KickStarter Night In The Woods

[kaizoku]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1307515311/night-in-the-woods?ref=users

What do you make of this?

Looks to be a hipster game. But it got $170k.

5 days to go.

 

[Berekän]

"Looks to be hipster" might be the biggest understatement I've read all day month.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Nothing more needs to be said.

 

[almondblight]

This is very pretty and all, but what is the gameplay like?

We're not revealing everything about the gameplay at this point, but we will say you'll be walking, running, jumping, exploring, puzzle-solving, talking, doing activities with characters, playing bass and sometimes smashing things.

It's funny that they themselves realized their whole pitch (and the subsequent updates) was just showing off the art work and character and not bothering to talk about the actual game at all. Though I do have to give them some props for this:

So here’s what’s happening: We’re not doing any more stretch goals, at least not for the time being. From here on out, funds will go to making the development more stable and secure financially, and enabling us to do cool things for you guys as they come up.

 

[VioletShadow]

 

[supervoid]

There is pointless minigame on their website, somewhere in the bottom right http://www.nightinthewoods.com/
And also etsy shop with overpriced pointless stuff. Hipsterism confirmed.

 

[supervoid]

http://finji.itch.io/lost-constellation

Lost Constellation is a Longest Night ghost story. Travel into the frozen woods in a folktale from the world of Night In The Woods.

It was made by Alec Holowka, Scott Benson, and Bethany Hockenberry in the last weeks of 2014.

This is a supplemental game, which is to say it's not a demo or a preview of Night In The Woods. In some ways Lost Constellation is a lot like NITW, but in a lot of ways it's not. It's a tangent, a side-story, a way for us to explore a bit in a more off-the-cuff manner.

We hope you love it!

 

[VioletShadow]

 

[Crooked Bee]

It's pretty repetitive. I'm a few (in-game) days in and I'm mostly bored already.

I like the concept and it looks pretty stylish, in a hipster bullshit way, and some of the writing can be amusing -- and the game can get atmospheric enough at times -- but it's kinda meh overall. Lots of running around the same areas if you want to see the optional content/dialogue doesn't help. Sometimes it feels like a weird, even more pretentious, slow-paced and walking sim-y version of Life is Strange, in that it focuses almost entirely on your everyday stuff and hanging out with your friends, only adding some dream sequences on top; plus apparently there is some murder mystery going on. There are some choices (like what to say or who to hang out with) but no idea if there are any actual consequences yet. It is charming enough but not particularly engrossing or brilliant, I think.

 

[V_K]

Wonder what could have made the guy go from Aquaria to that...

 

[Crooked Bee]

2deep4bee

I can't say I completely dislike it, really, and I like stylish hipster notgames in general. This game has its moments -- it's just that that there have been much better ones. This one is "kinda okay I guess" in my book.

It also isn't really that well-written, because essentially every character is the same (an ironic hipster teenager at heart, even your mom and dad). They can be more or less anarchic or moody, but that's about it. I like the mom dialogue though; it shows some real care.

And don't let the looks fool you; this isn't even a platformer, much less a metroidvania. It's a walking sim with jumping. And the walking is 80% backtracking, especially if you want to see the side content, which, coupled with a walking speed so slow that you have to use a speedhack to set the game to at least x1.5 speed, equals messed-up music (which is a shame, because the music is nice) and terrible design. It's nice to be slowly taking in the sights and dialogues in theory, but not when you have to do it over and over again across the same areas.

 

[Berekän]

Played and finished it. Just when it starts to get interesting it ends... abruptly. It's also one of those games that wants to you make note of every tiny detail and make multiple playthroughs to make a sense of it all... and frankly it isn't interesting enough nor do I have the time to warrant that, I know I missed a bunch of stuff.

I liked the graphics and the music, but the rest just isn't good. I get that it tries to tackle the more serious themes a 20 year old might face with her own outlook and words, but the dialogue can get annoying when you're just mumbling and ultimately saying nothing at all, and the mistery stuff that at one point seems to be the meat of the game just falls flat moments afterwards.

 

[Jasede]

I am considering this the best-written dialogue in a game since Bloodlines, to be honest.

 

[Ivan]

DANK!

 

[Gepeu]

I am considering this the best-written dialogue in a game since Bloodlines, to be honest.

Tough words for someone with a fucking Undertale avatar.

 

[Jasede]

What's your problem with Bloodlines? Get the fuck out if you can't appreciate decently-written games. Go back to Oblivion.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

https://www.destructoid.com/review-night-in-the-woods-428404.phtml

9.5




Looks hipster as fuck, and yet it gets overwhelmingly positive reviews everywhere. Is it a hipster trap?

 

[Ivan]

Yes. It's a, what do you call them, games like Dear Esther, walking sims! This time the story is informed by Catcher In The Rye.
I was playing it but got severely sidetracked by the new Zelda + Dark Souls DLC.

 

[AN4RCHID]

the music and art is very nice. writing is fine. the gameplay is nonexistent. it's enjoyable enough, but I'm not sure I'll bother finishing it.

 

[Crooked Bee]

I abandoned it midway through; it just got too monotonous.

 

[Dexter]

Wonder what could have made the guy go from Aquaria to that...

 

[Ivan]

NITW is a walking sim carried by its charming characters, writing, presentation, and music. There is only 1 main hub that you traverse 8 or so times throughout the entire game. If you have OCD like me and MUST see everything, that means that you're going to need to go out of your way to visit every single NPC to see else they have to say. It's for this reason that I wish the game had a vehicle, like Earthbound's bicycle, to get around. As it is, I eventually got tired of it and went straight to the plot movers. If there's a word that sums up the game it would be "charm." Some friends will click more with you than others (Beatrice <3, FUCK GREGG). Pick it up during a deep deep sale. If you enjoyed games like Gone Home and To The Moon, then you might enjoy this. FYI this is roughly an 8 hour experience, probably a bit more if you have OCD and MUST see everything (you can't see all of the "events" in one playthrough, and you'd be braindead to play through it again instead of watching the rest on the Tube).
-charming writing, well defined characters, very nice music, boring traversal and lots of it

 

[Background Character]

Could you even investigate the ripped off arm? I quitted the game after the second or third day after helping the faggot wolf build some kind of robot

It was him or the bitch crocodile

Did I miss something or is that the whole game? I also stole some pretzelds for some rats

 

[Ivan]

The meat of the game is hanging out with the compas and the realities of coming of age. Again, not a lot of gameplay, and if you didn't care about the compas then you were most likely right in dropping it.

At the very least I would say you missed a pretty stellar soundtrack.

 

[Jasede]

Ivan's review is spot on and very honest. Thanks Ivan. It really isn't a good 'game' what with there being no gameplay, but unlike trash like Gone Home, it has actual themes and brains behind the writing. Even the anti-capitalist crap someone posted earlier is more a reflection of kids during their college years than an agenda.