Midnight Scenes: Among Graves review

• Reviews by Pascal Tekaia
• Published:

The sixth series installment goes to some dark places for another haunting narrative-driven experience

One of my favorite gaming experiences of 2024 was playing through all five entries in Octavi Navarro and Susanna Granell’s Midnight Scenes horror anthology to catch up, culminating with A Safe Place, the darkest and most ambitious installment yet from a storytelling perspective. Now the Twilight Zone-inspired franchise has received its next chapter in Among Graves, exploring topics like the inevitability of death, ancestral legacy, and the sins of the fathers through the lens of a small-town cemetery caretaker. While it doesn’t quite surpass its immediate predecessor, which really hit home for me, this entry is every bit as grim and dreary, with a narrative that even manages to tug at the heartstrings when it’s not taking you to the dark corners of your mind.

Like most of the Midnight Scenes games, Among Graves is a fully standalone episode, so anyone new to the fold is invited to jump on in. This one sees us follow new protagonist Matthew Turtle, who lives in the kind of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town the series typically features. Matty is the keeper of Mantle Peak’s cemetery, tending to its graves and assisting with funerals when needed. Lately, however, he’s been burning the candle at both ends, trying to keep up with his daily duties while also taking care of his newborn daughter, Emma. Tragically, Matty’s wife Kate has (very) recently passed away, and her loss has taken a toll on Matty’s mental well-being and impacted the effectiveness of his greater purpose in the community. 

You see, Matty has the uncanny ability to speak with the spirits of the dead, a skill passed down through his family for generations. As the game opens, we accompany Matty and Emma on a pleasant stroll through town, enjoying some fresh air and touching base with some neighbors, even picking up the odd request to pass on messages to the dearly departed. However, this wholesome facade is soon shattered as we overhear snippets of whispered conversation of a far more negative nature: apparently, losing his wife has made it difficult for Matty to touch the Veil (as the game calls the realm of death), jeopardizing his role as the town’s medium. But their resentment is the least of his concerns, as Matty’s troubles are only just beginning.

As has been the case in the Turtle family for generations, when the current medium begins to lose their powers, the responsibility must be taken up by the next relative in line, with the fading medium perishing soon after. Try as he might to deny his fate, it seems Matty’s time is rapidly approaching its end, no matter how hard he attempts to avoid the nightmare creatures stalking his house at night, patrolling outside during thunderstorms, or appearing out of thin air wherever they please. Boarding his windows doesn’t help. Neither does the loaded shotgun standing ready in the corner. The Veil will not be denied, and it is about to send its Messenger to satisfy the terms of a pact made long ago.

As the game unfolds, we’re filled in on more of the details behind the Turtle family’s strange power and why demonic creatures are after them. Not surprisingly, the answer to all these questions lies buried in the past, and little by little the narrative peels back its layers, exposing the immense price old Hermann Turtle, the town’s founder, once paid, and how the family’s fate is intertwined with that of Mantle Peak itself.

Before that, however, as Matty slips further into desperation, the visions he sees start to become more and more sinister. This is where Among Graves embraces some fun horror vibes, ranging from eerie apparitions plaguing Matty during the nightly storms to trips down to the basement to restart a stalled generator. Fans of haunted house tales will find plenty to enjoy here. While it lasts, anyway, as like all the other entries in the series, this one has quite a short runtime, easily completed in a single hour-and-a-half sitting.

I’m a big fan of the type of throwback pixel art style used in Midnight Scenes, and Among Graves doesn’t disappoint. Matching the game’s gothic tone, its environments are suitably dark and dreary, denying us the sight of blue skies and bright sunshine even when outdoors. Instead, the heavens are gray and perpetually overcast, forests impenetrable and uninviting, while glimpses into Mantle Peak’s past are depicted exclusively in shades of gray. It’s not all graveyards and basements, however, as we also spend time in lighter locales, like the local gas station, the grounds of a posh rehab clinic, and an antiseptic motel room (complete with a blinking neon sign outside the window). Even then, the tendency of the Veil demons to appear anywhere at the drop of a hat kills any sense of safety you may feel, despite there being no actual danger to the player.

Midnight Scenes: Among Graves

Genre:	Horror
Presentation:	2D or 2.5D, Side-scroller
Theme:	Paranormal, Psychological
Perspective:	Third-Person
Graphic Style:	Pixel art
Gameplay:	Quest
Control:	Point-and-click
Game Length:	Short (1-5 hours)
Difficulty:	Low

As good as the backgrounds are, most notable visually are the specific scenes carefully chosen for their cinematic impact, when we get detailed close-ups of key characters or creepy moments that beg for a zoomed-in angle. For instance, the Veil’s Messenger is a disquieting figure from a distance, but seeing his skeletal, lizard-like features up close and personal while hearing his insectoid buzzing will quickly sear his demonic grimace into your memory.

As usual with this series, character dialog is unvoiced but the text is accompanied by recorded snippets of grumbling, sighing, huffing and puffing, and other “mood” sounds to indicate the character’s mindset. It generally works fine, though the character animations and dialogue are expressive enough on their own without having to verbally clue us in on how everyone is feeling as well, and it can occasionally distract from the impact of a scene.

Propping up the atmosphere is a moody, haunting soundtrack that pairs quite well with the lo-fi presentation and macabre themes. Sad but melodious dirges recreate a funeral-parlor-like ambiance, somber and melancholy without being cheesy or hogging the spotlight. There are also plenty of moments devoid of music, filled only with everyday sounds like the ticking of a clock or the crowing of scavenging ravens. 

During gameplay, Among Graves operates as a basic 2D side-scroller, with you clicking to direct Matty where to go and what hotspots to examine, which come already highlighted to make them impossible to miss. Most scenes only have a handful of interactive objects, all easily identifiable, and the majority of them will simply bring up a box or two of descriptive text. It’s very no-frills, completely lacking puzzles to solve or inventory items to find or use. When things happen, they happen on autopilot, and your role as a passive observer is only interrupted when it’s time to choose subjects in conversation or steer Matty to the next location to move the story forward. 

However, that’s not to say the experience feels rote. The writing is strong throughout, with believable and charming interactions between Matty, the townspeople, and the occasional ghost. It’s easy to see that Emma is Matty’s light, as he dotes on her and would do anything for her, and we get sweet moments when it’s her bedtime or when she’s enjoying a silly moment playing in the day-lit cemetery grounds. 

At the same time, Matty’s plight is portrayed with a good amount of humanity, and we really feel for him as he loses his grip on reality and becomes increasingly desperate. Switching to new playable characters in the game’s latter half also keeps things interesting. The narrative is well-paced, always moving along at a fast clip to get to the next story beat, so it never outstays its welcome. Sticking to its dark themes, the ending doesn’t pull any punches either, and the story’s finale is as ambiguous as the best Twilight Zone episodes often were.

Final Verdict

As with the previous games, the sixth Midnight Scenes entry straddles the line between an interactive game and an on-rails viewing experience, as its primary purpose is to tell an intriguing story without giving you lots of agency over it. Its scope is identical to what the last few games have offered up, so returning players will know exactly what to expect. While perhaps not quite as viscerally impactful as A Safe Place, Among Graves is very much a worthwhile follow-up that expands the anthology series with yet another unique, intriguing short-form horror story, with plenty of creepy vibes and dark content to satisfy genre fans.

Pascal played Midnight Scenes: Among Graves on PC using a review code provided by the game's publisher.