Board 8 > Rate the VG Story Day 398: Night in the Woods

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Todays game is Night in the Woods. How would you rate the story on a scale from 1-10?

You can still rate previous days games if you

Previous Results:
Clannad - 9.75 (4 votes)
Omori - 9.71 (7 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers - 9.68 (11 votes)
Outer Wilds - 9.61 (22 votes)
Silent Hill 2 - 9.5 (20 votes)
Planescape: Torment - 9.5 (13 votes)
Higurashi When They Cry - 9.5 (9 votes)
Eternal Darkness: Sanitys Requiem 9.38 - 13 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker - 9.33 (10 votes)
428: Shibuya Scramble - 9.27 (9 votes)
Nier Automata - 9.25 (31 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC - 9.2 (20 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations - 9.19 (35 votes)
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West - 9.15 (10 votes)
Deus Ex - 9.14 (13 votes)
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - 9.1 (14 votes)
The House in Fata Morgana - 9.06 (11 votes)
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - 9.04 (8 votes)
Yakuza 0 - 9.03 (13 votes)
Red Dead Redemption 2 - 9 (8 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV (overall) - 8.98 (11 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - 8.95 (31 votes)
Steins;Gate - 8.94 (9 votes)
Mother 3 - 8.91 (15 votes)
Umineko When They Cry - 8.89 (14 votes)
Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward - 8.88 (21 votes)
Return of the Obra Dinn - 8.85 (10 votes)
Silent Hill 4: The Room - 8.83 (6 votes)
Suikoden II - 8.8 (11 votes)
Persona 3 - 8.76 (22 votes)
Nier - 8.75 (18 votes)
Grim Fandango - 8.75 (14 votes)
Xenogears - 8.73 (24 votes)
Tales of Berseria - 8.71 (15 votes)
Metal Gear Solid - 8.68 (28 votes)
Final Fantasy Tactics - 8.67 (27 votes)
Shadow Hearts: Covenant - 8.67 (6 votes)
Pyre - 8.64 (7 votes)
Portal 2 - 8.64 (19 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward - 8.64 (11 votes)
Bastion - 8.63 (12 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty 8.63 (32 votes)
AI: The Somnium Files - 8.59 (13 votes)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon - 8.58 (6 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask - 8.57 (28 votes)
Persona 4 - 8.56 (32 votes)
Disco Elysium - 8.56 (17 votes)
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - 8.53 (18 votes)
SOMA - 8.5 (6 votes)
The Great Ace Attorney: Resolve - 8.48 (11 votes)
Fate/Stay Night - 8.48 (12 votes)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - 8.47 (16 votes)
Undertale - 8.45 (42 votes)
Dragon Quest V - 8.44 (16 votes)
Mass Effect 2 - 8.44 (29 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - 8.43 (12 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice - 8.42 (17 votes)
What Remains of Edith Finch - 8.41 (19 votes)
Chrono Trigger - 8.4 (41 votes)
Shadow Hearts - 8.38 (8 votes)
Blasphemous - 8.38 (4 votes)
Shenmue II - 8.38 (4 votes)
Snatcher - 8.33 (6 votes)
Final Fantasy X - 8.31 (56 votes)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - 8.31 (17 votes)
Final Fantasy VII - 8.29 (38 votes)
South Park: The Stick of Truth - 8.25 (18 votes)
Dead Space - 8.25 (8 votes)
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - 8.23 (6 votes)
Fallout: New Vegas - 8.23 (13 votes)
Lunar: Silver Star Story - 8.22 (9 votes)
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - 8.21 (19 votes)
Parasite Eve - 8.19 (9 votes)
Dragon Quest XI - 8.19 (17 votes)
Final Fantasy VI - 8.19 (43 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 8.19 (43 votes)
The Walking Dead Season 1 - 8.16 (22 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies - 8.15 (17 votes)
Wolfenstein: The New Order - 8.14 (7 votes)
The Last of Us - 8.13 (35 votes)
The Witcher - 8.13 (7 votes)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - 8.12 (14 votes)
Conkers Bad Fur Day - 8.11 (9 votes)
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals - 8.11 (9 votes)
The Wolf Among Us - 8.11 (15 votes)
Hellblade: Senuas Sacrifice - 8.1 (5 votes)
Horizon: Zero Dawn - 8.06 (18 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - 8 (18 votes)
Portal - 8 (26 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna: The Golden Country - 7.98 (5 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles - 7.98 (28 votes)
Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End - 7.97 (16 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - 7.96 (14 votes)
Hades - 7.96 (22 votes)
Tsukihime - 7.94 (7 votes)
God of War (2018) - 7.93 (14 votes)
Ace Attorney Investigations 2 - 7.92 (13 votes)
Persona 5 - 7.92 (27 votes)
Life is Strange - 7.92 (32 votes)
Alan Wake - 7.91 (8 votes)
Spec Ops: The Line - 7.9 (17 votes)
Cyberpunk 2077 - 7.9 (7 votes)
Bloodborne - 7.88 (20 votes)
Kid Icarus: Uprising - 7.86 (13 votes)
Killer7 - 7.85 (10 votes)
Silent Hill - 7.8 (15 votes)
Psychonauts - 7.79 (7 votes)
Deadly Premonition - 7.77 (11 votes)
Final Fantasy IX - 7.77 (26 votes)
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - 7.75 (14 votes)
Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story - 7.75 (10 votes)
Silent Hill 3 - 7.75 (8 votes)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future - 7.75 (6 votes)
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - 7.75 (4 votes)
NEO: The World Ends With You - 7.75 (4 votes)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - 7.75 (4 votes)
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - 7.73 (32 votes)
The Last of Us: Left Behind - 7.73 (11 votes)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor - 7.73 (11 votes)
Mega Man Zero - 7.71 (7 votes)
The Sexy Brutale - 7.7 (5 votes)
Vagrant Story - 7.67 (6 votes)
Bioshock - 7.65 (24 votes)
Skies of Arcadia - 7.63 (15 votes)
Suikoden - 7.63 (15 votes)
Paper Mario: The Origami King - 7.63 (6 votes)
Radiant Historia - 7.62 (13 votes)
Doki Doki Literature Club - 7.61 (28 votes)
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - 7.6 (5 votes)
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox - 7.57 (6 votes)
Celeste - 7.56 (26 votes)
Half-Life 2 - 7.55 (10 votes)
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake - 7.54 (12 votes)
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - 7.51 (31 votes)

