Does a really evocative, mythically simple treatment of the acts of creation and discovery in the first chapter, reminding of something like Leaf by Niggle or Journey. That atmosphere fades the more defined the game's world becomes and is gone by the second half, when it assumes a pretty typical tone and style for the medium. The dungeon sequences are completely uniform and without challenge or interest throughout, but my personal limit was the racially-charged Alexander Graham Bell cuck dialogue.

The ending arc is as jarring as everyone understandably criticizes it, but any narrative hangups I have are completely numbed by how good the mouthfeel, aesthetic, Bildungsroman, and little details are.

Every now and then I remember an apocryphal story I read somewhere about someone leaving Pixar's Coco down south when they saw an old granny crying "it's true! It's all true!" in Spanish as she exited the theater. That was me, but instead I exited this game crying over how beautifully it nailed the feel of rust belt PA. (Pretend I was screaming "yinz! yinz!" for full effect)

Well, a lot of this game’s intent went over my head. I can appreciate it for what it is in hindsight, but a lot of what impresses me the most evaded me on my first playthrough.

Its themes on mental health and capitalism are apparent yet the overal message is a little abstract. I’m fine with this, but it certainly impacted my first playthrough and made the ending fall kinda flat for me. Delving deeper (thinking more about the game and reading what some people have had to say about it), I really like what Night in the Woods has to say, and how it has to say it.

By far its greatest strength is its worldbuilding, and how its world is presented.. The game looks like I’m playing a children’s story book, which fits perfectly with Mae’s idealistic, forever-young view of her life. She seems to hallucinate as the changing views of her childhood friends and dying town contrast her own immature view of things. Childhood friends, who have matured more than Mae in her 2 years off to college, are navigating their feelings through their disparate, desperate situations. Greg can’t goof off as he wants to move to the big city with his boyfriend and Bea’s responsibilities continue to pile as her depressed father grows older. Possum Springs can no longer live up to its legacy as a mining town and opportunities are scarce.

It isn’t all bleak in Possum Springs, there are plenty of things to do and keep track of. Night in the Woods controls well enough and animates fluidly enough for a mechanically and tactilely fun game, despite its simple loop. There’s also enough varied content you can explore to find and miss out on day by day. I find that Mae’s gameplay of platforming across a makeshift jungle gym of telephone poles and rooftops; talking and listening to people; maybe partaking in some activity they’re doing, is fun! Specifically, jumping around the town like its a playground, with its storybook art-style, makes for a fascinating atmosphere, reflecting and adding to our understanding of Mae’s plight.

And yeah, perhaps some of the finer details went over my head, but Night in the Woods has a phenomenal atmosphere, one that is felt in its story, regardless of how deep you dive. Where its more abstract ideas fall by the wayside is towards the end of the game, which seems understated - and is! But this understated ending sat better in my mind with time. And certain moments that I felt led nowhere, I now see the point of.

Overall, I had a good time with Night in the Woods. I appreciate both its smaller moments and broad strokes. Its use of capitalism and religion in metaphors is a real strong point, even if I couldn’t immediately see what it was going for. And in hindsight, through a little bit of digging (I am not the smartest), I really do love how its themes come together in the end.

one of the most wild, profound, interesting, terrifying, depressing and miles ahead of its time works of fiction i have ever experienced, one which is far more relevant today than it was at the time. just about every single topic you could think of is covered by its story, from technology to romance to philosophy to mental illness to purpose to existentialism to breasts. compared to the anime, this game is not only much more linear and obvious in its story progression, but this lain winds up far more psychopathic (which the less said about the better) despite seeming very normal at first. she has no one to lean on here, never figuring out what the knights are and how deep their rabbit holes go, with few mentions of crucial components of the anime like protocol 7. it all culminates in a brutal and deeply unfortunate ending.

it's a very disturbing game, a bleak look at a lonely girl's utter mental decline of her and those surrounding her, and certain cutscenes from its ending will never leave me.

you navigate this unbeliveably well told story with a menu designed, created and coded by gibbons.