A very good game. The music is sooooo good. Normally I don't pay much mind to music in games, but NitW's is so insanely good. The game is generally just really good, and my two biggest gripes are that I didn't personally care for probably 1/3 of the dialogue I encountered, and I felt there wasn't much of a point to the platforming. There weren't many rewards for platforming "challenges" (although the constellation stuff was really enjoyable and the music was incredible). The dialogue was good in that it felt like a real group of friends, but my main issue was simply that they don't talk like the kind of friends I keep for the most part so it felt a little grating for the characters to be the ZOMG!!! type at times.

To be honest, I was hoping to like this game a lot more than I did in the end. Still, especially in the first half it hit me quite hard. Often times conversations left me a bit speechless, because so many of the topics spoke to me and are present at where I’m at in life right now. It became something super personal for me, for better AND worse. Sadly though the narrative took some turns that threw me off and disconnected me emotionally. Especially the ‘revelation’ towards the end was so unnecessary imo. Also the game could’ve been a bit shorter overall. The art style and soundtrack were great, but somehow I’ve come to expect that recently, as most of the smaller games I play really shine in those creative aspects.

I tried on this one, I really did. This is a narrative-based game that largely fell flat for me, despite including a few elements that I normally enjoy. There are some important and relevant themes at work here: the decline of the American working class, suburban malaise, post-college ennui, etc. But the storytelling and mechanics surrounding these themes are frequently misguided in a way that dampened the entire experience.

The number one problem for me was my inability to connect with the protagonist. I get it, Mae is intended to be self-destructive and a bit vain. I just was missing the elements of the story that are supposed to make me feel any sympathy for her. Indeed, I think there were a number of times in the story when the developers were expecting me to feel something positive about Mae, and it just never landed. On the contrary, there were a few times in the story where Mae struck me as a toxic asshole more than anything (see: the scene where Mae and Bea go to the college bar in the city). I’ll readily admit that this objection is subjective, and clearly a lot of players empathized with Mae. She just didn’t work for me as a character, which really harmed my overall level of investment in the narrative.

What I think is less debatable (and more detrimental to the quality of the game) is that slow-as-molasses pacing and a dire lack of interesting gameplay mechanics are not part of a great recipe for success. The sense of not having anything to do is part of the story’s ethos, sure, but it’s a tough concept to sustain over an 8-10 hour game. There’s just not enough going on in the plot to justify the length of the game, so we just end up with a lot of dead time before anything occurs that’s actually relevant to the overall story. The developers clearly hoped that players would be willing to dawdle about and soak in the world they created, but the mechanical incentives for doing so just didn’t do it for me. There are a few mildly diverting minigames here, but otherwise there is very little going on gameplay-wise. I suppose that there’s technically platforming, but it’s perfunctory and thoroughly unnecessary. This ultimately ends up functioning as a walking simulator (which is fine) that has a few half-hearted attempts at adding actual gameplay (not so fine).

There are a few scenes in Night in the Woods that stuck with me. The relationship between Mae and her parents, for instance, is genuinely sweet and affecting. And bizarre cults are a trope that I will be always be down for. It’s just ended up being an hour or two of worthwhile content in a ten hour game that I otherwise found pretty boring.

This game isn’t for me and that’s okay.

Honestly this game is the furthest thing possible from my tastes and I was really only pushed to play because it happens to be my significant other’s favorite game. I can’t even say I’m disappointed since I more or less got the experience I assumed I was going to get from the general look of things. The presentation with the animal people living in what looks to be a rust belt is nice to look at though it's far away from my preferred aesthetic in video games, but at least it looks crispy good even on the nintendo switch. Most surprisingly it has a very memorable soundtrack with me even humming some of its tunes even when I’m not playing it. In terms of its presentation and production value, there really isn’t much to complain about as its definitely something that looks and sounds good. How does it play though? I might have some issues.

