Hellnight, known as Dark Messiah (ダークメサイア, Dākumesaia) in Japan, is a first-person survival horror video game[1] developed by Dennou Eizou Seisakusho and published by Atlus Co.[2] in collaboration with Konami in 1998.

The game opens with the protagonist fleeing from a group of notorious cult members through the city streets and escaping on a late-night subway train.

Time passes and the protagonist's train is derailed by the creature roaming the tracks, as if purposely being drawn to that point.

The protagonist and Naomi travel deeper into the sewers and find a place called "The Mesh", an underground area full of self-sufficient citizens who have given up their identities above ground to live a more peaceful life.

Leroy Ivanoff is a 30-year-old veteran Russian soldier that follows the creature deeper into The Mesh in a quest for vengeance for destroying his team.

Rene Lorraine is a French journalist intent on exposing the secret of the cult that are kidnapping people around Tokyo.

Throughout the game, players must travel through different areas of The Mesh and beyond, and must solve puzzles to progress to the surface.

Although the game does not allow any physical force towards the enemy, players are still able to 'stun' them with the help of their companions; the number of possible stuns differs with each character.

The player must be able to interact, take note of clues and find alternative paths to avoid losing a member in the group or other negative phenomena.

It has never been made clear if this is intentional to scare the player with a 'pop-up' cast (the creature 'pops up' albeit animated) or if it is due to budget and time restraints.

The monster never attacks the player in these rooms (except for one instance), so they can be seen as a quick safe haven before venturing out into the tunnels again.

The game's atmosphere relies on alternating between the puzzles and solutions in certain rooms (the 2D renders) and the dangerous legwork between each point of safety (the 3D world where the creature roams).

[11] Gamers' Republic, however, praised the game saying "Dark Messiah accomplishes what it sets out to do—deliver a suspenseful experience", adding "I had a blast".