Night in the Woods

[The NZA]

 

this is an indie title that was sold to me as "the ultimate october game" and that's pretty spot-on.  you play as Mae, a cat who just dropped out of college & is returning to her sleepy hometown...to find that her friends are slowly moving on and the town's changed. 

 

there's really enjoyable dialogue here (Mae and her friends shine) but all that's interrupted when you find a severed arm, and there's talk of something in the woods...

 

so far, it's a really enjoyable slice of life thing with hints of horror way in the background.  this is the most enjoyable thing i've played in a while, and i was really excited to read about a prequel (i need those figures)

 

 

[The NZA]

 fair warning: ima write this on some codeine 

 

this was really, really good.  like, this easily one of my favorite games this gen. 

 

there's no shortage of standout "indie" (ugh, this term means so little these days) games this/last gen - Gone Home, Papers Please and so many rightfully made headlines.  i don't really care for the dichotomy this has created, but if we have to imagine a false scale that has these smaller efforts on one side & AAA stuff like COD or assassin's creed on the other, i get the clear distinction.  

 

but rather than just scope, the important thing here is the overall quality of both writing & characterization.  this game has the snappy banter & heartfelt moments of something like Undertale/Deltarune, but none of the press somehow.  

 

if this game simply had that element - Mae's lovable smartassness, with some deep emotional moments (especially if you choose to spend more time with Bea vs Greg, who rules OK), you'd absolutely have a game's worth of enjoyable dialogue & funny moments mixed in with poignant darker character bits with absolutely more depth than the genre usually sees & totally worth your time - but toss in bits of creeping horror (the likes of which, again, almost would carry such a title on their own) and you just feel spoiled by what's here.  it's said to be 6-8 hours, but Possum Springs becomes a small, familiar town that you just want to explore & visit everyone in, while still reaching into new corners to find old, decrepit areas & learn the secrets too.  every notebook entry feels awesome. 

 

apparently the ending is decisive, but i didn't feel as such - just that, the idea of kickstarter'd prequel piqued my interest.  i'd played a bit of Aquaria before, but didn't realize how much i enjoyed Alec Holowka's work before - i'm totally on board with anything he does going forward.  

 

i'm happy fangamer has figurines, but i guess i don't get how widely successful Undertale was vs, this title, as i'd be surprised if fans of the former weren't all over this one too.  it's just so good. 

[alive she cried]

I bought this on a whim a little while back and coincidentally started playing it in October it was so cool playing it coming up to Halloween. 

 

I agree with you a hundred percent, the characters and dialogue are fantastic and I really loved finding out about the history of the town and its people. I still haven't finished it though, but I'm about 90% through, I'll probably try finish it today. Thanks for the reminder. 

[The NZA]

[Stilly]

I wanna play this game so badly. I was going to pick it up during a steam sale, but now I'm thinking of getting it for the Switch. It just looks like the kind of game I wanna make.

[The NZA]

for real - play it, you won't regret it.  i'm gonna double dip when a physical is released (whatever platform) and already in for the Mae figure and whatever prequel we get.