Policenauts - 7.5 (5 votes)
Erica - 7.5 (4 votes)
The Last Story - 7.47 (6 votes)
Mortal Kombat (2011) - 7.46 (13 votes)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 7.44 (8 votes)
Marvels Spider-Man - 7.43 (16 votes)
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - 7.42 (6 votes)
Dragon Age: Origins - 7.4 (10 votes)
Perfect Dark - 7.4 (10 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II - 7.38 (13 votes)
Tales of Symphonia - 7.38 (30 votes)
Her Story - 7.38 (8 votes)
Phantasy Star IV - 7.37 (6 votes)
Earthbound - 7.37 (20 votes)
Ghost of Tsushima - 7.36 (7 votes)
Amnesia: The Dark Descent - 7.33 (8 votes)
Halo 3 - 7.33 (6 votes)
Mass Effect - 7.33 (29 votes)
Resident Evil (2002) - 7.32 (11 votes)
Batman: Arkham Asylum - 7.27 (24 votes)
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - 7.27 (20 votes)
Tales of the Abyss - 7.25 (29 votes)
Bravely Default - 7.25 (12 votes)
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - 7.25 (12 votes)
Red Dead Redemption - 7.23 (11 votes)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 7.21 (30 votes)
Devil May Cry 3: Dantes Awakening - 7.21 (12 votes)
Resident Evil 4 - 7.19 (25 votes)
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony - 7.17 (25 votes)
Mass Effect 3 - 7.16 (21 votes)
Resident Evil (1996) - 7.16 (10 votes)
Resident Evil 2 - 7.13 (16 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - 7.11 (23 votes)
The Stanley Parable - 7.11 (14 votes)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - 7.1 (30 votes)
Broken Age - 7.1 (5 votes)
The Last of Us Part II - 7.09 (16 votes)
The Last Guardian - 7.08 (6 votes)
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal - 7.08 (6 votes)
To the Moon - 7.07 (7 votes)
INSIDE - 7.06 (16 votes)
Warcraft III (overall) - 7.06 (8 votes)
Assassins Creed II - 7.04 (13 votes)
Hollow Knight - 7.02 (23 votes)
Final Fantasy VIII - 7.01 (31 votes)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - 7 (6 votes)
Halo 2 - 6.96 (12 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood - 6.95 (11 votes)
Super Paper Mario - 6.95 (24 votes)
Paper Mario - 6.95 (13 votes)
Fire Emblem (2003) - 6.93 (21 votes)
Dragon Quest VII - 6.91 (8 votes)
Gone Home - 6.91 (18 votes)
Batman: Arkham Knight - 6.9 (5 votes)
Bioshock Infinite - 6.88 (20 votes)
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling - 6.88 (4 votes)
Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 6.86 (14 votes)
Assassins Creed: Brotherhood - 6.83 (6 votes)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - 6.83 (6 votes)
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA - 6.82 (12 votes)
Death Stranding - 6.81 (13 votes)
L. A. Noire - 6.8 (5 votes)
Outlast - 6.8 (5 votes)
The World Ends With You - 6.79 (24 votes)
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne - 6.79 (7 votes)
Firewatch - 6.77 (11 votes)
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose - 6.77 (13 votes)
Silent Hill: s***tered Memories - 6.75 (6 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening - 6.74 (19 votes)
Dragon Quest IV - 6.73 (8 votes)
Batman: Arkham City - 6.71 (12 votes)
Pokmon Black & White - 6.7 (15 votes)
Halo: Combat Evolved - 6.7 (10 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All - 6.7 (34 votes)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - 6.68 (11 votes)
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King - 6.68 (11 votes)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - 6.68 (13 votes)
Dark Souls - 6.63 (20 votes)
Suikoden III - 6.63 (8 votes)
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc - 6.62 (30 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - 6.61 (19 votes)
Dark Souls III - 6.6 (5 votes)
