3.5/5 ★ – Endless_backlog's review of Night in the Woods.

8hrs Night in the woods is a 2D indie side scroller that relies heavily on dialogue choices but is sprinkled with other gameplay mechanics such as mild platforming and mini games. The game is set in a small town called Possum Springs whose inhabitants consist of various speaking animal types. It revolves around your character Mae, a cat who returns to her home town after dropping out of college. As she revisits her past life and reunites with old friends she will discover that the town and people there have changed since she left. There is no voice acting and the conversations are delivered through bubble text boxes but the game audio and soundtrack do a great job of keeping you invested in their stories. Each conversation will contain multiple choice dialogue responses and what you choose will influence not only the relationships that Mae has with others but even the scenarios that you play. You will have different experiences depending on who you choose to spend time with. With your old best mate Gregg, a fox who was always your “up for anything friend” you’ll learn that he has tried to grow up as a person whilst you have been away and your presence has made him regress. On the other hand with Bea, a punk fed up with the world crocodile, you will discover how she has been burdened as a young adult with supporting her family and has missed the opportunities Mae has took for granted. There was some great scenes I missed out on so it definitely has replay value. For the mini games you will play a Guitar Hero type QTE game when you have band practise with the rest of the group or when you practise in your room. You can also go on your laptop whenever home and message your group, as well as play a retro arcade designed game called Demon Tower. Night in the woods is focused predominately on the relationships that Mae has with others and how she tries to navigate the realisation that everyone has grown up without her whilst she has stagnated at University. There’s a lot of difficult conversations with her pals and honestly the dialogue choices would lead you to believe Mae is a bit of a rubbish friend, but in reality she is a lost individual who struggles to adjust back into a town that is different from the one she left. Despite its 2D animated style and animal creatures there’s a lot of real life adult themes that were really interesting to see how they were addressed. From strained relationships with your friends and even your parents, Night in the Woods feels very raw, although Mae as a protagonist will split opinion on whether she is a likeable character. Primarily a slow burner character driven game, it also adds a level of mystery as strange abductions in the town lead to some interesting twists and a completely different sinister tone to the story. I personally thought this helped to add some excitement and action to a game mostly orientated on exploring relationships.