Robots at Midnight

Can't recommend it. Too short for the asking price and it took them almost 2 months to release a (first) patch. I understand that they may be a small team but i still pay with my wallet and i didn't feel like i got my money's worth. As a demo for a yet-to-be-released project, it would be a good appetizer. A full game though? Not exactly.

While I can't fully recommend this game at the full price, I did have a rather pleasant experience with it. I wish I could put a neutral option in the ratings Combat wise: breaks up into light/heavy attacks, mitt abilities, and parrying. Their implementation had me using the majority of the kit while fighting leading me to finish the game in basically one session. The first two mitt abilities offer nice knockout/paralyzing options along with being able to bounce off of singular enemies to knock them down (crowd control). So when fighting multiple enemies, the synergy is really felt. There is a jank to everything that take getting used to which is a neutral critique, effecting the flow of combat. The parry would be extremely OP (perfect parry paralyzes all enemy's for 4-5 seconds which is enough to kill anything) if not for the weird attack timings/button registration which make it more difficult to use; although the game has a very limited enemy selection so even that won't likely be a problem. Boss's: There are about 5-6 unique boss's, otherwise its mostly repeat (granted only the final boss took more then 2x attempts to beat) length: <7 hours on master mode. The shortness is a benefit as the combat doesn't feel too old by the time you finish, but it does feel rather limited in scope due to that. The game is pretty much split into two acts, so the games name sake is only seen rather briefly. Aaaannnnddd while it technically is closer to the end of the game, it feels like you get free OP weapon/armor for kinda minimal effort, which is another kinda neutral comment Visuals: probably the weakest aspect. Even on high graphics it just looks kinda bland, the open areas look clean yet blurry. The character/enemy designs are well done, wish the rest of the world got more unique flare. Characters: The very few characters you do meet are charming, the lack of voice acting is fine for the majority of them except the Zoe who feels awkwardly silent. There is still personality that comes though, but given the games length it would have gone a long way Music: Loved it, wish there was more songs but it was the one thing that felt perfect for the game theme. Overall thoughts: Its a cute game that I really did had fun with but wish it was slightly more expansive in all aspects. The price point being $20 is why I can't give a blanket "pick this up right now" unfortunately, cause at this price point there are other similar souls-likes that have more to offer. *didn't really know anything about this game originally besides that it was made by the developers of maize (which you should play if you haven't cause its peak) which is partially why I wanted to support it regardless*

