Temmoes
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Monstrous existence
Monstrous existence
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This review contains spoilers
In the year I came back to my home town, my sister was born.
Most of the friends that I had forgot about me, and what seemed so familiar as a child was now alien. The bus route changed. A new McDonald's opened near my house, and a giant condominium blocked my childhood home's view of the ocean.
The sky was more grey than I remember.
This year I turn 20.
I'm every bit as directionless, confused and angry as I was seven years ago.
I think night in the woods struck a chord with me because of this. When I visit possum springs, it reminds me of when I was 12, in a place that was familiar and different. For me, it's hauntingly nostalgic, and reminded me of a time that I miss dearly.
---
Stuff I liked
---
The pit-a-pat of a pretty bad matte black cat's paws on the roof approaching a rat clad in a snug shrug is interrupted with intermittent grunts of effort.
The sound of everything, from the crunch of autumn leaves, the rubber-like twang of power lines, and sizzling of fresh pierogis.
The echoes of delinquent chatter reverberate throughout an abandoned subway. The scuttling of pets and other small rats (children) overlap with the sound of a sputtering engine of an ancient vehicle in desperate need of repair, a car and driver in no hurry to reach their destination. It's a small town after all.
The soundtrack is soft, the humming of the theramin and synth mimicking the whistle of a chilly autumn breeze. It feels like a lullaby. It's calm. Eerily so. But it feels comforting in its own silly, off-kilter way.
These noises go a long way to making you feel like you're there. It does wonders for the atmosphere of this unknown small town in the middle of nowhere. Historical possum springs. It feels cozy. It feels familiar.
Mae's dynamic demeanors are expressed in the smooth animations of actions and reactions to scenarios and inputs. Each character's body language tells you just enough about each person to know at least a little of what they're like.
The paper cutout feel of the art style makes the game feel homely. Like a children's book. The (smooth?) feeling of it's presentation matches it's wiggly and slick character animations.
It's easy on the eyes.
There's also something about the writing in Night in the woods that makes the world feel lived in. Dialogue feels like something me and my friends would say. An awkward slip of the tongue might inadvertently make another panic. Infuriating passive aggressive back and forths eventually explode into a heartbreaking argument. Poems by selmers. It feels real.
There's attention to detail in every offhanded comment. Fragments of stories of the town's inhabitants and escapades are drip fed to you via Mae's recollections and interactions with random objects in town, big events in the past alluded to throughout the game for you to figure out. Where everybody knows everyone. In possum springs, word gets around.
---
Mild Spoilers
---
Night in the woods is a game about mourning. It's about mourning a loved one, a childhood that left a long time ago, a town that used to thrive, now a shambling corpse of what it once was, a toxic cesspool of broken dreams. A black hole, sucking up all the ambitions its inhabitants had,and spitting them out the other side, listless. Hopeless. Tired. But in this town of nothing, empty town of no renown, people find solace and comfort with each other. There is love to be found, there are friends to be had, in a hopeless town where few can escape, where everything stays stagnant, frozen in time, while everything else changes. There's something about this game and it's themes that I find hopeful.
At the end of everything, hold on to anything.
There's one aspect of the story that really stuck with me, the feeling of needing to escape. Mae couldn't find her place in university. She felt so out of place, that she sacrificed everything her parents worked for to return home. Bea couldn't leave her borderline abusive household because how could she abandon her family? She couldn't go to college because she was poor, because she was dealt a horrible hand in life. Gregg and Angus are actively trying to escape possum springs to find a better life. It's everywhere, and it feels messy. In the transitory period of entering adulthood, I constantly feel like I need to get away from everything, that the weight of my responsibility as an adult is crushing me. Living is messy.
I'm the same age as Mae now. It's scary. But playing this game, feeling lost and confused, was comforting in a way. Maybe if you feel the same you'll like it too.
Most of the friends that I had forgot about me, and what seemed so familiar as a child was now alien. The bus route changed. A new McDonald's opened near my house, and a giant condominium blocked my childhood home's view of the ocean.
The sky was more grey than I remember.
This year I turn 20.
I'm every bit as directionless, confused and angry as I was seven years ago.
