Night in the Woods (Off-Topic)

by cheapLEY , Wednesday, January 03, 2018, 18:32 (2514 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I've been playing Night in the Woods for the last few nights. I'm not finished, but I am really enjoying it so far. It's cute, and funny, and endearing, and heartbreaking. It's the most real story I think I've ever experienced in a game.

It's about a young girl (who is also a cat--all the characters are anthropomorphic animals) who drops out of college during her sophomore year and moves back to her small, washed up hometown. She meets up with her old friends who have sort of grown and up and moved on. There are lots of great moments, where everything is "how it used to be," but then they go on about their lives, while Mae (the player character) is left sort of aimless and dejected. It really is a weird rollercoaster, with crazy fun moments punctuated by reality creeping back in afterward.

It hits really hard for me, as it echoes my own experience (I also dropped out of college and moved home, feeling like a fuck up, waiting tables, feeling like I was wasting my life while my friends all got degrees and jobs and started families. In a lot of ways I still feel like that, although to a much lesser extent). I can feel this game in my freaking bones.

Anyway, if you like the sort of story-driven, walking around talking to people genre (Oxenfree is the most readily comparable example, but Life is Strange is also a decent enough comparison, I guess), I would highly recommend this game.