One of my favorite things about PAX is discovering new games as you walk around the floor. The said game is added to your Steam wishlist, and you patiently wait for the release. If luck is on your side, a demo will be available so you can try the game in the comfort of your own home (don’t get me wrong, I love trying games out, especially with the developer at your side, but standing up for 8 hours takes a toll). One such game from PAX East 2024 was Robots at Midnight, which we covered (click me!). Well, the full game is now available on Steam. Can it deliver on the hype we had when we first tried out the live demo over a year ago? Developed by Finish Line Games, Robots at Midnight “is a retro-futuristic action RPG set on the ruined planet of Yob, a luxury world now left in decay and haunted by the machines once built to serve it (Steam).” You take on the role of Zoe, who has just woken up after 20 years of cryosleep, when she crash-lands on the planet. Her robot companion is in dire need of repair, and her father is missing. “Just be home before midnight.” (*More on this later) After being pulled from your pod by Doug, a robot, and meeting Hawkings, another robot, Zoe is off on her quest. Doug just wants to get back to his couch and TV, but don’t we all? As you venture forth, the thought that this open(ish)-world action RPG is a Soulslike may cross your mind. While it has many characteristics found in a typical Souls game… What makes a Souls game is a story for another day, but a huge feature is the stamina-based combat. That said, stamina-based combat does not solely make a Souls title. If this is a Souls game, it will go down in history as the most forgiving of Souls games. For starters, being a little overzealous in combat will not necessarily lead to death. Secondly, if you do die, you are not gambling with everything you have. Anyway, Zoe has access to light and heavy attacks, both of which can be performed while jumping. She can also dodge (a cool little backflip, if I don’t say), parry, and block. If you manage to parry an attack, you briefly stun your opponent. If you miss the parry, you can block the attack provided you have block tokens. Block tokens regenerate over time, but if you do not have any available, it would be in your best interest to dodge away. Note: block tokens do not always seem to appear in-combat. This should be a permanent fixture on screen as soon as you enter combat. The star of Zoe’s arsenal, though, is MITT. MITT serves several offensive and defensive functions. On the defensive side of the ball, Zoe can quickly dash away from unblockable/unparryable attacks or large-scale explosions. She can also kick off an enemy, disrupting their attack and creating some distance. Offensively, MITT can perform a supercharged punch, which can not only damage enemies but also knock them down. As you progress further into the story, Zoe can swap the punch for other abilities. MITT also serves as a double jump, propelling Zoe long distances. All of your attacks, MITT included, can hit multiple enemies, although it is rare for encounters to have more than 2-3 targets at any given time. The slice of gameplay from the demo that was shown last year is actually in the current version of the game. The big takeaway from the demo, though, was, after defeating a particular enemy, a cutscene occurs, and midnight arrives. Of course, as we said in the demo coverage, the game went The Sopranos route and faded to black. Well, now we know what happens. Something does happen indeed. The Steam page references midnight, and even good ol’ Doug has something to say about it. To be fair, there is a chance I hyped this up in my mind way too much, leading to what I consider a major letdown. This is a minor spoiler warning about the story, but I envisioned something akin to Breath of the Wild’s blood moon or maybe Fallout 76’s nuke strikes, where you need to evacuate the area or risk taking damage over time. The blood moon idea was partially correct, as the area becomes overpopulated with robots regardless of what was cleared on your pass through. These are also far more aggressive robots. THIS is not the disappointing part. The disappointing part is that this is just a story moment that only happens once more in the game. I imagined some form of day/night cycle or, at the very least, a countdown timer. Perhaps certain quests could only be done if you ventured out at night, or certain NPCs could only be found at specific times of day. Again, this could just be a me thing due to overexcitement or a vivid imagination. On to the suggestion box portion of the review. Zoe comes across a decent selection of weapons in her adventure. The inventory screen desperately needs a way to compare the weapons without having to commit stats to memory. Piggybacking on this, the upgrade system for MITT needs a better UI than just Hawkings letting you know if you have enough hard drives for an upgrade. Hard drives are found when defeating named enemies. The problem is that Hawkings just tells you he needs more hard drives. How many more little guy? Did you have a number in mind? Are you just guessing at this? Several times, I fast-traveled back to Doug’s house in the hopes of upgrading the MITT, only to be told Hawkings needs more. Last on the list is actually something that the developers are currently working on, so this is more of a heads-up. When you finish the game, there is an option for New Game +. What happens when you complete the story is unlock survivor mode. There is no New Game +, so clicking on it now (as of this writing) just starts a new game with a choice of difficulty from hero and master, which were always there, plus survivor. Admittedly, it is a weird placeholder, but at least I was able to get some clarification. Is Robots at Midnight a bad title? Not at all. Would I recommend it, even at full price ($19.99 or your regional equivalent), and with all the issues I mentioned? Absolutely. I actually had a blast playing through, and it is quite an enjoyable action RPG. Is it possible that I overhyped the game so much for myself since my first look at PAX? Without a doubt. That fact should not detract others from enjoying this title. On the easy (hero) difficulty, you are looking at a 5-6 hour game with master difficulty probably sitting around 8-10. Survivor mode adds a new level of replayability as healing and fast travel are limited. I would keep my eye on this game, though, and any future projects from Finish Line Games, as there is something to appreciate here. Full review with screenshots can be found at: https://www.deargamers.net/reviews/robots-at-midnight-review