I think night in the woods struck a chord with me because of this. When I visit possum springs, it reminds me of when I was 12, in a place that was familiar and different. For me, it's hauntingly nostalgic, and reminded me of a time that I miss dearly.
---
Stuff I liked
---
The pit-a-pat of a pretty bad matte black cat's paws on the roof approaching a rat clad in a snug shrug is interrupted with intermittent grunts of effort.
The sound of everything, from the crunch of autumn leaves, the rubber-like twang of power lines, and sizzling of fresh pierogis.
The echoes of delinquent chatter reverberate throughout an abandoned subway. The scuttling of pets and other small rats (children) overlap with the sound of a sputtering engine of an ancient vehicle in desperate need of repair, a car and driver in no hurry to reach their destination. It's a small town after all.
The soundtrack is soft, the humming of the theramin and synth mimicking the whistle of a chilly autumn breeze. It feels like a lullaby. It's calm. Eerily so. But it feels comforting in its own silly, off-kilter way.
These noises go a long way to making you feel like you're there. It does wonders for the atmosphere of this unknown small town in the middle of nowhere. Historical possum springs. It feels cozy. It feels familiar.
Mae's dynamic demeanors are expressed in the smooth animations of actions and reactions to scenarios and inputs. Each character's body language tells you just enough about each person to know at least a little of what they're like.
The paper cutout feel of the art style makes the game feel homely. Like a children's book. The (smooth?) feeling of it's presentation matches it's wiggly and slick character animations.
It's easy on the eyes.
There's also something about the writing in Night in the woods that makes the world feel lived in. Dialogue feels like something me and my friends would say. An awkward slip of the tongue might inadvertently make another panic. Infuriating passive aggressive back and forths eventually explode into a heartbreaking argument. Poems by selmers. It feels real.
There's attention to detail in every offhanded comment. Fragments of stories of the town's inhabitants and escapades are drip fed to you via Mae's recollections and interactions with random objects in town, big events in the past alluded to throughout the game for you to figure out. Where everybody knows everyone. In possum springs, word gets around.
---
Mild Spoilers
---
Night in the woods is a game about mourning. It's about mourning a loved one, a childhood that left a long time ago, a town that used to thrive, now a shambling corpse of what it once was, a toxic cesspool of broken dreams. A black hole, sucking up all the ambitions its inhabitants had,and spitting them out the other side, listless. Hopeless. Tired. But in this town of nothing, empty town of no renown, people find solace and comfort with each other. There is love to be found, there are friends to be had, in a hopeless town where few can escape, where everything stays stagnant, frozen in time, while everything else changes. There's something about this game and it's themes that I find hopeful.
At the end of everything, hold on to anything.
There's one aspect of the story that really stuck with me, the feeling of needing to escape. Mae couldn't find her place in university. She felt so out of place, that she sacrificed everything her parents worked for to return home. Bea couldn't leave her borderline abusive household because how could she abandon her family? She couldn't go to college because she was poor, because she was dealt a horrible hand in life. Gregg and Angus are actively trying to escape possum springs to find a better life. It's everywhere, and it feels messy. In the transitory period of entering adulthood, I constantly feel like I need to get away from everything, that the weight of my responsibility as an adult is crushing me. Living is messy.
I'm the same age as Mae now. It's scary. But playing this game, feeling lost and confused, was comforting in a way. Maybe if you feel the same you'll like it too.
Flames crackle in the pale moonlight. They're scattered throughout the city's remains. Patrols of grunts and elites pollute the once bustling streets like a plague.
The whirring of overhead phantoms fill in the brief gaps of silence left by the deafening whisper of the wind.
Hissing, then a click. Your drop pod opens, and you're tossed into the ruins of New Mombasa. You're small. Not the hulking 9 foot master chief, but a humble footsoldier. And you're deep in enemy territory. The only sources of light the dim cerulean glow of the covenant's energy weapons. These aliens tower you in stature. They vastly outclass you in firepower, and their numbers are in the thousands. You're just a rookie with a submachine gun and a dream.
If humanity already lost this fight, what hope do you have?
