Night in the Woods
Richard’s Scary Busytown
Some games are best played having no prior knowledge. Be it Doki Doki Literature Club, Gorogoa, or Genital Jousting¸ the less you know, the more intense your surprise and delight (and perhaps horror). Night in the Woods is one of those games. I heartily recommend it. If you enjoy expansive stories driven by their characters, stop reading and buy the game. For those of you expecting a traditional game, read on, but those who get a kick out of light novels or point-and-click adventures, Night in the Woods is worth your time.
Be ignorant. Spend your money. Have fun.
Now that I’ve scared off none of you, let’s get to rambling. I don’t intend to throw out spoilers left and right, but I truly believe some things are best enjoyed with virtually no context. Night in the Woods offers a refreshingly deep narrative often not seen in video games, so much so it feels like a mutant hybrid between a game and literature. Admittedly, this beast is a little ugly in places and does not quite move as quickly as purebred books or games, but it still is one of the most exotic creatures you will find on the Nintendo Switch.
What is it?
Your protagonist is Mae Borowski, and the story takes off just as she returns to her derelict mining hometown, Possum Springs, after suddenly dropping out of college. In her two-year absence, the town has not so much changed as it has stagnated and decayed. Businesses are failing; most of the young adults are leaving for better places; and the remaining residents deal with low-paying jobs and the humdrums of everyday life. If this isn’t horrifying to you yet, treasure your innocence, my sweet summer child.
Gameplay revolves around the daily routine of your typical 20-year-old anthropomorphic dropout. As Mae, you will adventure around the town, interacting with locals by engaging in small talk or learning about their lives. Every day ends with you hanging out with your friends—Bea, Gregg, and Angus—who take you out to go party, visit the mall, or smash up cars with baseball bats. All this may sound quaint and homey, but something’s afoot. Mae and her friends find a severed arm outside a local diner; she begins experiencing increasingly strange dreams; and people become more insistent to understand exactly why Mae dropped out.
For the majority of the game, you’re going to be walking and talking. There are some minor platforming elements for the purpose of finding new residents and dialogue opportunities. Occasionally, you’ll encounter a minigame like the Guitar Hero-esque band sessions with her friends. Your interactions with others are fairly linear, albeit with some dialogue options with minor impact on the narrative. There are no complex puzzles, intricate fighting mechanics, or game over screens. Night in the Woods is a story through and through, and when you’re done with the main adventure, there are two extra stories which explore some of the lore in Possum Springs.
What’s good?
- Mae Borowski is endearingly unlikeable. Many of the characters in Night in the Woods stand out as relatable and interesting, such as Bea, Mae’s parents, and Pastor Karen. However, none of them compare to the fucked-up mess that is Mae. She is moody, self-centered, and impulsive. In high school, she bludgeoned another kid with a baseball bat. As a young adult, she gets a kick out of shoplifting. Despite this, she cares deeply about her friends, even if she never says the right things. Depression, dissociation, and anger have made soup out of her brains, and she tries to get by as best as she can. You may hate her; you may not relate to her, but she is one of the most human characters who is also a cat.
- The art and soundtrack are phenomenal. The visuals pop with color, and the town is ever-changing as the weather cycles and the townsfolk prepare for various events. The bright exterior of the town serves as a solid foil to the trippy dream sequences bathed in purples and blues. The music complements everything like a tasteful ascot, complete with pleasant bloops, soothing cadences, and moody beats. That’s my best effort to sound like I know how to critique music, so just listen to it. Buy the soundtrack. Hyperlink.
- Several parts of the story hit hard and leave a lasting impact, much like student loans. Night in the Woods tackles some pretty intense themes like loneliness, mental illness, and absolute failure and regret. The horror aspects of the game will certainly unsettle you, but the true strength of the narrative is its ability to unnerve you by revealing the uncomfortable parts of normal life.
What’s bad?
- There’s enough snark to feed a gaggle of hipsters for life. Mae and her gang’s witty banter feels appropriate and helps to engage you in the game’s oceans of dialogue, but when every resident of Possum Springs speaks in wisecracks, you begin to wonder if the town’s water supply has been infected with sarcasm, vinegar, and indie movies. Dialogue blurs and can grate your eyeballs.
- Patience, you must have. The story is a slow burn, with many of the horror elements appearing in the final third of the game. If you run through the game—ignoring all of the residents except your friends—you could potentially finish the story in eight hours. Much of this time is you walking from location to location, and load times further impede your progress. A single load screen takes only a few seconds, but because each building and part of town requires loading, those seconds will add up. Night in the Woods accurately captures many of the experiences of everyday life; tedium is unfortunately just one of them.
- As dumb as it sounds, the supernatural elements don’t feel as natural as the rest of the story. Without going into too much detail, Night in the Woods dabbles in eldritch horror and the occult. In a vacuum, I enjoyed the eeriness, but I also felt like the developers added this fantastical element because they needed a “hook” for a game to tempt people to buy something actually about modern life and mental illness.
What’s the verdict?
Night in the Woods thrives on fan theories and analysis. The English major in me wants to gush for pages about the hidden meanings and symbolism, but the gamer in me knows when to shut up. As more developers experiment with video games as an artistic medium, we are offered the experience to tinker with our emotions and beliefs just as much as we do with a character. Night in the Woods is one such offering, and if you’re looking for a different kind of immersion, Possum Springs welcomes you.
Arbitrary Statistics:
- Score: 8
- Time Played: Over 10 hours
- Number of Players: 1
- Games Like It on Switch: Oxenfree, Thimbleweed Park