Night in the Woods

I present to you, positive champ.

I'm a little bored of the other topics, so I'm going with this one. Did you play Night in the Woods? Did you like it? Do you want to? Let me condescend you for a bit, before TGR ruins Night in the Woods for everybody.

It'll be a relatively long read (it's actually short by my standards lol), so as usual if that sounds like a boring read to you, you could just go away and go to the other threads. I am not holding you by a gun and I'm not fucking pandering to you.

If you played it already, just answer the top and skip all the way to the bottom, duh.

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You, the scum of the earth, routinely make arguments that games can tell stories, that games have the potential n blah blah blah blah, and lets skip the part where it's well documented that I think you're all on drugs, and this medium is actually fucking awful at telling a story.

Night In the Woods: a 2d indie adventure game offers something that the big bad blockbuster triple A titles can't actually offer you (as of now). More complex characters whose issues are a bit more grounded n real. And at first glance that doesn't seem to make any sense what with the characters being animals n shit, but actually it works as a great juxtaposition with how the game works thematically.

The protagonist Mae, is a character you either were at one point or you have a friend or know someone who behaves like her. In the early going I found her to be frustrating as a character, routinely being such a petulant little kid and that's because at first glance, she was never me. I've had a job since 14, graduated college in a timely manner, got my degree, career man out here.

So she kind of fucking sickens me at first, but it's more conversing about the game with other people who played the game that I begin to appreciate her more as a character. So at the least I gained a character type I need to learn to empathize with more.

But the anxiety she feels for being a college drop out, to the pressure her own parents seemingly put on her (or perceived pressure), and wanting to go back to a place that just isn't there anymore are layers of character conflicts you're not really going to get from Nathan Drake or Geralt of Rivia. Ultimately their conflicts are more absurd and fantastical.

And that's fine, that's entertaining as ****, in the case of The Witcher, quite fucking good, but where better story telling mediums clown this one, is that they also have stories that are just slice of life stuff. It adds range to the medium. You need the super serious stuff just as much as you need the big fun blockbuster. Losing out on either is a limitation that doesn't need to be there. And Mae is only 1 character in that game, my favorite was Bee, and Greg is pretty rad too.

Were it not for the part in the 2nd half where the story goes hooky, I'd say it's a must play for you narrativist jabronis. As it is, and because I know a lot of you dislike reading, maybe look out for this game when it's on a sale. At the least the story aspects make it worth trying on the cheap whether you like learning something about this medium or just have a hunger for good narrative/characters. As mae is a far more dynamic character than what you get from bullshit like Aloy.

So the Champ yeah but,

My "yeah, but" to this game, is the fucking game part isn't good or interesting or engaging or particularly effective. There are some aspects where I would consider an idea is there to convey something in an interactive manner:

The cyclical nature of Mae's routine n Bee's routine, that playful jaunt in the mall, and maybe half way I would humor the idea one of the dream sequences (Oh yeah the game has dream sequences, that aren't exact unheard of for people with serious anxiety issues, but they suck as a gameplay sequence) but, very little of the experience can I say was conveyed in any interesting way through mechanics.

Which is the biggest hurdle for me when a game tells a story versus a book or a movie. And again because Mirko gotta do Mirko things. It's because a film conveys its beats through the language of film, ditto literature. But games are interactive, they are about doing things. And nothing I did or interacted with conveyed that anxiety n uncertainty that Mae and the rest of her friends feel.

That part was just better than usual writing, not the game. And to me that is a fundamental flaw when ever discussing if a story driven game is a good game. You can tell the story all you want, I just want you to actually find ways to use the game.

Beyond that, **** it, give it a shot. I'm sure you can get it for 5 bucks by the end of the year.

Right so SW material (it be nice if I didn't fucking have to do this, ahem): Night in the Woods is a game that clearly should be on the switch and not windows n PS4, because obviously only Nintendo fans can truly appreciate a rich narrative like the ones we had in Mario Galaxy. Rosalina's little story is the Citizen Kane of gaming, Squid Jump's story is almost as good.

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1. So do you think there are games that deal with more personal n grounded story beats? If so what are they and did you like them? Think more Yi Yi n Before Sunset, and less Goodfellas n Heat when I say this.

2. Do you even want games to deal with subject matter more complex n real in nature? Or do you prefer the more escapist stuff universally?

3. Favorite type of juice growing up?

4. Have you ever done that shitty thing at a bar where you looked up some dumbass drink on a phone, and handed the bartender your phone so they can make you that drink?

5. Are you gonna go see Baby Driver? Because you should. Original film, stylish action flick, and not stupidly written since it's Edgar Wright.

I'm glad you were bored with other topics and decided on something unique.

lol !

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I really like how games like SOMA make me think of subjects outside of games.

