{"id":73015,"date":"2021-06-08T14:00:49","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T13:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/18.134.249.59\/?p=73015"},"modified":"2021-06-08T11:43:21","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T10:43:21","slug":"dark-nights-with-poe-and-munro-nothing-po-faced-about-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigbossbattle.com\/dark-nights-with-poe-and-munro-nothing-po-faced-about-this\/","title":{"rendered":"Dark Nights with Poe and Munro \u2014 Nothing po-faced about this"},"content":{"rendered":"
Dark Nights with Poe and Munro<\/i><\/b> is more brilliantly insane entertainment from the people behind <\/b>The Infectious Madness of Dr. Dekker<\/i><\/b><\/a> and <\/b>The Shapeshifting Detective<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/h5>\n

I like interactive movies. As a youngster, such a statement would be met with a certain level of derision due to the fact that the mid-to-late 90s era of these games was weak to say the least. In recent years though, this genre has grown and grown into something really quite good. From the choice driven efforts of <\/span>Late Shift<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>She Sees Red<\/span><\/i><\/a>, to more experimental releases such as <\/span>Her Story<\/span><\/i> and the aforementioned <\/span>The Infectious Madness of Dr. Dekker<\/span><\/i>, there\u2019s an ever growing collection of games for those looking for a narrative experience featuring real actors. <\/span>Dark Nights with Poe and Munro<\/span><\/i> is the latest release from D\u2019Avekki Studios, featuring characters previously appearing in <\/span>The Shapeshifting Detective<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taking the form of an episodic TV show, <\/span>Dark Nights with Poe and Munro<\/span><\/i> features the titular characters hosting their night time radio show in the small town of August. Discussing things from local news to hosting calls from listeners, the pair find themselves caught up in strange happenings in the town over the course of six short, loosely connected stories. Over the course of each episode you\u2019ll follow the pair on their adventures and make choices that will change how the tale progresses before reaching a conclusion that may or may not be satisfying depending on what you\u2019ve discovered.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The X-Files vibes are strong!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This being a choice driven game means you\u2019ll only see a portion of what\u2019s on offer in each playthrough. Thankfully, each episode clocks in at only around 25 minutes, meaning that a replay to find out more isn\u2019t going to be too time intensive for those looking for a shorter experience. With that said, much like many games that follow this sort of structure, you can end up not really having a great narrative, or one that doesn\u2019t make a huge amount of sense at times as you\u2019ll only be getting part of the picture. This is clearly designed with multiple plays in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

More irritating though, is that some of the choices are really not very clear. At points in the story, you\u2019ll be presented with a split screen view showing the different choices you can make. The problem here is that those choices are often <\/span>very<\/span><\/i> unclear. You might have Poe and Munro conversing about what objects could be in a mysterious vial before you need to decide between a sandwich and a drink. This makes little sense in the context and the significance of it is quite unclear. Choosing between phoning the police or locking a door could be presented as a phone and a door option, which makes sense, but this felt like the exception rather than the rule.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A lot of the stories have ambiguous endings, adding to the mystery of the town.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, oddities like this do tie in to how quirky these episodes are. I got a sense of late 90s Saturday night British TV shows <\/span>\u2014 who remembers Jonathan Creek? \u2014<\/span> which for someone my age I found quite enjoyable. The chemistry between Poe and Munro is tremendously engaging thanks to a combination of great acting and fun writing. Every time Poe started on a monologue I was utterly engaged with his voicework as I looked forward to Munro\u2019s next cutting remark. Their relationship was a constant source of interest, as were the individual tales that were spun throughout each episode. From X-Files style investigations to an utterly bonkers <\/span>Dr Dekker<\/span><\/i> crossover, there was always something to enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame though that the episodes didn\u2019t link together in any meaningful way. Whilst you could see the developing relationship between the two lead characters, the choices you made in episode one seemed to have no real bearing on events in subsequent ones. This can be an issue with games like this, as huge arrays of branching paths can be very complex to bring back together, especially when live actors are involved, so I didn\u2019t look on this too harshly. I did appreciate the (now fairly common) feature that showed how your choices compared to other players. Turns out I was in the minority in most instances. Read into that what you will.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What the choices mean aren’t always clear.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In spite of a few flaws, I really enjoyed my time with <\/span>Dark Nights with Poe and Munro<\/span><\/i>. The utterly bonkers, almost David Lynch-esque stories kept me quite engaged as I awaited what insanity would crop up next, whilst the wonderful performances from the cast kept everything moving along very well. The excellent music punctuated the scenes well, although occasionally made it tricky to hear some of the dialogue. D\u2019Avekki Studios continue to release fun, mysterious FMV games, and I continue to be keen to see what they do next. If it\u2019s another season of this, I certainly wouldn\u2019t mind spending another couple of dark nights in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dark Nights with Poe and Munro<\/span><\/i> is available now on Xbox<\/a>, Playstation<\/a>, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n