Welcome to our review of Night in the woods, a surreal story on Nintendo Switch.
College dropout Mae Borowski returns home to the crumbling former mining town of Possum Springs seeking to resume her aimless former life and reconnect with the friends she left behind. But things aren’t the same. Home seems different now and her friends have grown and changed. Leaves are falling and the wind is growing colder. Strange things are happening as the light fades.
And there’s something in the woods. Join Mae on a trip to her hometown and into the dark on the other side.
NIGHT IN THE WOODS is an adventure game focused on exploration, story, and character, featuring dozens of characters to meet and lots to do across a lush, vibrant world. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, it’s being made by Infinite Fall, a team up of Alec Holowka (Aquaria), Scott Benson (Late Night Work Club), and Bethany Hockenberry.
This game is all about details. Pay close attention to everything that happens and what everyone tells you. The great story is really what makes this game such a must-own! Slowly but surely, as time progresses in Possum Springs, you are being led through the surreal story of Mae. It has vague hints of real-life occurrences, even things that might have happened to you. At one time, a resident of Possum Springs is complaining about losing his job and being unable to keep a steady job. This game often hits you in the “feels” as it is often very real-life driven.
The story itself is all about Mae coming home after dropping out of studies, trying to pick up her old life, but she is immediately hit with the realities of adulthood. Her old reputation still haunts her and as you progress, Mae is even called a killer at one point. It is your duty to unravel the mysteries of Possum Springs.
What I really liked about this game, the sense of “cool” that is very present in this game. This becomes clear whenever you are given a choice in the story. I will not discuss the actual story, this is for you to discover, but I will talk about a silly part. When you are in Mae’s bedroom, there is a musical instrument and when you tap it, you are given the choice to play 2 different songs and then there is the “Nah…Later” option. It is all so casual and very well written. You will also encounter a lot of dark humor throughout…
Another thing that should be mentioned, this game is incredibly gorgeous. The art style is just over the top and could be called like cute animals talking to each other, but it is so much more. Beautifully drawn houses, impressive sewers, eerie woods, …. this game has it all.
In conclusion, this game is so much more than just cute animals talking to each other, it is deep, very deep and just awesome. With very little action and mostly reading to be done, this game kept me very addicted and coming back for more. I am very happy to have a few days off right now from my real life job so I can just keep going.
My rating is 90%
