and earned as a result.

The story is also pretty engaging despite its simplicity: after ending up in jail after a heist gone wrong, Monique finds herself teaming up with The Night Owl to escape and they subsequently form a partnership as they plan an even bigger heist. There is no voice acting in Midnight Girl, but the dialogue is snappy and well-written – particularly between the two main characters – and the visuals do a lot of the storytelling anyway.

Monique has a pretty touching backstory justifying why she wants to make some serious money, and The Night Owl has an interesting subplot involving his former partner that makes Monique (and the player) uncertain whether he can be trusted. There aren’t any major twists, and the focus is firmly on the puzzle-solving, but what plot there is works well. Adding to the atmosphere is a gorgeous, minimalist soundtrack that occasionally throws in a muted trumpet solo for added je ne sais quoi.

Lasting around three hours, Midnight Girl isn’t a long game – but there’s no filler either. Each moment spent in its company is filled with charm and class, and it’s a lot of fun moving from one chapter to the next. It’s also not an expensive game, launching on Steam for £12.79 here in the UK. Sadly, there are no Steam achievements and the use of the standard Windows mouse cursor is a little bit jarring at first, but hopefully, a future patch can iron out these minor niggles.

Fans of The Silent Age – and fans of the genre in general – shouldn’t let Midnight Girl pass them by. It’s gorgeously drawn and sounds quite lovely too, presenting a dreamlike experience that captivates while it lasts. It ends far too soon, there’s no denying that, but Monique and The Night Owl are wonderful characters to spend a few hours with – I would certainly love to see them starring in future heist adventures together.

8 OUT OF 10