So the main character is essentially this cat creature girl who returns to her hometown after dropping out of college. From there you can usually hang out with either Bea or Gregg while some main story stuff plays out. It's a serviceable formula that works well in its setting as lots of lore details about possum springs are sprinkled coloring the background for something really interesting going on for sure.

My issue is that some of these characters just aren’t very likable to me at all. Most of the NPCs I talk to on my way to either of those two characters just don’t have much interesting things to say at all to the point where I kind of gave up talking to them by part 3. Mae and Gregg’s dynamic feels insufferable to me as they remind me of “le quirky young adults who wanna live life to the fullest” which I found juvenile without a decent payoff even at the conclusion of Gregg’s story. Bea was definitely more interesting though as her level-headedness clashed well with Mae’s obnoxiousness. Mae herself was just too aggravating to watch as her personality and a lot of the actions towards the end of the story to the point that I just don’t really care what happens to her.

Honestly, the first three parts of the story were just sort of slow and monotonous to me with occasional good nuggets of interesting dialogue such as Mae and Bea arguing about how Bea should live her life or when Mae’s mom snapped at her. The real meat of the story feels to be all squished into part 4 when some plot heavy stuff occurs. Wish they built towards this more because besides the mystery itself I’m unsure if they ever foreshadowed characters even being part of this twist but maybe I’m wrong there. Nonetheless the trippy stuff was pretty cool and the epilogue was actually a nice closure that wrapped a nice bow thematically to what the game is really about.

Do I actually like Night in the Woods? Eh sorta, the fact that I completed means I had enough good faith in it to keep going, but I’ll probably never revisit it again since so many things it does just rubs me the wrong way but maybe some might find it more endearing. It's definitely put together well and I can see why it's beloved by certain folks out there and more power to them. For now I’ll stick to what I like.

Equal parts stuff I loved and stuff I didn't.

The moment-to-moment writing is the real winner in this game. Every conversation with your friends, your parents, or just random folks in the town was great.
Some were laugh-out-loud funny, others were surprisingly impactful and meaningful. I couldn't wait to chat with my mom, dad, friends, and random townsfolk every day to see what they were up to and see what they had to say. I loved the characters in this game (with the exception of the main character)

But while the conversations are great, getting to those great moments is a chore. The gameplay is slow, and the game doesn't give you a "goal" or any sort of clue as to why you are playing this game until you're about 75% into the game. The counter-point to that is "the point is that there is no point" to which I say "Yeah but this is a video game".

There are one or two very minor questions it presents toward the beginning of the game, but any time those come up, Mae pushes them off later and later. Until you eventually get a pretty brief explanation.

Speaking of Mae, she is the absolute worst. Every decision she makes is selfish and every word she says is wildly insensitive. Watching your character interact with others while saying truly stupid things is like watching a car crash in slow motion. What's worse is the game occasionally gives you the "choice" of which very bad thing you want to say.

Night in the Woods simultaneously feels nice and short while also overstaying its welcome. It wants you to live in this world but doesn't give you enough to do. It's really a game about nothing more than chilling with friends. Those friends have nice things to say but I wish there was more to this than "nice conversations"

+ Fantastic moment-to-moment writing
+ Excellent characters
+ Great soundtrack
+ Gregg

- Big boring lulls between interesting bits
- Buries the "big story" lead about 6 hours into the game
- Main character is insufferable

Night in the Woods is simply an incredible game, one that gives off the feeling of settling down with a really good book. A lot of games that seriously focus on the state of our world and our societal issues can often feel a bit preachy or overwrought, but Night in the Woods pulls it off seemingly effortlessly. It perfectly captures the feeling of living in a world that is crumbling around you, where sometimes all you want to do is goof off with your friends, because the issues are too big for any one person to handle. There's this nagging feeling of existential despair hanging over the game, but it starts at the margins, just out of sight.

