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TL; DR A dark, atmospheric title with fun level design, cinematic bosses, and a combat system that is engaging and rewarding to learn. Hunt the Night is awesome and definitely worth a play.
Note keyboard works well.

Story

Vesper is a member of the Stalkers, an Order dedicated to the protection of humankind and the defence of the Seal of Night, they are ruthless, and efficient. However, the Order was betrayed, the Seal is breaking, Night is encroaching, and humanity faces destruction once again. It is her duty to save the everlasting day and to confront the traitor, her very own father.
Vesper is a mute, and so she can never defend herself, as a result every member of her Order sees her as damned, little better than her traitor father, and so they expect of her to take on the most dangerous assignments and generally fix things on her own. So, her quest is not only to save the day but also to clear her name and to make up for the sins of her father, this hostile attitude and her willingness to assist them is intriguing and is one of the major conflicts in Hunt the Night.
However, Vesper is not entirely mute, she can speak, just not in the real world, her only interlocutor is Umbra, a being that grows stronger and stronger as evening approaches. She constantly pressures Vesper, taunting her, and rightfully pointing out that the Order would kill her if they knew about Umbra, this duo, with their push and pull, their own wants and needs, are another central part of the narrative.
These aspects are not only handled in a way that makes them interesting, but it also made me invested in the interpersonal struggles, it made me root for Vesper, and made me hope that she will get the recognition she deserves.
A certain design choice can be considered a blessing or a curse and that is the game’s reliance on optional writing. Important dialogue is mandatory but hints about the next boss can be missed by simply not talking to certain NPCs, other important revelations such as those relating to Vesper’s family and her father’s motives are relegated to collectible notes.
These are hard to miss if you explore thoroughly but a player can be fooled into thinking that all the notes are puzzle hints or simply background lore. I do like the worldbuilding, and I do think that people who get to that point are invested enough to actually read the lore, but it lacks gravitas, you would think Vesper or Umbra would acknowledge it in any way, but they simply do not. Presumably because certain players might have missed it, so they did not have time to make unique dialogue for it. Yet the narrative does suffer a bit and unfortunately it makes it feel like the ending is lacking certain resolutions.

Presentation

Hunt the Night is visually striking, they utilise stark contrasts to make stunning areas with reds and whites like Bloodisfell, drab colours to make suffocating undergrounds or unnatural hues to sell a mutated, wasted, Golden Meadow. The Cathedral is another stand out, a sprawling, and opulent location, it is beautiful and oppressive in equal measures.
These areas have impressive designs, pixel art, but above all, atmosphere in common. It can be difficult for games to feel so immersive, and to make it seem so effortless, but Hunt the Night does just that and that is fantastic.
We also get a number of horrible creatures of the Night, highlighting how dangerous it is and what it can do to unsuspecting humans. Some look like generic undead, but most—especially later on—do look disgusting, mutated and properly threatening with the bosses being the most impressive of all.
This is all certainly helped by the OST and the overall sound design, because they are equally impressive. Songs harmonise perfectly with the areas and makes the whole experience even more engrossing, they often have this sorrowful, oppressive air to them, while also nailing tracks that are more tense and anxiety inducing.
Great soundtrack, I only wish all the songs were available for purchase or streaming.

Gameplay

Hunt the Night is an action-adventure game and it does not like holding your hand. Its areas are often quite large, or feel large, on account of all the optional paths. It does not give you clear direction, and it also leaves a lot of things unexplained, so you are typically asked to find your own way and seek out what hints there are on your own.
Not only are you hunting for keys, but you will also be doing a handful of puzzles, and a lot of dashing to avoid pits. It is fun, and there is often a clue or two hidden somewhere, but as long as you are observant you can figure things out on your own.
However, I found the platforming puzzles to be a bit annoying, sometimes they are a very close shave, incentivising you to use Umbra’s powers. I do not mind but sometimes the game stacks your inputs even after you have fallen in a hole, so Vesper dashes as soon as she can, falling into another pit and taking out another heart. That does not feel good.
Yet, the somewhat meandering nature of exploration works especially well since it suits the level design, and it feels rewarding since there is always something to see, cool visuals, equipment, mini-bosses, or lore. It feels great, and because the game is short it is easy to keep track of all the places that are gated by abilities as well as those that are game long key hunts.
This also gives you some time to familiarise yourself with the combat. It favours cautious aggression, enemies are individually weak but come at you in groups or waves so you should dissect encounters, prioritising targets, choosing when to use your gun, and using abilities when they are most beneficial. Out of bullets? Just attack in melee and you will scrounge up another bullet in no time. Getting hit is a bigger concern because your healing is limited, and enemies tend to wear you down as you explore large dungeons so, you need to be cautious, and you need to be aggressive.
However, all these things are pretty easy, so easy that bosses can feel like a difficulty spike. You go from one or two attacks to combos, magic, whole hosts of adds, and fights that can be so visually busy that it gets overwhelming and difficult to parse. Yet it works so very well.
Hunt the Night uses mechanics that I can find frustrating in other games, instant death attacks, bullet hells, endless adds, and more, but they make them fun, and satisfying to figure out.
It feels very rewarding once you have nailed a gimmick, and understand perfectly what the boss is doing, and what that means for you and your tactics.
It also makes you play like Vesper, a Stalker, this is a hunt, so you observe your prey figure out how they move, what abilities they have, if you can stop those abilities and the most efficient way to destroy them.
However, there was one boss that got a bit annoying, it is otherwise an extremely fun but punishing boss, yet it has an unintuitive instant death attack right before it dies. I died to that attack, several times, because it is a field of instant death, and that field evaporates. I thought I was in the clear and could finish off the boss, but no, you are meant to chill in safety until you get a pop up. It feels weird, but it does not represent Hunt the Night, because Hunt the Night is a great game with great bosses, and some really fun encounters.