A friend told me about this one. It’s rather unique in
terms of aesthetics and gameplay. Night
in the Woods can be best described as a platformer with narrative elements
and various mini-games. The game doesn’t fit in as well as other games in the
platformer genre as it has a specific feel about it. The way the narrative pans
out makes it seem like a “slice of life” type of experience. I’ve never seen a
game do something like this. Night in the
Woods is definitely interesting to look at and play despite the gameplay
not being incredibly fun or exciting. So why make a game that isn’t meant to be
fun?
Many games in the past have opted to make their design less
focused on gameplay and more on narrative. The mechanics merely supplement the
story in those kinds of games. Night in
the Woods has a big focus on narrative, especially in character arcs. The
player controls a cat named Mae. She’s coming home from college to live with
her parents. Mae spends the rest of her time reconnecting with past friends,
learning about the changes in her town, and occasionally doing some bad things.
Over time she learns of her friends’ issues and gradually opens up about her
own. At the same time, something ominous is happening in her town and it’s up
to her and her allies to find out what. The game starts on the evening of Mae’s
return to town in a bus station.
The
first area is meant to show the player that they can interact with the
environment if certain icons are displayed (such as an eye or an arm and paw)
and they can move on a 2D plane as well as jump. There’s some dialogue between
her and the janitor fixing the door. He says he will finish by the time Mae
gets him a soda from the vending machine. This introduces puzzle elements into
the game, albeit with a simple solution. Players are now aware of controls and
how the game will play out mechanically, but not narratively.
Overall mechanics are simple: characters can move left or
right, jumping is possible, interaction is done via hitting the Action button
and works whenever an icon is present over Mae, and all of these are used to do
puzzles here and there. Jumping is the most useful ability as it lets you get
to higher places. The most notable feature of jumping is the High Jump. To do
this, you must jump consecutively three times whilst moving. Think of it as
running, jumping once, a second time, and on the third leap you reach twice the
height of a normal jump. Knowing this is essential to reaching the tallest
buildings in the town where certain NPCs can be found and spoken to.
The most engaging part of the game is character dialogue.
Reading what everyone has to say makes the world more interesting as it fills
you in on what kind of lives the people are living. There’s one person you can
speak to who returns your warm greeting with sad news: he just lost his job.
You can cheer him up with one of two dialogue options, though they have little
effect on how the game plays out. Later you see the same person working in a
hardware store.
There’s no voice acting in the game other than a few sounds
from characters jumping or doing other actions that might elicit some noise. It
may be odd to bring up, but I have to mention it because it’s intentional. The
game is meant to have a quiet and calm feel to it. Voices would likely cause
some unnecessary noise. Reading dialogue is akin to reading a book where the
voices play out in your head. This tone really sets the mood for a relaxing
play session. It also makes the scary moments exceptionally frightening as they
feel more loud.
Sound
and music plays a big effect on mood in this game. In the dreams that Mae has,
the music feels like it’s deep in the background. When Mae finds the towers
with the people playing instruments, they add in their own music to make the
dream seem more active. When all four are found, you have a symphony of sound
going through the dream. It all comes to a halt when Mae reaches the start of
her dream again and sees some unspeakable horror mysteriously appear. The music
changes to something disruptive and shocking. What was once a pleasant dream
has now become a night terror.
Religion
is prominent in this game. What is the meaning of life? Sometimes that question
is only answered through religious teachings. With faith, one can find simple
answers for complicated questions. In other cases, a more complex explanation based
on tangible evidence is more believable. The game takes a neutral stance on
existentialism. There could be a God or maybe there isn’t. It never says for
sure. Just like with the Black Goat the cult sacrifices people to. The good
things happening to the town being may be pure coincidence or there really is a
demon down in the mines that grants fortune when fed, giving the town it’s
prosperity. The dreams Mae has could either be the Black Goat communicating
with her or just normal dreams that try to tell her things. Again, the game is
intentionally ambiguous with these questions.
Night in the Woods
teaches valuable lessons about life in general. It does so through character
interaction and dialogue. For example, we find out that Bea’s mother is dead
and as a result, her father goes into a depression and starts drinking heavily.
To support both herself and her dad, Bea takes over the hardware store and
gives up her dream of going to college. It’s a lesson in making sacrifices for
those you care about. She still hates her situation, but she deals with it.
Later, you meet a crazy old possum lady who asks you to fix her furnace. She
locks you in the basement when Mae and Bea come to fix her furnace. Fortunately,
you can escape by beating up the furnace and she lets you out. This shows the
kind of people you may encounter in daily life, some being pretty normal and
others being psychotic. You must learn to deal with them appropriately. The
game’s ultimate lesson is this: You’re problems pale in comparison to the rest
of the world. You will encounter experiences good and bad and they’ll shape
your life forever. It isn’t the end if something goes wrong; you’ll be fine.
This
is a game worth looking at for studying character storylines and a little bit
of worldbuilding. It’s also useful in knowing how to incorporate a message via
an artform. That’s what I’d like to see more games do: communicate a message
with their medium that’s more than just entertaining, but thought provoking. These
“slice of life” style of games are likely going to increase in popularity.
Games where there’s no apparent end goal, but the experience is enjoyable and
soothing to the player. At the same time, life lessons are taught via gameplay
and character interaction. I expect to see more games like this in the future.
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