Night Book
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Night Book
Night Book is lost in the magnum sea of similar productions and you have plenty of titles to play before jumping on the unfortunate protagonist and her cursed book.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Night Book is a good example of the kind of modern FMV game that Wales Interactive produce. It brings together an interesting story with some strong performances and a topical site of anxiety. At a run time of about 45 minutes for each playthrough this is perfect for a quick play with a glass of wine but may not feel like the best value. There's plenty of replayability though if you want to unlock all the endings, but many of them involve only slight variations of events you'll have seen before. Night Book is very much an FMV interactive experience rather than a game but it is undoubtedly a solid example of its kind. Just don't go into it expecting much in the way of gameplay.
The FMV acting is great, as are the production values but ultimately the story just doesn't hold up. There's simply too much repetition required to uncover everything Night Book has to offer.
The story is slight, and possessed Dad – Jim Carver from The Bill for the 30-somethings among you – is more amusing than scary. The constraints of filming during a pandemic are clear – no two people are ever in the same room at the same time – and in terms of production values it's more school play than Hollywood. But Julie Dray is a sympathetic lead and the run time is barely an hour and change so it never has an opportunity to outstay its welcome.
Night Book is a good interactive movie. As a horror film, I may be afraid enough or predictable, but the story works from start to finish. He knows how to hook you from the first moment. In addition, in its playable part, although it is very simple and nothing out of the world, it is effective. It does not bother, it is well integrated and the reaction times are so fair that many times we will act more by inertia than by reasonocinio.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Ironically, Night Book makes a better argument for replaying than ever starting it.
As much as I wanted Night Book to be good, not even FMV can salvage this otherwise lackluster experience. Despite solid acting performances from the entire cast, it isn't enough to elevate this paint-by-numbers slog to the next level. It's probably best to leave this tome on the shelf where it belongs.
If you’ve enjoyed Wales Interactive’s FMVs in the past, then I’m fairly confident in saying you’ll find a lot to like in Night Book. Despite being created in challenging conditions, it comes together with top-notch production values, excellent acting and great storytelling. It may never be truly edge-of-your-seat stuff, but it’s gripping enough that you’ll likely want to hunt down multiple endings.
