“Night in the Woods” Review – by Gabby Gonzalez

Night In the Woods, is a game I heard so much buzz about. I’m more of a casual gamer, and game is for more casual gameplay, but anyone person can play it.  I usually, played a few games every year or so. Night in the Woods, is set in an anthropomorphic world, the where main character an anthropomorphic cat Mae, comes back to her small crumbling hometown,  where she reconnects with her friends, and starts to see the dark aspects of her hometown. The gameplay is very light; through Mae, the player explores the town and interacts with the local crowd. The gameplay changes when Mae goes to band practice and rocks out.

However, the best part of the gameplay is when the player explores Mae’s dreamworld. Even though the gameplay is very light, no one is holding your hand. The player has to figure out what to do next.  Before playing the game, Night in the Woods sounded like a game I would like. Not only did I liked the game, I was obsessed with Night in the Woods. It’s story-driven and the gameplay oozes with coziness and mystical elements. The game, however, started to affect me. Before I would played a little for a few weeks of time. I like to take my time with the games I played. However, a recent severe anxiety attack, I started playing the game fanatically.

The game became accessible and relatable, because the main character Mae has severe depression. I kept telling my friends I was playing the depressed cat simulator. She makes a lot of mistakes that I have made. Mae is an awkward 20-year old who does not know where her future holds. She returns to her home, to resort her life. The story deals with awkward realities, particularly dropping out of college, and conversations or the lack of conversations that come about that. When Mae, explores the town, everyone is bothering Mae about why she dropped out of college.

I identify with Mae because of my college struggles and my mental health issues. However, Mae’s friends are excited to see her. The act of Mae getting out of her bed to go outside is huge for me. Mae’s actions of walking around and exploring her hometown shows she is trying to live her life in the best possibly way. The game shows it takes the little steps, and the big steps, to practice the self-care that everyone needs in their life.