The next ten hours are then spent conducting a one sided massacre on hundreds of giant aliens.
The whirring of overhead phantoms fill in the brief gaps of silence left by the deafening whisper of the wind.
Hissing, then a click. Your drop pod opens, and you're tossed into the ruins of New Mombasa. You're small. Not the hulking 9 foot master chief, but a humble footsoldier. And you're deep in enemy territory. The only sources of light the dim cerulean glow of the covenant's energy weapons. These aliens tower you in stature. They vastly outclass you in firepower, and their numbers are in the thousands. You're just a rookie with a submachine gun and a dream.
If humanity already lost this fight, what hope do you have?
The next ten hours are then spent conducting a one sided massacre on hundreds of giant aliens.
The average course correction goes something like this:
"Oh you're here!"
Gregson greets the up and coming lawyer, Ryonosuke, his transgender Japanese assistant, a german ace detective, and said detective's adopted doctor-daughter-mother-roommate-child.
"This is the most horrifying murder I've ever seen in my entire life... The victim, poor guy... he was smashed over the head with a blunt object and then pummelled until he approached this sorry state..."
Gregson points toward a bloody mush at the corner of the room. Brains and guts are splattered all over the floor.
"I've never been more disgusted in my entire life."
Gregson follows up this statement by stuffing his face with 30 servings of fried fish.
The 12 year old is still at the crime scene for some reason.
A suspicious figure is seen being interrogated.
"Ah, that's Call Preete, feel free to question him" the officer says.
Herlock takes one glance at the man, and turns around to speak to naruhodo
"We got our guy"
"What? How?"
"Elementary, my dear naruhodo. You see, the man right before you VERY CLEARLY commited a dastardly crime!"
Call Preete jolts, and beads of sweat form on his forehead.
"The crime being... THAT OF POOR TASTE IN LITERATURE!!!"
Mr Preete's expression of fear is quickly replaced by confusion.
"As you can see... The evidence of this is CLEARLY SHOWN on THIS VERY TABLE!!"
Herlock points to a mahogany desk, covered in important documents that seem relevant to the case.
Call pulls his mustache, and it snaps back onto his face, the recoil of which throws him backwards, sending his body careening through multiple brick walls.
Herlock approaches the table, and knocks everything off it. Underneath the clearly useless resources, a magazine.
"As you can see, this table has a CRAPPY MAGAZINE on it. One that RIVALS the publication that my adventures are shown in!"
Herlock chuckles confidently, and Susato's eyes sparkle.
"You've done it again Mr Sholmes!" She exclaims.
Her head snaps toward the accused.
"That's a big fucking deal buster. Grounds for the DEATH penalty."
Naruhodo shakes his head, and prepares to correct the injudicious himbo.
"You see Herlock, you missed out on this key detail."
Naruhodo walks toward Call, and stares intently at his hands. They're completely covered in blood.
Ryonosyke spins around, and his gaze travels towards the unrecognisable fleshy mush of mincemeat in the room.
"Using my powers of observation.... I think this guy might have touched the victim..."
He then approaches the aforementioned wooden desk.
The young lawyer turns 15° to the left of what Herlock was originally looking at, revealing a giant 700 page book covered in blood that just prior was not visible at all from any other angle. The book is also covered in Call's fingerprints, with his name and signature on a receipt sticking out of it.
Ryonnosuke chortles.
"Looks like we caught this guy... read handed...."
Herlock starts violently flailing his arms everywhere.
"Ah yes. I actually thought this the WHOLE TIME. Thank you naruhodo."
Sholmes and Ryonnosuke then start dancing on the crime scene. A job well done.
Call Preete shivers and starts bawling.
"I-I DIDNT DO IT I PROMISE!!!"
"Ok I believe you" Naruhodo replies.
"Oh ok thanks"
Van zieks is also there, and is seen screaming
"I FUCKING HATE JAPANESE PEOPLE!!!!" At the top of his lungs in a drunken stupor.
He smashes a bottle of wine on a nearby Chinese man's head, instantly killing him.