The opening acts of the story have a very cozy, almost Animal Crossing-esque vibe, as you become accustomed to the town of Possum Springs and settle into a daily routine. The recurring characters who appear each day imbue the town with life, and as the game goes on the amount of locations to check on each day increases. Although the platforming isn't super sophisticated, it's enough to make you feel as free and rambunctious as Mae does when she's running about through town. You begin to feel a hint of the stability that Mae was searching for when she dropped out of college, but it's tinged with a bit of sadness - her old friend Casey is gone, Bea seems to hate her guts for some reason, and Gregg is forming his own plans with his boyfriend Angus. Possum Springs is changing, and in some ways declining.

As the autumn progresses, you can palpably feel the slow shift in tone as Mae's mental health begins to take a toll, and more and more seemingly supernatural elements creep into the story. The middle quarters of the game are peppered with wonderfully surreal dream sequences in neon blue and pink that seem to wordlessly hint at the emotional and existential turmoil going on within Mae's head. It's these creepy elements that inform much of Night in the Wood's unique tone, and by the end of the game they are perfectly married to the game's themes about what it means to live in a society where people are only valued for their labor and the systems we uphold are designed to be able to crush us at a moment's notice.

Mae is just a normal person, a twenty-something year old with no job who couldn't handle the stress of college. She's not a hero who can fix the world, or even fix her friends' economic and interpersonal struggles. There are tons of moments in the game in which you are given dialogue options where neither options are the "right" thing to say, because Mae's social awkwardness makes it hard for her to navigate heavy conversations. One particularly memorable moment near the beginning of the game involves a drunk Mae attempting to apologize to Bea for her behavior; the dialogue options are perfectly formulated, formal apologies, but when picked they only come out as half-coherent drunken sobs. The message here is that Mae is her own person with her own flaws, and no about of omniscient guidance on the part of the player can change that.

The extent of the player's control comes from how they choose to spend Mae's time, both in terms of exploring Possum Springs and in terms of which of the main characters they choose to hang out with. There are tons of scenes and conversations in the game that are totally missable depending on what you do while playing the game. None of these change the overall outcome of the game, and yet there's still a powerful incentive to seek them out - namely, that the writing in the game is extremely good. The characters are relatable and well-rounded and funny - funny like how your friends are funny, not like a Joss Whedon character making cool quips or something. My favorite is Bea, Mae's depressed goth friend who truly cares for her deep down, but there's also a lot to love about Gregg's hyperactive criminal antics or Angus's quiet, understated sense of humor. Through your various hangout sessions and the IM messages you exchange with them on your computer each night, you begin to genuinely appreciate who these people are, and feel for their struggles, which are all too relatable to so many of us these days.

I would be remiss to not mention the artstyle and music, which are both excellent. The art is simple yet pleasing and evocative, capturing both the warmth of Possum Springs as well as the dark and eerie undercurrent that pervades the game's playtime. The music is also, uh, simple yet pleasing and evocative, calming and catchy and full of little leitmotifs that truly help tie the story together. The whole experience of playing Night in the Woods is strangely immersive in this regard, filling you with a potent mix of emotions that is hard to describe. You begin to feel like you truly occupy Mae's shoes; her home becomes your home, and her friends become your friends. Few games have made me feel such powerful emotions as this one, and much like a good book, I find myself longing to return to it and experience the story again.

Also, I want Mae and Bea to kiss.

