New Review: Night in the Woods is as unforgettable as it is understated and beautiful

A truly evocative narrative-driven sidescroller, Night in the Woods is as unforgettable as it is understated and beautiful.

The game begins with main character Mae Borowski, stranded inside a bus station, her parents having forgotten that she was arriving in town that night. From the minute Mae begins chatting with the station repairman, the dialogue grabbed me, coming across as both true to life and incredibly genuine. Night in the Woods is an adventure game, with its dialogue and narrative ultimately taking center stage, and they’re both thankfully more than up to the task.

After dropping out of college in her sophomore year, Mae returns her hometown of Possum Springs, a working-class municipality surrounded by a dense wilderness, to move back in with her parents. Her friends, who have remained in town and mostly work retail jobs, seem pleasantly surprised, though clearly caught off guard, by her return. Much of Mae’s backstory is communicated slowly as the game progresses; the interactions Mae has with those around her, including her friends and parents, all seem to contain their own little secrets and in-jokes. Though Night in the Woods opts to slowly introduce its characters to you, it isn’t done in a gimmicky way. Everything has a natural flow to it, and the game’s revelations are handled in a manner that somehow feels real, as if these characters were people we know in our own various existences.

This is despite Night in the Woods’ characters being, well, animals. Mae Borowski takes the form of a cat, and all the other residents of Possum Springs are given animal appearances as well. The world is styled like a comic book, its artsy visuals somehow juxtaposing wonderfully with its incredibly realistic story, which dabbles quite easily into serious topics such as mental illness, sexual identity, the death of the middle class town, and much more. Night in the Woods is also, at other times, an incredibly funny game, and the way in which it so effortlessly walks the tightrope between its different tones is something to behold. The gorgeously simple but compelling visuals help hold everything together as well; though the framerate does struggle when running through parts of town, and the load times are a little long for what's on display, Night in the Woods otherwise presents itself beautifully.

Each day you’re given the freedom to wander the town. Visiting and making plans with either one of two friends ultimately advances the plot, taking you to some sort of event which propels the narrative forward, allowing you to sleep before once again repeating the proceedings. Each day those who live in Possum Springs are available to talk to as you pass by, all offering new things to say and insight into the world in which these animals inhabit. Gradually a storyline emerges, with townspeople going missing in bizarre ways, and Mae and her friends begin to take an interest in getting to the bottom of the mystery. It winds up being incredibly compelling stuff.

What Night in the Woods though sadly doesn’t do as well is allow you to know exactly what it is you’re doing that will advance the plot. I eventually realized that visiting either Bae or Gregg and accepting their respective invitations will propel the story forward, but due to the game’s determined lack of interface and therefore a lack of an explanation of its systems, something all too common in games today, there are early on some frustrations when I wanted to continue exploring but the plot advanced before I intended it to. This is especially evident in the game’s final act, where I’d had no idea that advancing to the evening would be taking me to, essentially, the point of no return towards the end of the game. Given how great the storytelling of Night in the Woods otherwise is, its abruptly-arriving final chapters aren’t a huge flaw in the grand scheme of things, but the unexpected realization that I might suddenly be experiencing the final 30 minutes of a game is always is bit of a bummer for me, as I usually like to do some last-minute exploring, especially in a world I love as much as this one, and to be more mentally prepared for its impending conclusion.

Night in the Woods, though primarily focused on exploratory sidescrolling and its storyline and dialogue, does include some platforming and mini-game aspects as well. These segments pop up throughout the adventure and while they do shake things up, it isn’t always to the game’s benefit. Similarly to how other aspects of Night in the Woods suffer from its interface-less interface, it’s at first confusing when platforming to know what you’re able to jump off of or onto and what you aren’t. The mini-games that often crop up, including a Guitar Hero-styled rhythm game and other story-driven ones such as a knife war between Mae and Gregg, are amusing and add character to the story but ultimately are a mixed bag to play, as they all have a tendency to go on for a bit too long.

But it’s easy to see why the developer felt the need to include these “gameplay” aspects, even if I don’t feel that the game necessarily needed them. (Or at least not as much of them.) The mini-games and platforming aren’t bad, it’s just that they’re merely serviceable when compared to others in their respective genres, and the addition of “serviceable” into a game that’s otherwise fantastic doesn’t help it so much as distract from it.

Afterall, Night in the Woods is in many ways an unforgettable little adventure. The above-described gameplay elements feel almost unnecessary, and the game’s abrupt dive into its conclusion may surprise those hoping to explore Possum Springs a little more before reaching the end credits. I’ll add that some less-than-subtle political undertones do present themselves towards the end of the game, something I was a little taken aback by, even as someone who happens to agree with the game’s politics. It’s really the only time I think Night in the Woods becomes slightly overbearing in its message, and I hope that it doesn’t alienate anyone who’s otherwise fully immersed in the compelling world and its narrative, because I think in a lot of other ways the game’s characters and many of its themes are so universal. Mae’s journey, her and her friends’ imperfections and all, is something truly worth experiencing. It’s one that ends maybe a little bit too soon, and a part of me wishes it had gone for an M-rating instead of Teen, just so that the themes it bravely chooses to tackle could have been presented even just a little bit more fully. But what it offers is something that I think could stay in my mind for years to come. Definitely a worthwhile download for those who enjoy artsy games and great stories.

4/5

Note; this review is based on the Nintendo Switch version.