LogFAQs > #929409682

44. Night in the Woods (17.5 points)
Nominated by: MetalmindStats (3/5 remaining)

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Importance: 4
Fear: 6
Snake: 7.5

Never have I been so conflicted with a game before. A game I both dearly love and all too often dislike, there's still a strange ying-yang to this relationship that ends up strengthening all of the game's themes in my mind. At its core, Night in the Woods is a deeply personal game, and has some of the most realistic situations I've ever encountered when it comes to the realm of interactivity. Growing up, having no direction in life, bonds between friends becoming fragile and easily broken, quiet, suburban towns being swallowed by captains of industry, depression and responsibility, each rear their beautiful and ugly heads at one point or another in Night in the Woods. I definitely wouldn't be hard pressed to find at least one thing every player can relate to here. Yet, on a dime, NitW can be deeply hilarious and extremely charming. You can get up to all sorts of trouble as Mae with Gregg, share cheesy inside jokes with your mom, or just enjoy Mae's sarcastic remarks at town landmarks. I don't think I've seen a game capture life so elegantly, so raw, & so real as much as in Night in the Woods. In all this fantastic depth though, the game kind of forgets to be fun to play...?

I really hate saying this, because the game's inherent mundanity and daily routine is by design. Each day, you wake up as Mae, put on your boots, say hi to your mom, then walk down the big long block to whichever friend you feel like hanging out with that day. I think it's so awesome how this contributes to the game's overall message, but god damn I just did not enjoy playing it out every day, and this is where I get so conflicted, because while a neat concept it makes me never want to go through it again. It's the very definition of a necessary evil.

Luckily, the hangout segments either with Gregg or Bea mostly make up for it. In my one playthrough, I mostly hung out with Bea, since I found her personality and situation the most compelling and relatable to me. I really loved seeing how Bea and Mae, former best friends, rekindled that flame as Mae learned a little bit about what it is to be completely responsible for oneself, while Bea learned to let go sometimes and to have a little fun even when life can seem at its worst. I was really surprised at the depth of Gregg too, a class clown facade that hides someone who is totally serious about changing his life and being committed to his relationship with Angus. These characters are rich and well-written, and feel just like real people despite being drawn as animals!

So, on to the horror parts. As you get to know your friends and the town, there's an initial background plot about missing kids and a severed arm. This slowly becomes more prevalent as the game goes on, incorporating a sinister cult with a possible Lovecraftian god behind everything. Throughout the game, Mae also has strange and vivid dreams that connect to the cult in some manner as well. I didn't really connect to the cult stuff as much as Mae and the gang's personal drama, but it does intertwine with Mae's more flawed and serious issues, and these issues cause her friends to question if the cult is real or not. Mae's history and the reason she left college is just more scary to me than any of fantastical ritual sacrifice plot, but the effort is appreciated all the same.

I've definitely grown more positive to Night in the Woods since I had initially played it. It's easier to appreciate in retrospect and remember all the funny, dark, and depressing memorable moments rather than actually having to go through it when you play. It's one of those games I think pushes boundaries in video game storytelling, and it's just amazing a game like it exists. One of a kind, I highly recommend you check it out for yourself and take in all Possum Springs has to offer.
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I try in vain to slumber, my reveries gripped by violent terror. My only salvation, the shock of awakening. Something is very, very wrong here.