I don't want to give away too much about SOMA but that game plays with your head so much, and not just in a horror sense that it really carries over some thoughtful subjects about what's going in that game and in the world. And when finishing it these ideas still linger in your head for a long time.

Same with for example Bioshock, it may be more popular, but it had subjects that really made people think.

I like it when movies do that too. More than just being dumb action (because I love dumb action) make you talk about the subjects that were shown and walk out of the cinema talking about what X and Y could possibly mean.

Dunno if I would like Night in the Woods though, still have so many adventure games to finish. It's not my favourite genres.

Pretty sure I'd like Baby Driver, Edgar Wright wrote and directed Shaun of the Dead, which is one of my favourite movies.

Hello positive Champ

Yeah I was bored too, was trying to come up with a new thread which nothing popped up

Nah I haven't and I shall decide after reading your post

Hmmm, I'll grab it on sales then

1. Outta those that I liked, I'd say loyalty missions in ME2 were quite personal, The Last of Us and also Walking Dead Season 1, but grounded? not sure *shrugs*

2. Yeah sure, the thing is we don't have capable writers and storytellers in our medium, we don't have Aaron Sorkin, we don't have P.T Anderson, we don't have Linklater, etc and that's why I think it's hard to pull off sth compelling.

3. Lemonade; always and forever <3

4. Have never been at a bar (because there's none here) and have never gotten drunk and I'm 24 lol

5. Definitely, it's Edgar Wright after all

Bolded: not sure if serious or trolling, but I actually agree with it all the same.

As for question 1: Final Fantasy IX. Set against the usual FF nonsense backdrop, it's more a character piece about people finding some meaning in their existence. Like at what point do you stop being you and start being your title, or accepting your mortality which is likely to come sooner rather than later.

I've wanted to play Night in the Woods since I've heard about it. Can't wait to play it soon.

1.) Catherine, dealing with adult matters such as lust, and infidelity. I did enjoy it.

2.)Both

not stupidly written since it's Edgar Wright.

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Scott Pilgrim says different. I want to smack everyone who likes that piece of trash.

3. WTF is juice?

@jg4xchamp: Thank you Champ, that was a good read. I still don't know what kind of game it is but the issues here sound like things I have shamefully indulged in myself (Or maybe not so shamefully. Should we really apologize for have feelings even in our comforted lives?)

Anyway, it sounds interesting but I'm not in a rush to try it what with my backlog being excessively large. All the same, thank you for the post. :)

Would be interesting to see how a game that deals with themes of anxiety could use mechanics to also replicate that anxiety. It's not unheard of, I'm sure many of us have felt tense and anxious playing games with high stakes and intensive difficulties before - would be cool if a game like that wasn't about shooting enemy space ships but dealing with more grounded issues of anxiety. I totally agree with you Champ that film, poetry, books and music have done this with more precision in their respective mediums than video games have (Using their respective mechanics such as unsettling sounds or rushed and frantic wording to convey anxiety in music and books for instance).

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1. So do you think there are games that deal with more personal n grounded story beats? If so what are they and did you like them? Think more Yi Yi n Before Sunset, and less Goodfellas n Heat when I say this.

A: That Dragon Cancer, right? Not sure it matches (arguably my favorite movie) 50/50 but it's an example of a game not about fantastical problems but very real and relatable ones.

2. Do you even want games to deal with subject matter more complex n real in nature? Or do you prefer the more escapist stuff universally?

A: Absolutely yes. I've been to many cognitive therapists for my general anxiety disorder and it's of the most relatable themes of art that I find. Music, film and books are all mediums I have found an outlet and genuine connection in this particular struggle but not video games. I'd love to see more of that.

3. Favorite type of juice growing up?

A: Pomegranate juice

4. Have you ever done that shitty thing at a bar where you looked up some dumbass drink on a phone, and handed the bartender your phone so they can make you that drink?

A: Nope. I have a forming pattern of ordering 1 pint of cider and then afterward drinking safe, familiar beers the rest of the night.

5. Are you gonna go see Baby Driver? Because you should. Original film, stylish action flick, and not stupidly written since it's Edgar Wright.

A: Absolutely. Edgar Wright has directed some of my favorite movies (Shaun, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim).

Favourite juice?

Cranberry juice, fam.

Ha, so rather than reading the OP, I listened to it using Chrome Speaks default voice while getting some work done here.

Highlights:

- It actually sounds out all of the underscores. Eventually it starts to sound like it's saying scurrunder scurrunder scurrunder.

- Jab-row-knees. Lmao.

Well, damn, I'm going to check out this game.

That's fucking great lol

mmhmm, I don't want to hear about all this potential this medium has, when it can't convey anything more complex than shit you see in basic action n genre flicks. There are entire character types that would never work in a game, because games benefit so much from characters that are more like Nathan Drake (an adventurer), Masterchief (a super soldier), Geralt of Rivia (a Witcher), etc. How do you even begin to do a Daniel Plainview in games? And that's without getting into how the crime drama stuff in this medium, rarely tries to use the game, but instead uses the language of cinema. Beat for beat.