não sou gamer e tenho uma opinião sobre esse jogo

Não poderia ter achado algo melhor pra jogar enquanto passo pelo período mais estranho da minha vida.
Eu não tenho paciência (e nem computador) boa o suficiente pra jogar muitas coisas e nunca peguei o hábito gamer que se espera de quem usa esse site. Mesmo assim eu fechei Night In The Woods em dois dias com pausas pra comer e dormir, me conectei bastante com esse jogo.
A arte desse jogo é fantástica e cumpre muito bem o seu papel de ser a primeira coisa a prender a atenção. A iluminação deixou a cidade interessante o bastante para que eu não ligasse de perder tempo sem ter certeza de onde ir no começo (o que geralmente tiraria meu interesse já que eu tenho um péssimo senso de direção). Eu não vou ser feliz enquanto não me mudar pra Possum Springs, talvez alugar um apartamento perto do Ol' Pickaxe, parece confortável o bastante.
As cenas noturnas são lindas e transmitem a fantasia de um cenário metade sonho metade realidade com perfeição.
Isso tudo é só no começo, é um jogo de história afinal. Como uma desempregada, ansiosa, que não iniciou a faculdade e urgentemente necessitada de amigos novos, eu pude me enxergar na Mae com muita facilidade. E "facilidade" é a palavra chave. Não são muitas as reviravoltas que acontecem e as personalidades dos personagens permanecem bem consistentes ao longo da gameplay, o jogo tem uma história e uma moral que quer passar e decide contar da forma mais prática e amigável.
O propósito consistente de cada personagem me lembra a estrutura de fábulas, eu acho que combina com a ambientação mística e animais antropomórficos, não precisa de desenvolvimentos profundos pois não é o ponto do jogo.
Cada frustração na rota da Bea por não poder ter respostas melhores para a situação triste que ela passa acentua mais a inocência e confusão da Mae, foi muito bom ter a sensação de estar controlando uma personagem com pensamentos falhos próprios e não só uma extensão de mim.
Os diálogos usam da simplicidade pra criar conversas engraçadas empáticas e momentos emocionantes despretensiosos, não é a toa que eu conheci o jogo por prints de diálogos no Twitter, ler não é uma tarefa aqui como é em outros jogos focados em história.
Em suma, é um jogo extremamente confortável e eu imagino que se conecte facilmente com quem está passando pela estranheza jovem adulta sobre trabalho, estudo, família, amigos e a própria mente. A arte é linda e os personagens carismáticos e importantes mesmo que simples.
Se tem algo que impede de ser 5 estrelas são as sequências de sonho, elas são um porre e talvez não tenha sido proposital. Eu também queria ter mais motivos pra visitar a Igreja ou o túnel alagado (não chega a ser um problema maior por não te impedirem de visitar esses lugares, mas sei lá, uma coisinha a mais não faria mal)

as vezes tudo que eu preciso é que um joguinho fale pra mim que está tudo bem e que tem ensaio da banda mais tarde.

english translation:
Angus is so hot u guys

eternally on hold game that I finally got the balls to fucking complete and its good like people said

so idk why it took me 5 years but anyway

also i wanted to finish this while i am still 20 to relate with mae and i can tell you all that yes i did relate with her existential dread quite a lot

to an extent this game idles in the cozy game ™ trademark and i completely get it but for sure the story took a direction that i wasnt expecting whatsoever and it definitely boosted the rating here because i love me some horror tainted mystery but i wont disclose it here because we arent in spoiler territory as of yet

in its core this is a story driven exploration game where you follow the steps of dropout mae borowski who is the most 2012 tumblr chick i ever had the pleasure to meet and apart from that theres not much about it in term of lore for now its just going back to your hometown walking around and talking with whoever gets in your way that is A LOT O PEOPLE

possum springs could also be regarded as one of the main characters of this game since the town has a lot of influence on how you view the characters around you and as a base for a lot of infodumps that you WILL read here and there and even if its nothing too direct or anything you will get to know every single boulevard and secret and thats kind of something that i loved even tho the town is supposed to be in economic stagnation due to a mine being shut down it still feels like its breathing and accompanying mae in every single adventure she gets into and this also is a main part of how the town looks theres the polished town square but everything around it is either acres and acres of forest or rusty machinery and stuff which is kinda weird but also shows i this little town was actually depending on that

apart from that and apart from the many many town habitants you will be able to talkto (i love the constellation guy hes so chill and also the railroad track one is especially cool then you got poetry gal religious person mom and dad hobo rats theres a lot of stuff to do honestly) theres the main gang that has bea who is a gloomy and intelligent person that SEEMS to not enjoy maes company but to be honest she really did show that she really cares about mae and she cares about her a deep lot then theres gregg who is my boyfriend i dont want to have conversations with other gregg fans im his boyfriend and thats it i know because he told me ok gregg is fun hes super ADHD gay and likes knives and bows hes actually me in videogame form and thats why i love him so dearly THEN theres angus who is a very chill guy and honestly quite unreadable i went the whole game thinking he had a set personality in my mind for me to be completely brought back by some of his responses to late game stuff i was shocked i didnt think little angus had it in himself

and then germ germ is cool

you also hear that another friend casey completely vanished for some time and people are still looking for them

weird ! but we will just keep going who cares this game is COZY until you find an arm in the streets

