Night in the Woods

 PC
Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. Ars Technica
    Mar 7, 2017
    Night in the Woods wastes just a little too much time before getting to the heart of a story about the value of life when life doesn't seem worth living. Buy it.
  2. Eurogamer
    Mar 7, 2017
    For the most part, though, Night in the Woods is a triumph, comparable to Gone Home in mood and thrust, but with a delicacy and a humour that is all its own. [Recommended]
  3. Giant Bomb
    Feb 25, 2017
    Quick Look.
  5. Glixel
    Mar 7, 2017
    At turns juvenile, snarky, beautiful, and brilliant, this game is utterly essential.
  6. Kotaku
    Feb 24, 2017
    The main plot of Night in the Woods didn’t move me much, and in fact it disappointed me a little in its shift from relatable ‘people stuff’ into grander, supernatural machinations. But for me the plot was secondary to the experience of kicking around town, bumping Mae up against everybody’s lives, seeing myself, who I could have been, who I’ll never be.
  7. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Feb 27, 2017
    I started off really not liking it, I grew to completely love it, and I walk away from it with so much love but a wobble of doubt. It’s by far the most elaborately graphical piece of interactive fiction, but in being so it suggests it’s going to be other things too, and it’s hard (certainly at first) to let go of all that, just let it be what it is. Get there, forget about what else it might be, and for me at least, it got me good.
  8. Vice
    Mar 2, 2017
    Night in the Woods is great at subverting power fantasies. There are moments where you have no choice but to screw up. You simply choose how you screw up because that's how unattended mental illness can be.
  9. Wired
    Mar 14, 2017
    The game lives most brightly in its quiet moments of melancholy: in the silence after Mae’s shitty teen band lets the last chord fall silent; in the second when they reflect on how honest the music they just sang was; in the quiet conversations where they admit to themselves and each other that it’s not even a specific future that they want. They just want to die somewhere else. Somewhere theirs.

Awards & Rankings

10
#10 Best PC Game of 2017
41
#41 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
93
#93 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 427 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 294 out of 427
  2. Mixed: 71 out of 427
  3. Negative: 62 out of 427
  1. stop9091
    May 30, 2017
    0
    Unberably slow, primarily because of the structure of the dialogues, made of micro-statements ("hello" (click) "hello" (click) "it's me"Unberably slow, primarily because of the structure of the dialogues, made of micro-statements ("hello" (click) "hello" (click) "it's me" (click) "oh it's you" (click)), which ends up in very frustrating button mashing. Shame, because the artwork is very interesting.… Full Review »
  2. KshDi13
    Feb 25, 2017
    3
    i knew nothing about this game before going in. didn't even watch the trailer just say the art style and genre. unfortunately the pace is justi knew nothing about this game before going in. didn't even watch the trailer just say the art style and genre. unfortunately the pace is just way way to slow. i even fell asleep playing it. it mostly focuses on the narrative on not any real type of gameplay. i kept feeling this would make a much better short graphic novel.

    i like the art style and the music but it's not enough to keep me entertained.

    oh and another annoyance is the linearity. i recall early on going to the video store looking for angus, speaking to some girl there who never spoke of angus... that is until, i'd gone to another store spoke to someone who said angus was at the video store and when i went back the girl she now spoke of angus.    … Full Review »
  3. shoebilly
    May 2, 2017
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. I loved the art. The character designs, music, and background art was one of my absolute favorites. Despite that, the story was unbearable. It seemed to have no purpose other than "we're young and we hate everything", which may be relatable to some individuals. But if you don't necessarily identify with a shoplifting, knife wielding, wanna-be rebel who constantly refers to themselves as "trash" and is a jobless college dropout looking for ghosts and vandalizing graves... this isn't for you.

    In addition, the plot was extremely confusing and at times had forced subplots (such as the cult) which were completely out of place. The dream sequence and having to walk back-and-forth constantly was tedious and felt like fluff. This can also be applied to the dialogue, where there were constant fillers of "..." and choppy sentences with the overuse of "like" and "ugh". With that said, none of the characters were likable or relatable, and were generally the same in terms of speech pattern and behavior. The game also did not provide the freedom of exploring or making choices.
    Overall, this would have been much better if it was a movie rather than a game.    … Full Review »
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