Dark Nights with Poe and Munro Review: Supernatural Hodge Podge

D’Avekki Studios’s Dark Nights with Poe and Munro is without a doubt an enjoyable supernatural hodge podge of ideas; some interesting, some not so much. While D’Avekki seems very aware of what they are making and don't stray away from it, a lot of what they try falls short. Even when elements seem interesting they end feeling disjointed overall. Dark Nights with Poe and Munro held my attention thanks to a narrative that ebbs and flows, but the product as a whole simply lacked execution of the overall vision.

Story(Spoiler-free)

Dark Nights with Poe and Munro is an FMV adventure contained in six chapters. However, each chapter feels so disjointed you could play them as stand alone experiences and potentially get a better result. You play as late night talk radio hosts using the aliases Poe and Munro in the town of August, yes like the month. Taking no time at all, Poe and Munro quickly experience the wackiness the supernatural can bring.

These supernatural themes, cheesy or not, aren’t really that original, but they do attempt to portray them in unique ways. Unfortunately, the intrigue only carries you so far. These themes are so tonally scattered and executed poorly that it leaves an overall feeling of being disjointed. Themes like, werewolves, murder in cold blood, magic paintings, therapy, pysches, and much more. Narrative twists also feel disjointed as some don't feel earned or share little to no consequence in the next chapter.

Both Poe and Munro also feel disjointed. They share little to no through lines between chapters, leaving them hard to pin down as the characters. Their developments never feel earned. For example, Munro goes from being downright terrified in one episode to being borderline heroic in the next without any real inspiration to get her there.

I eventually caught on to a plot point that was actually pretty well done and I enjoyed very much, between the two of them that helped explain some awkwardness on screen that came before. This plot point assisted with the sexual overtones that were sprinkled in since the beginning and the overall relationship between Poe and Munro. This plot point aside, however, I felt myself getting more and more confused as I progressed and even replaying episodes differently didn’t help. In fact replaying them made it worse for continuity sake.

Presentation 

Each and every episode of Poe and Munro’s FMV adventures opens with a super cool eye catching cinematic coupled with a ballad or jam. These FMV episodes consisted of very few locations with small sets. I think I saw a total of under ten different rooms. That being said, I think they did well with these sets making the most of what they had. While the main two stars acted fairly, practically everyone else’s acting was pretty patchy. Patchy enough to take me out of the experience at times as they seemed distant from the scene in every emotional way. For example, there is a scene where a father is being confronted about the brutality of his son’s murder and it appears as if he is merely reading off a script and nothing more. He conveyed little to no emotion at all about his son’s murder, and it wasn’t a scene where he’s emotionally distant from trauma. He just didn’t convey anything at all.

Gameplay

The limited amount of gameplay Dark Nights with Poe and Munro does have always invoked a relaxed feel. The only time you are playing per say, is when you press a button to select a choice. Some choices are merely a single press, while others are tapping enough within the time limit given. It is worth mentioning that you can change the choices in the settings allowing you to have infinite time to make said choices. This setting option in particular supports my relaxed play feel even more.

The choices you make do have genuine consequences. A specific choice I made actually killed a character so I would say that counts as a consequence. Now, since these choices have real consequences within the narrative, you should be able to differentiate whether a choice is a single press or multiple like I mentioned above. Well, you can’t until you press. Which may or may not be what got that character killed. Whoops.

My absolute favorite chapter and aspect of the game came in chapter four. This chapter was like a fish out of water as it was unlike anything the other chapters attempted to do. Chapter four is based around Munro being in a trance and talking to a therapist. Well, you are that therapist. This entire segment was super interesting as it had Munro essentially talking directly to the player and the game simultaneously. So many interesting layers were pulled back and from these layers sprung enticing dialogue segments. The therapy setting utilized here made for interesting narratives and was far and away my favorite and most genuine aspect of the game as a whole.

Breakdown

Game: Dark Nights With Poe and Munroe

Developer: D’Avekki Studios

Availability: PS4/5, Xbox One/X/S

Reviewed on: Xbox Series S

Runtime: Around 4 hours

Pros:

+ Intriguing Ideas

+ Chapter 4

Cons:

- Little Continuity

- Lacks Execution

- Supporting Cast

Final Thoughts

Overall, Dark Nights with Poe and Munro has shining moments, but the bulk of the relaxed experience is very disjointed and lacks a lot of continuity. Interesting ideas that could push the boundaries of FMV games are introduced, but the surrounding cast both in its actors and ideas lacks execution leaving the final product feeling lackluster overall. Play chapter four if nothing else.

Reviewed by Austin Ernst