.

moving on during the game theres some set events that you will have to participate obligatorily like the town folklore festival or a booze party NIGHT IN THE WOODS ???????????? what do you think about that title drop i know im so clever

ok so you also et to decide to hang out with either bea or gregg respectively and this would get you into different story beats and a different epilogue or so i read online

now since im completely obsessed with gregg i ended up doing all his hangouts and ignored bea which i dont regret but i still saw some people crying their eyes out during beas stuff so maybe i will get into that some time now i will update this review if that happens so

mainly hanging out with gregg elicits ding CRIMES n shit like that so im good with it

while hanging out with your friends you will get some themes that will accompany you for the entire game shit like ruminating on the past or the uncertainty of the future and also seeing that everyone apart from mae is moving on with their lives theyre trying to build something for their future theyre working every day in the town square for a quick buck and still try in their own way to give mae some friend advices for her own life while also hanging out with her

theres also some rhythm game parts with some bomb songs out there like die anywhere else i missed every single note since i suck at rhythm games but still it was a pleasure to play this tracks

and then theres the spooky ish stuff ever since mae got back to possum springs she began to have some weird dreams which greatly enough are also playable even tho theres not much to do here you just get to find 4 band parts that play different instruments and slowly compose a song until mae wakes up and kinda forgets about it

now i think this is a great moment for a detour

something that night in the woods accomplishes is having some of the most satisfying and artistically competent designs and execution i have ever seen in the genre for some time now this has the perfect art style for a comfy game like this everything and every character is composed of simple shapes giving them this cartoonish feel that reminded me of a pop up book like every environment in the game plays around with foreground and background and every single hue chosen is feast for the eye all the places in the game have distinct color palettes to drive home the feel of that scene and the way they also implement light and shadow tricks is mindblowing to me really this might be artistically the pinnacle of this kind of art direction for sure

being locked into some shapes characters have little ways to show emotion but its also great to see how they work around this with physical reactions (gregg) or lack thereof (bea and angus) and the cute little expressions mae makes shes cute

and bisexual so another thing to love her for

to top this off theres a great soundtrack made by umh . a very talented artist that is moody when it needs to be and spooky when it needs to be really a great great ost all around

as i said gameplay is kept to the bare minimum but thats also part of the charm

so SPOILER WARNING its actually kinda late in the game where everything goes fucking awry and mae at one point witnesses a child getting kidnapped and this is where the whole story goes spiraling into a mystery shit with horror elements and mae actually believes this is a ghost

after some more hangouts with friends while they help mae trying to find the source of her preoccupation and also her nightmares they come across a group of people in clocks doing culty shit so RUN RUN RUN and mae almost dies

she is rescued tho and after that she confesses the fact that she quit school because she started dissociation with the world and seeing everything as shapes

after bludgeoning a student townfolks became wary of her and thats also the reason why she keeps a diary

so she's at home with her friends super fucking weak has some little exchanges and then decides to take out the cult herself but since her friends are actually good people they go with her

so it's mine time they venture in the cult has some deep discussion about economics sacrifices and chthonic deities ? p weird and possibly the most haunting scene of this entire game which is in a mine super dark and one step from a cliff it's soooo wow ok anyway after they make peace with the cult they go out and a cultist actually tries to bring mae down with him causing a quick time event or something which is STRESSING AS FUCK AND TOO LONG WOW I was sweating im not joking people so whatever the mine collapses and people die I hope

