AO Archives: Midnight Ride

Well, it's time for another edition of AO Archives. Last time we discussed the game Lustful Valley. If you remember that review, you'll remember I wasn't overly keen on it. It looked nice, sure, and the premise was good, but there was a lot of wasted potential there. It probably wasn't the best starting point to this project but it got the ball rolling and lined up our second entry - Midnight Ride.

So, was Midnight Ride good, bad, or somewhere in the middle? There's only one way to find out; let's take a look at Midnight Ride!

Quick warning: I'm going to discuss the ending and it's going to be disturbing.

First Off, What is Midnight Ride?

Midnight Ride is an adult visual novel (which should tell you exactly what you're getting into). It was developed and published by a company called, and I'm not making this up, Horny NPC Games. I didn't find much in the way of the game's development or company history so I'm guessing it's a pretty new company to the gaming scene. The game was subsequently released on April 12, 2020.

The Story

The story follows a girl named Serena as she's marooned on the side of the road by her boyfriend after an argument. She spends the whole night after that trying to catch a ride home - with different storylines based your choices.

These choices revolve around selecting and either accepting or declining a ride and erm...sex. Certain decisions will lead to sexual intimacy between Serena and whomever she rides with. Of course, not everyone that offers a ride is going to be friendly - in fact most of them are just angling for sex to begin with - so you'll have to be careful about how you interact with everyone.

Pros and Cons of Midnight Ride

This is going to be a VERY short section.

I liked the art design and the way that certain choices affected the story. I also kind of like the idea of a character being forced to try and hitch a ride home at midnight - I'm a horror movie fan, and there's plenty of horror movie potential here.

That said, the story itself is...flat. There's not a whole lot to it and, being that this is an Adults Only title, I think we know why. I would've liked to see a more developed story so that we actually relate to and care about the main character.

The final ending, and this is going to be...disturbing. If you don't take any of the rides offered, Serena will come to a cabin in the woods occupied by a seemingly nice guy. I think you can see where this is going. She falls asleep and when she wakes up, she's surrounded by naked dudes who proceed to...erm...take advantage of her for several days before getting bored and letting her go.

This is very grim, and I don't think anyone really wants to play a game where the ending is pretty much set in stone. The music is also very repetitive.

Final Thoughts: Is it Actually Worth Playing?

This is a subjective question, but my answer is...kind of. If you're looking to kill time and don't mind a flat storyline, then yeah, this one's okay. If you're looking for something with more substance to it, then this might not be for you.

Some of the content may disturb you as well - especially if you've been the victim of sexual abuse - so that's something else to consider. Otherwise, it's not a bad visual novel and ultimately it's up to you whether you want to play it or not; these are, after all, just the thoughts of one guy on the internet!

I hope you enjoyed this review, thanks for reading and I'll see you for the next one!