Golden Sun: The Lost Age - 6.58 (12 votes)
Grand Theft Auto V - 6.58 (12 votes)
The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings (7 votes)
Octopath Traveller - 6.54 (12 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - 6.54 (26 votes)
Catherine - 6.54 (13 votes)
Metroid Dread - 6.54 (13 votes)
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones - 6.53 (15 votes)
Chrono Cross - 6.53 (18 votes)
Valkyria Chronicles - 6.5 (16 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - 6.5 (13 votes)
Transistor - 6.5 (8 votes)
Resident Evil Village - 6.5 (7 votes)
Katana Zero - 6.5 (6 votes)
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - 6.5 (5 votes)
Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag - 6.5 (5 votes)
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - 6.46 (13 votes)
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - 6.46 (12 votes)
Viewtiful Joe - 6.45 (10 votes)
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht - 6.43 (15 votes)
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - 6.43 (20 votes)
Dishonored 2 - 6.43 (7 votes)
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos - 6.43 (7 votes)
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne - 6.4 (5 votes)
A Hat in Time - 6.39 (12 votes)
Professor Layton and the Lost Specter - 6.38 (4 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 6.36 (36 votes)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 6.35 (10 votes)
Bioshock 2 - 6.33 (9 votes)
Fire Emblem: Awakening - 6.33 (20 votes)
Final Fantasy V - 6.28 (27 votes)
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - 6.28 (9 votes)
Valkyria Chronicles 4 - 6.25 (4 votes)
The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures - 6.23 (12 votes)
Saints Row the Third - 6.21 (12 votes)
Bayonetta 2 - 6.2 (10 votes)
Kirby Super Star: Revenge of Meta Knight - 6.2 (5 votes)
Professor Layton and the Curious Village - 6.15 (15 votes)
DOOM (2016) - 6.15 (13 votes)
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - 6.14 (7 votes)
Tales of Vesperia - 6.13 (24 votes)
Golden Sun - 6.06 (17 votes)
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria - 6.05 (6 votes)
Banjo-Kazooie - 6 (12 votes)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - 6 (9 votes)
No More Heroes - 5.96 (12 votes)
Shadow of the Colossus - 5.94 (27 votes)
Assassins Creed III - 5.94 (8 votes)
Star Fox: Assault - 5.93 (7 votes)
God of War (2005) - 5.83 (15 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 5.82 (17 votes)
Sonic Adventure 2 - 5.81 (27 votes)
Final Fantasy IV - 5.8 (33 votes)
Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception - 5.8 (24 votes)
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - 5.79 (7 votes)
Dark Souls II - 5.77 (12 votes)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - 5.72 (9 votes)
Star Ocean: The Second Story - 5.72 (9 votes)
Metroid Prime - 5.72 (25 votes)
Tales of Xillia - 5.71 (12 votes)
Dishonored - 5.7 (10 votes)
Star Fox 64 - 5.69 (27 votes)
Hyrule Warriors - 5.67 (6 votes)
Hitman - 5.65 (6 votes)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 - 5.64 (7 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - 5.59 (14 votes)
Dragon Quest VI - 5.58 (6 votes)
Valkyrie Profile - 5.58 (6 votes)
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - 5.6 (10 votes)
Braid - 5.59 (11 votes)
Detroit: Become Human - 5.58 (6 votes)
Metroid Fusion - 5.56 (13 votes)
Journey - 5.56 (17 votes)
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth - 5.55 (20 votes)
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days - 5.55 (10 votes)
Kingdom Hearts - 5.51 (33 votes)
Persona 4 Arena - 5.51 (9 votes)
Dead Rising - 5.5 (4 votes)
The Wonderful 101 - 5.5 (4 votes)

