I remember I had this essay-type post on Gregg and why he's actually the best character thematically. I'll see if I can find it again and if so I'll remake this review. Anyway, Night in the Woods is the story of Mae, who has moved back to her rust-belt town of Possum Springs. Here she is constantly reminded why she left her boomer majority, dying shit-bucket of a town and finds solidarity with two childhood friends whom she has reconnected with. It is a story about being stuck in an environment that's a living corpse, knowing this, but struggling or being unable to leave it. Yeah the falling-action is mostly stupid yet the game is overall a solid piece of Mid-West Americana.

I freaking love the vibes of this game. Autumn is my favorite season and this game screams it, and even though I'm from a big city somehow the little town vibes feel nostalgic. The characters are all freaking great, from the main character Mae, who's one of the most relatable videogame protagonists, to really minor characters like Mr. Chazokov, everyone here is greatly characterized and offers a grain of personality to the whole experience. My big gripe with the game though is the last chapter and the epilogue. The plot twist is cool but it literally is developed in two scenes and then it's resolved with a bit of a deus ex machina. I don't ask for an explanation for everything but like... can we at least know who the main antagonist is? And then the epilogue is ok but it just feels like a normal day in the game and it ends in the most abrupt way possible. It's still a great game though and I can't wait to replay it in some time and hopefully make a 100% run (if that's even possible)

The only bad thing I can say about Night in the Woods is that it’s ending feels the tiniest bit rushed. But that grievance is so microscopic and pales in comparison to the rest of the brilliant things this game achieves. Other than that, this is a one of a kind experience that I often find myself wishing I could feel for the first time again.

Really good writing and dialogue that feels very natural, which is hard to pull off. Brilliant soundtrack and characters, all of whom have a sense of relatability to them. The game oddly has a vague sense of nostalgia/melancholy to it, which I think is a testament to how well it establishes it’s characters and their environments. Despite the bright colourful art style, it mirrors and acknowledges many of the mundane aspects of real life which is very interesting. It looks so escapist, but it’s actually really grounded to life.

A really great game with superb world building and a lot of relatability to offer for all kinds of people. It’s not afraid to get deep, and the writing is so well tuned that those moments always feel genuine and like they’ve come from a place of experience.

deliberated and I think this is ultimately pretty fair -- I don't think a 2nd playthru focusing on Greg (as much as I liked him, Bea is clearly a more rewarding character to prioritise my friendship with) will ultimately change too much. I very much enjoyed my time with this but upon sitting on it I don't think it's ultimately that... fulfilling. I like the twists and I do like the angle it tackles notions of self, loneliness, fear, all the stuff the cool gamer kids care about, but I don't think it's all together that realised, for lack of a better term. The lack of proper gameplay features doesn't help but I'm not knocking it for it. It's just that, likeable as these characters are, this game does ultimately still feel very indie -- in that many of these characters speak the same, regardless of age, a la Life is Strange maybe (which I also DO enjoy).

Would love to rate this that teensy bit higher, and it's fortunately short enough to make the idea of NG+ appealing, I just don't see my feelings changing.