I've grown extremely unhappy with the state of mainstream gaming the last 5 years or so. Where I once only played consoles (mostly because I simply didn't have a nice enough computer to play PC games), and really enjoyed most of what I played, everything has gone so downhill that it made me finally switch over to playing Steam for 97% of my gaming, and Night In The Woods is a great example of why it's a decision I will never regret. Where as I returned a copy of Borderlands The Pre-Sequel the other night and instead beat this after almost 14 hours of gameplay since purchasing it back in December.

First of all, think of NITW as either a book or a movie that you get to sort of take part in. It has gameplay elements, like platforming or guitar hero-esque musical interludes, but by no means is it really a "game" by proper definition, and even if it were, at best it'd be considered a visual novel, which I also enjoy. So, get the idea that you're buying a game out of your head right from the get go. NITW follows the ever popular "kid returns home, home is different, and also something spooky is going on" trope we all know and love, but in its own original fashion. I've always said that you can use any trope or cliche or plot, no matter how overused or overdone, so long as you make it your own, and that's exactly what NITW does.

Okay, so your "gameplay", as I'm sure you've heard everyone moan about, basically consists of day and night cycles where you talk to NPCs around town, do some platforming and doing some musical stuff now and then, along with some dream sequences. The game is 90% dialogue, and plot driven, because holy crap, something actually has a story for once, and that's what this game does that I wish other games these days would do. Tell a story. Each character is distinctive in their voice and personality, and so relateable, that if I had friends, they would be like this.

I won't go too deep in the plot, mostly because it's actually quite muddled at times and very open for interpretation, as many of the characters themselves say at the end, and that's what really irks me. Peoples need for closure, something mankind invented in the first place, the concept of closure. NITW is very much like life; you don't get answers for everything and a lot of it makes no sense and you wonder the purpose, but that doesn't mean the experience itself was downright bad or not worth it. Guess what, not everything is tied up with a bow, and sometimes that's a great thing, because it means everyone can have their own ideas of what it all meant.

The visual aesthetic is so pleasing, the music is pheeeeenomenal, the writing is top notch hilarious and rather insightful at times, and overall the whole package is a truly unique, original experience that I am so happy I got to experience. I would gladly play through this a second, even third time (only reason I wouldn't play it more is because of how friggin long it is), just to see what little I missed on the first time around. Anyway, NITW is unlike anything else available right now, so if you want to be told a story, and sometimes interact with said story, give this one a chance.

I still have my consoles, I still play them fairly regularly, I just wish they were delivering original content (that doesn't include simply porting it) like this on such a consistant basis as Steam does. Maybe if the gaming industry was taking risks like this, things would be in better shape than they are. But at least we have this. At least we'll always have that night in the woods.

I've grown extremely unhappy with the state of mainstream gaming the last 5 years or so. Where I once only played consoles (mostly because I simply didn't have a nice enough computer to play PC games), and really enjoyed most of what I played, everything has gone so downhill that it made me finally switch over to playing Steam for 97% of my gaming, and Night In The Woods is a great example of why it's a decision I will never regret. Where as I returned a copy of Borderlands The Pre-Sequel the other night and instead beat this after almost 14 hours of gameplay since purchasing it back in December. First of all, think of NITW as either a book or a movie that you get to sort of take part in. It has gameplay elements, like platforming or guitar hero-esque musical interludes, but by no means is it really a "game" by proper definition, and even if it were, at best it'd be considered a visual novel, which I also enjoy. So, get the idea that you're buying a game out of your head right from the get go. NITW follows the ever popular "kid returns home, home is different, and also something spooky is going on" trope we all know and love, but in its own original fashion. I've always said that you can use any trope or cliche or plot, no matter how overused or overdone, so long as you make it your own, and that's exactly what NITW does. Okay, so your "gameplay", as I'm sure you've heard everyone moan about, basically consists of day and night cycles where you talk to NPCs around town, do some platforming and doing some musical stuff now and then, along with some dream sequences. The game is 90% dialogue, and plot driven, because holy crap, something actually has a story for once, and that's what this game does that I wish other games these days would do. Tell a story. Each character is distinctive in their voice and personality, and so relateable, that if I had friends, they would be like this. I won't go too deep in the plot, mostly because it's actually quite muddled at times and very open for interpretation, as many of the characters themselves say at the end, and that's what really irks me. Peoples need for closure, something mankind invented in the first place, the concept of closure. NITW is very much like life; you don't get answers for everything and a lot of it makes no sense and you wonder the purpose, but that doesn't mean the experience itself was downright bad or not worth it. Guess what, not everything is tied up with a bow, and sometimes that's a great thing, because it means everyone can have their own ideas of what it all meant. The visual aesthetic is so pleasing, the music is pheeeeenomenal, the writing is top notch hilarious and rather insightful at times, and overall the whole package is a truly unique, original experience that I am so happy I got to experience. I would gladly play through this a second, even third time (only reason I wouldn't play it more is because of how friggin long it is), just to see what little I missed on the first time around. Anyway, NITW is unlike anything else available right now, so if you want to be told a story, and sometimes interact with said story, give this one a chance. I still have my consoles, I still play them fairly regularly, I just wish they were delivering original content (that doesn't include simply porting it) like this on such a consistant basis as Steam does. Maybe if the gaming industry was taking risks like this, things would be in better shape than they are. But at least we have this. At least we'll always have that night in the woods.