--
Everything I liked about the original trilogy is here in spades. The iconic ost, insane breakdowns, and an interconnected story that seamlessly weaves together the overarching mystery of the two games. And though some of the characters are slightly less iconic than the original, it makes up for it with strong writing and thoroughly engaging mysteries that kept me engrossed in the story throughout it's 70 hour runtime.
I have been listening to "the great turnabout" for months after I completed this game. I have never had more fun playing a visual novel than in the final case of resolve.
"Oh you're here!"
Gregson greets the up and coming lawyer, Ryonosuke, his transgender Japanese assistant, a german ace detective, and said detective's adopted doctor-daughter-mother-roommate-child.
"This is the most horrifying murder I've ever seen in my entire life... The victim, poor guy... he was smashed over the head with a blunt object and then pummelled until he approached this sorry state..."
Gregson points toward a bloody mush at the corner of the room. Brains and guts are splattered all over the floor.
"I've never been more disgusted in my entire life."
Gregson follows up this statement by stuffing his face with 30 servings of fried fish.
The 12 year old is still at the crime scene for some reason.
A suspicious figure is seen being interrogated.
"Ah, that's Call Preete, feel free to question him" the officer says.
Herlock takes one glance at the man, and turns around to speak to naruhodo
"We got our guy"
"What? How?"
"Elementary, my dear naruhodo. You see, the man right before you VERY CLEARLY commited a dastardly crime!"
Call Preete jolts, and beads of sweat form on his forehead.
"The crime being... THAT OF POOR TASTE IN LITERATURE!!!"
Mr Preete's expression of fear is quickly replaced by confusion.
"As you can see... The evidence of this is CLEARLY SHOWN on THIS VERY TABLE!!"
Herlock points to a mahogany desk, covered in important documents that seem relevant to the case.
Call pulls his mustache, and it snaps back onto his face, the recoil of which throws him backwards, sending his body careening through multiple brick walls.
Herlock approaches the table, and knocks everything off it. Underneath the clearly useless resources, a magazine.
"As you can see, this table has a CRAPPY MAGAZINE on it. One that RIVALS the publication that my adventures are shown in!"
Herlock chuckles confidently, and Susato's eyes sparkle.
"You've done it again Mr Sholmes!" She exclaims.
Her head snaps toward the accused.
"That's a big fucking deal buster. Grounds for the DEATH penalty."
Naruhodo shakes his head, and prepares to correct the injudicious himbo.
"You see Herlock, you missed out on this key detail."
Naruhodo walks toward Call, and stares intently at his hands. They're completely covered in blood.
Ryonosyke spins around, and his gaze travels towards the unrecognisable fleshy mush of mincemeat in the room.
"Using my powers of observation.... I think this guy might have touched the victim..."
He then approaches the aforementioned wooden desk.
The young lawyer turns 15° to the left of what Herlock was originally looking at, revealing a giant 700 page book covered in blood that just prior was not visible at all from any other angle. The book is also covered in Call's fingerprints, with his name and signature on a receipt sticking out of it.
Ryonnosuke chortles.
"Looks like we caught this guy... read handed...."
Herlock starts violently flailing his arms everywhere.
"Ah yes. I actually thought this the WHOLE TIME. Thank you naruhodo."
Sholmes and Ryonnosuke then start dancing on the crime scene. A job well done.
Call Preete shivers and starts bawling.
"I-I DIDNT DO IT I PROMISE!!!"
"Ok I believe you" Naruhodo replies.
"Oh ok thanks"
Van zieks is also there, and is seen screaming
"I FUCKING HATE JAPANESE PEOPLE!!!!" At the top of his lungs in a drunken stupor.
He smashes a bottle of wine on a nearby Chinese man's head, instantly killing him.
--
Everything I liked about the original trilogy is here in spades. The iconic ost, insane breakdowns, and an interconnected story that seamlessly weaves together the overarching mystery of the two games. And though some of the characters are slightly less iconic than the original, it makes up for it with strong writing and thoroughly engaging mysteries that kept me engrossed in the story throughout it's 70 hour runtime.
I have been listening to "the great turnabout" for months after I completed this game. I have never had more fun playing a visual novel than in the final case of resolve.