Nocturnals

Nocturnals follows Ted and Diego, two teenage boys who find each other in a quiet, dangerous post-apocalyptic town, told through branching dialogue choices that shape which of several distinct endings players reach. This review's sample confirms the central relationship lands as genuinely heartfelt for most players — and identifies a large, remarkably consistent complaint about how little time the game spends with them before it's over.

A relationship reviewers genuinely connect with

The praise for Ted and Diego's story is specific and consistent. "Nocturnals is a truly beautiful and heartfelt game. The chemistry between Ted and Diego is so genuine and wholesome, making their relationship feel sweet and natural," one reviewer with over 4,500 minutes logged writes. Another frames it through genre comparison: "A choices matter game like Until Dawn or The Walking Dead... A very cute LGBT+ story-line set in the apocalypse." A third reviewer directly and explicitly pushes back on criticism found elsewhere in the review section: "I've seen many VERY negative comments; 'too short, too gay, too simple in terms of graphics'... YOUR DECISIONS DEFINITELY MATTER!! I'm convinced people saying this simply [didn't engage with the choices]." That level of specific, personal investment in the central relationship recurs consistently across the sample.

A remarkably consistent complaint about length

Set against that praise, this review's negative sample converges overwhelmingly on the same complaint, regardless of how reviewers otherwise feel about the story. "I know the game is advertised as short but I was surprised when gameplay didn't even last 2 hours," one reviewer writes. Another quantifies it even more precisely: "Thought I would like it because I love story games. This game's story only lasted an hour. I wasn't even trying to speedrun it!" A third reviewer frames the core disappointment directly: "Right when the game feels like its going to really get good and begin it ends." That level of consistent, specific agreement across dozens of otherwise varied reviews suggests this is an accurate, structural characterization of the game's scope rather than a matter of differing expectations.

A prologue in disguise

Several reviewers explicitly frame the short runtime as evidence the game was designed as the opening chapter of something larger rather than a complete release. "This feels like a demo. I don't think it's a demo. I'm pretty sure this isn't just a demo," one reviewer writes, capturing the ambiguity directly. That framing turns out to be substantively accurate: Steam's own partner-events feed confirms the developer has already announced a sequel, "Nocturnals: Cacti Coast," continuing the story — directly supporting reviewer intuitions that this release functions more like a first episode than a self-contained whole.

A specific, serious bug report

Beyond the length debate, at least one reviewer raises a concrete technical complaint distinct from pacing: "It's bad as there is a glitch making it impossible to get through more than 2% of the game." This review's sample could not independently verify whether that specific issue has since been resolved, but it's a specific, checkable report worth flagging directly for prospective buyers.

What the update record shows

Steam's own partner-events feed confirms real, sustained post-launch support, with multiple language localizations, Steam Deck compatibility, and a mobile port added over the roughly year and a half following launch. But that same feed shows no evidence of added story content to the base release — the updates are consistently framed around translation, platform support, and bug fixes rather than expanding the narrative itself, which lines up with reviewer complaints that the substance of the game hasn't grown since its original release.

Weaker production elements beyond the art

Beyond the length debate, several reviewers separately raise specific criticisms of individual production elements distinct from the widely-praised art style. "That acting.. wow so terrible," one reviewer writes, describing a specific moment where a character's emotional reaction to another's death felt flat and unconvincing. Another reviewer identifies a related, concrete issue: no ability to skip previously-viewed dialogue when replaying for a different ending, meaning "I would have to sit through a hour of the same dialogue" just to see alternate outcomes. These are specific, addressable quality-of-life and performance gaps distinct from the broader "too short" complaint, and worth flagging directly for players planning to chase every ending.

A message some found heavy-handed

At least one detailed reviewer raises a more particular complaint about tone: "One of the most frustrating aspects was how the game seemed desperate to force a specific message or theme onto the player. It didn't feel naturally woven into the story, it was so overt and it completely broke immersion." That's a specific critique of narrative execution rather than subject matter itself, distinct from the broader praise for the central relationship, and it's fair to note that not every reviewer who engaged deeply with the story came away feeling its themes were delivered with a light touch.

Final verdict

Nocturnals succeeds at telling a genuinely affecting, well-received queer coming-of-age story, and this review's sample confirms real, consistent devotion to its central relationship and distinctive art style, even accounting for the rougher voice-acting and replay-friction complaints raised by a smaller number of reviewers. But a large, remarkably consistent negative-review theme describes a runtime too short to feel like a complete standalone purchase, a read directly supported by the developer's own confirmed plans for a sequel. Fans of short, choice-driven narrative games should go in understanding they're getting a first chapter rather than a finished story, priced and scoped accordingly.