Wow, this is one of those games where I wish Steam had a sort of yes, sort of no recommendation. It's a fun little souls-like (with nearly exactly Dark Souls controls), but the key word is "little." During my playthrough, I found three additional weapons and one piece of "armor." The weapons you find all have large detrimental stats on them, that you'll find yourself using the 2nd one (or maybe the 3rd) through the entire playthrough. Armor is one slot in the form of a jacket. There's only four enemy types in the entire game. Though the enemies might look slightly different, you'll find that there's three attack patterns: the speed run smacker, the head butter, and the fat round guy attacker. That goes for bosses, too, as most bosses inherit these same attack patterns which makes the game feel so samey throughout. Difficulty is not too bad and I did like the MITT abilities, but I found myself mostly using only the blaster. Nothing was more fun than charging it up and blasting a robot at point blank. The MITT also allows for some very hair-raising platforming, which is awful in places due to the erratic physics. Did I mention physics? The robots must be made out of aluminum foil as any time you knock them down and stun them, they fly away like they weight less than a pound. That lessens the benefit of stunning the enemies as you then have to run them down as they ragdoll across the room. This also applies to robots when you defeat them. You have to loot enemies manually, just as soon as you chase them down as they bounce and fly away from you. The bosses all look very nice, but they're sort of one-hit wonders: same two attacks over and over. Some of the bosses re-use the attack patterns of the normal enemies, too. None of the bosses are too difficult and you can completely cheese the final boss using the MITT and never use your actual weapon. The environments all look pretty much the same throughout: forested outside and derelict interiors that all look like the last place you visited. Level designs are pretty good, In one section you start opening up Souls-like shortcuts, but ultimately you never use them. And honestly, I feel like they only did that because the "bonfires" you use to rest suddenly dry up once you get to one specific location in the game. Every other location has one practically every time you pass through a door, so this seemed odd and I kept feeling like I was missing them. Also, the environments scream exploration, but there's rarely anything to find. Finally, the game is very, very short. It took me about 8 hours from start to finish of one playthrough. Knowing what I know now, I could probably get through it in less than 3 hours. I honestly thought I was coming up to the mid-game twist, but nope, credits started rolling. All in all, it's a fun game if you can get it on sale. I don't know if I could recommend it at full price. It's just too copy-pasted and short.

Genuinely fun game though it does have some uncommon performance issues and quirky bugs. Combat is satisfying enough. Music is satisfying. Story is good enough for a 6-10 hr experience. It left me wanting more.

This one's got a lot of heart, even if it lacks content. I give it a recommendation, despite it's short length, simply because as a sort of proof of what the devs of this game are capable of, it's a great showcase. This is the prototype for something that could be truly excellent one day, and in that sense, I'm happy to have contributed. I wish this team all the best in furthering their game development journey.

Juego entretenido, si se pone en dificultad maestra los jefes son muy interesantes con sus combos a lo dark souls, le veo falta de variedad de enemigos pero para ser un estudio pequeño es un gran trabajo

Although Robots at Midnight is far from a masterpiece. It is still perfect in every way. This game has such a charming and endearing art direction and you can really tell how much love was put into the world of Yob. The main reason I bought this game was mostly out of support for the dev's since they made maize as well which I very much enjoyed. However I did not expect to receive a quick but outstanding souls experience. This game definitely has its faults but it does so many things right. My main points of critique are that I WISH there was proper voice acting, the world that is built around the main character Zoe would just feel so much more impactful with the right voices attached. As well as the fact I wish there was more experimentation with boss fights. With bosses like Loogie, Case, Abomination, and Hand. They really shine because they bring something relatively new and interesting, and I wish there was more to the other bosses. This game is beautiful. And the love and passion is just fully on display right from the beginning. I am in LOVE with the art-style, I love the main character, I love the bot designs, I love the planet of Yob. If you are looking to get into your first souls-style game, this could definitely be a great first pick. And if you are looking for an authentic souls-like experience play through the game on Master mode first, it provides that kind of challenge. Love it. <3

It is quite satisfying to smash robots, boost jump off enemies, and pull off perfect parries. Everything feels good, and it's been a joy to explore the environment.

Robots at Midnight es un juego tipo "Dark Souls" divertidísimo y una muy buena puerta de entrada al género. Cuenta con dos modos de juego; "Heroína" para los más nuevos que quieran probar un juego de este tipo, donde los enemigos atacan algo mas lento exponiéndose más a un contraataque y "Maestra, para los jugadores que quieran un mayor desafío. La historia y la ambientación atrapan desde el primer momento y me encanta el giro que tiene el juego cuando llega la medianoche. La estetica es genial y tienes una gran variedad de armas y equipo que usar y mejorar, dandole profundidad y sensación de progreso. También lo he notado bien balanceado. ADVERTENCIA: No tiene guardado en Steam Cloud, por lo que no podreis jugar con la misma partida en distintos dispositivos a no ser que movais de uno a otro la partida a mano.