Having now played this twice? I don't know, this game's fine I guess. You'll be disappointed if you're going in with expectations that this is anything other than a tonal/locational reskin of Boku no Natsuyasumi with some kind of cool bits tacked on to the end. If you can rock with mundanity, you might like this, but that kinda thing isn't really something I enjoy even if I can vaguely appreciate it.
The first time I played this I hated it and I just have to say that this kinda sucks ass under most of the lenses it seems to be known as. As a mystery, or drama, or anything other than a Slice of Life vibes game, the vast majority of this is pointless dicking around, and the plot doesn't even start to begin until at least halfway through. Most of the narrative threads don't get paid off at all, and the dialogue writing kinda sucks, taking on a very "tumblr/band kid's vague idea of how punks talk" tone, bundled with a 10 year old's profanity filter. Genuinely shocking to me that this has a "Story Rich" tag over on Steam, I guess we still don't know how to differentiate "vibes games" with minimal gameplay from a story game with minimal gameplay.
But as a SoL vibes game? yeah, this is okay. In my last review of this game, I ended up comparing this to Echo, a game I love that has almost exactly the same exact elevator pitch as NITW, but this time round I was struck by how Echo and Night in the Woods are actually very, very different games. Echo is a horror/drama, Night in the Woods is a slice of life. Echo has elements of SoL, and NITW has elements of drama and horror, but broad strokes? Totally different goals and experiences. I kinda missed that the core idea driving most of NITW is that you're supposed to enjoy spending time in Possum Springs. It's supposed to be "cozy."
I just don't find this cozy. Possum Springs sucks, no matter how many corporate art filters you throw it through. And I just don't like this friend group--Mae's a dick, Gregg has no chill, Bea's fine but she puts up with Mae's shit too much, and Angus barely shows up (but he's pretty neat when he does, so hey, not all bad). I'd be fine with this if it got deconstructed or analyzed, but this is SoL so it doesn't.
But is it enjoyable to exist in this world for this game's short runtime? Sure, whatever. It's fine. A little bland but it's serviceable. Really is carried by that back half, though.
The first time I played this I hated it and I just have to say that this kinda sucks ass under most of the lenses it seems to be known as. As a mystery, or drama, or anything other than a Slice of Life vibes game, the vast majority of this is pointless dicking around, and the plot doesn't even start to begin until at least halfway through. Most of the narrative threads don't get paid off at all, and the dialogue writing kinda sucks, taking on a very "tumblr/band kid's vague idea of how punks talk" tone, bundled with a 10 year old's profanity filter. Genuinely shocking to me that this has a "Story Rich" tag over on Steam, I guess we still don't know how to differentiate "vibes games" with minimal gameplay from a story game with minimal gameplay.
But as a SoL vibes game? yeah, this is okay. In my last review of this game, I ended up comparing this to Echo, a game I love that has almost exactly the same exact elevator pitch as NITW, but this time round I was struck by how Echo and Night in the Woods are actually very, very different games. Echo is a horror/drama, Night in the Woods is a slice of life. Echo has elements of SoL, and NITW has elements of drama and horror, but broad strokes? Totally different goals and experiences. I kinda missed that the core idea driving most of NITW is that you're supposed to enjoy spending time in Possum Springs. It's supposed to be "cozy."
I just don't find this cozy. Possum Springs sucks, no matter how many corporate art filters you throw it through. And I just don't like this friend group--Mae's a dick, Gregg has no chill, Bea's fine but she puts up with Mae's shit too much, and Angus barely shows up (but he's pretty neat when he does, so hey, not all bad). I'd be fine with this if it got deconstructed or analyzed, but this is SoL so it doesn't.
But is it enjoyable to exist in this world for this game's short runtime? Sure, whatever. It's fine. A little bland but it's serviceable. Really is carried by that back half, though.
Reviewed on Feb 10, 2023