new day new me mae gets a last tour of the town and the crew decides to have band practice you have a heart to heart deep convo with gregg and they all decide to move on the end

that was sweet

I really liked this game I think im not so sure as of yet to what rating to choose but maybe if I see beas part of the story that would actually boost it a bit

even though the writing can get too quirky at times it sure was charming as fuck and definitely was worth the ride and it has to be said that I do think I left some crucial details out because this game might not seem like it but has a lot going on micro plots scattered here and there and all like the hobo affair the old lady telling mae about her grandad the sewer guy the TV comedians cracking bad jokes that actually made me laugh a lot like there's TON of stuff I tell you and it has to be experienced firsthand

idk why I actually needed 5 years to finish this but it sure was a damn ride

k really wanted to see mae talking with her parents about whay happened to school and their response but I guess I won't ever know what happened

I do actually feel like mae tho like the depersonalization ? totally me

shes kind of a jerk but I enjoyed being part of her story for a bit anyway

also why does this feel like masterpiece psychological horror furry gay +18 slice of life visual novel echo (2017)

gregg are you free on Thursday

OH ALSO I played the weird autumn edition but as much as I know it's just some little changes not that much of an expanded game so there's that I just logged it here peace

also maybe I love mae because she's fucking small and super cute even if she's a jerk sometimes

eventual bea story beats update goes here:

I love how bea and mae contrast each other since one is really grounded in reality and the other is lost in imagination for about 99% of the time and somehow they make a great synergy pair

so the hangouts with bea are something else honestly getting to peek into her harsh reality is something else and I ended up relating to her view on the world too much maybe I am depressed alright

the party one was stunningly executed and gave me chills to be honest its just good good

and mae writing on the journal im garbage i just wanted to help after the fight with bea is why I think she's a good person deep down hi in my Ted talk

well ok I wrote this before proximity hangout and …. mmmmmm


ALSO the fact that the ending changes us kinda cool and all in all getting to know bea better made me like her character more even tho I still prefer gregg but yeah you just can't beat bea smiling

YOURE THE CLOSEST THING TO A SISTER I HAVE ????? bea youre wild with this emotional bombs just like that

it's fucking funny to me that mae can triple jump like Mario idk I forgot to say that

I'm gonna add half a star though because seeing bea smile and laugh was the most heartwarming scene in quite some time

Too real. I don't need a video game to tell me what it's like to be the first in my family to go to a promising state university, then drop out for reasons I can't explain to my parents in terms they understand, and then have to return to my horrible little hometown and childhood bedroom and try and fail to reconnect with my old friends and live through my parents' veneer of loving supportiveness while it's painfully obvious they're despondently wondering where they went wrong in raising me. I mean, uh, haha what? This truly is the Dark Souls of dropping out of college hahaaaaaaa

Night In The Woods opera dentro de uma lógica de repetição, o looping de dias e a repetição das rotinas dos personagens servem como uma representação do tédio ou da imobilidade que envolve a cidade, na mesma medida que a narrativa é feliz em estabelecer uma ideia de desesperança e falta de perspectiva dentro desse universo, tal pessimismo e a ideia de um apocalipse econômico em curso leva a imagem de um espiral, Night In The Woods dá voltas em torno de sí, se consome, e então acaba. É sobre o fim do mundo, mas também pode ser sobre reunir com seus amigos e aproveitar enquanto ainda estamos aqui.
Night in The Woods também se propõe a retratar uma geração ainda a ser entendida, o jogo embarca na leva de produções estadunidenses que tem como fundo social os reflexos da crise financeira de 2008 e o adensamento das políticas neoliberais, e é nesse contexto de desamparo social que surge uma geração imobilizada, equanimente distante da revolta e do bem-estar, mas a pergunta que a obra nos deixa é "Até quando?". 
É um jogo cheio de coração, em todos os sentido, é cheio de raiva também, gosto do quão claro quanto ao seu posicionamento ele é. Por mais jogos com a coragem de Night in The Woods.