@goldenelementxl said:

3. WTF is juice?

Purple drank is implied for alcohol at least, it went without saying I'm talking virgin drinks here people.

I dislike Scott Pilgrim as well, but that says more about the source material than Wright, the actual cinematography behind the film is quite good. But while I'm at it, I'm not exactly all that fond of Hotfuzz. But I appreciate the man's commitment to a more clear n coherent story line.

I like Catherine, but I don't appreciate the hooky aspects of it. Fucking Japan.

lmfao

I plan on getting this soon.

I was skeptical at first, but everywhere I go, all I see and hear are positive things.

The game's plot alone really hits me, because I too am a young adult in college, I'm also stuck in a small town, and I'm also uncertain about my future.

Plus there's the aspect of dealing with interpersonal relationships that I've heard that this game also explores. That is, how people close to you change as they get older and how we cope with it, something I think we can all relate to.

The sad truth is that, most of your closet and dearest friends will drift away from you. It's not because they hate you, but that at a certain point, life stops revolving around "hanging out" and "having a good time," and that we all have to focus on bigger things. As much as we would like to be carefree for the rest of our lives, we all reach a certain point where we have to take up more responsibilities.

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One of the few games I feel that's grounded when it comes to stories is Life is Strange. Now, I know that game is scoffed at here at System Wars (no thanks to obsessive fans like texasgoldrush), but again, this game also explores the notion of letting go and moving on from friends that are held deep in our heart, even though it pains us to do so.

Plus, Life is Strange really hit me hard both personally and emotionally. It's already depressing enough that it's all about moving on but still cherishing a friendship you had with a close friend, but the fact that Chloe literally reminded me of a friend that I haven't spoken to in over a year really made it all the more difficult because I had her (my friend) in mind when it came down to the final decision in the game.

I know I got really personal there, but fucking hell, that game destroyed me.

@jg4xchamp said:

3. WTF is juice?

Purple drank is implied for alcohol at least, it went without saying I'm talking virgin drinks here people.

Nah man, it's a Chappelle joke referring to how us poor kids came up. We didn't have luxury items like "juice," we had drink.

Apple drink is green.

Purple drink (not the one the rappers talk about) is grape juice without the vitamins. Ingredients are sugar, water, purple. Then of course there was Kool-Aid. But Juice? Nah. We didn't get much juice. And to be honest, back then we preferred "drink" anyway.

@jg4xchamp: I'm not necessarily sure about that. I think you just need to find the right type of game to facilitate more complex characters and personalities.

Of course, we don't really have that right now - certainly not in our action games. It would be very interesting to see problems that one could relate to with more grounded themes and circumstances, but action games (contextually speaking) aren't the right outlet for it.

You can imagine learning from the exhausting intensity of top-down shooters to replicate anxiety or the depth and complexity of strategy games to express social situations.

We're still expressing very complex character choices with very simplistic and binary dialog decisions when these choices could be expressed with way more meat in something like the engine of a strategy game. There are examples of post-modern games replicating something more empathetic like Papers, Please simulating the monotony of the 9:00 - 5:00 but how do we make potentially compelling game-play loops out of emotions AND contextualize that game-play in more grounded and relatable situations? That would be interesting to see in future!

For all intents and purposes, the post-modern games trying to be more grounded tend to forget about having a mechanically engaging game-play loop.

I remember Super Bunnyhop talking about the game a while ago. At the moment it's one of those "I'm not actively pursuring to play it but I'll get it when I have nothing else to play" kinda game right now.

1. Even upon thinking about it deeply there's nothing that comes to mind that I've played where I felt the story was grounded. Part of this could be due to the difficulty in providing that kind of story all while providing a worthwhile gameplay experience. One tends to be sacrified for another. So with this in mind...

2. Yes. Fucking yes. Not only would it make video game stories easier to digest, but the medium's credibility would extend far beyond the realm of escapism. It could spare to tone down the actiony parts in favour of a narrative that could genuinely be taken seriously. Think No Country for Old Men, or its younger brother Hell or High Water.

3. An old-fashioned, uncultured fruit punch for me.

4. No. Why would I embrass myself like that?

5. Soon enough. Knowing that they tie a scene to Queen's Brighton Rock was enough for me to want to see it.

Oh yeah almost forgot.

I am not obsessive, I just give the game credit it is due that is not being given here and call people out for being ignorant to why it succeeds.

Night In The Woods is excellent however and at many moments, can rival LIS. In many aspects, NITW is VERY similar to LIS. If NITW's only knew how to end and not have a wacky third act.....