1/10

The ending is alright but no other game has made me feel profoundly unhappy like NitW has.

6/10

The story is well-told and cohesive, but the deliberate directionless and slow pacing made it hard for me to get personally invested and I found the sense of humor grating rather than charming.

7

3

Overrated to the moon like most indie games.

10

10/10

Maybe the most brutally honest and realistic depiction of day-to-day life, mental health, ennui, and anxiety I've ever seen in any form of media? It captures a feeling much like Silent Hill 2 does - it forces the player to reckon with themselves through the lens of Mae and thoroughly examines and tests the player's own life experiences and cyclical lives. At least, it did for me. It's uncomfortable at many points, offering many perspectives of its own. The tough life of Bea, the happy-go-lucky nature of Gregg, even Possum Spring's economic troubles basically acting as a metaphor for the whole cast in general, depicting a sense of simplicity and innocence slowly but surely rusting away just as the characters struggle to find their place in the world and move away from the roots of their childhood. Yet, it never loses focus on Mae either, her struggles with depersonalization, coming back to her hometown, dropping out of college, feeling purposeless, lacking a job, it's just this whole toxic swirl of troubles that can be so hard to face up to but must be faced up to nevertheless. The Lovecraftian entity at the bottom of the town would be an easy thing to pin your troubles on - and yet, through the game's use of routine (get up, travel through town, hang out, go back home), it's treated just like another thing on a checklist of things that's as mundane and troublesome as anything else Mae or the cast is going through. It's that want in life to have something weird or fantastical happen to you - to want that snap out of the puppet's strings we can feel so attached to - but really, it's just an excuse to ignore the root of your problems. It's such a genius way to portray horror, because in a sense, the horror of the mundane is way worse than anything supernatural or demonic that could come your way. We look for meaning everywhere in life - whether it be through jobs or some strange cult-like activities, but the game's true commentary is in its charm & humor - doing crimes with Gregg, helping Bae and brightening up her mood here and there, that cozy wordless feeling of watching a late-night program with your Dad - Night in the Woods is saying there's some good in routine too and some of your happiest moments can come from it - if only for fleeting glimpses, but there nonetheless. The way Night in the Woods captures all sides of the human experience, and manages to do it through anthropomorphic animals no less, is an achievement in gaming and media in general, to me.

10

Oh, shit, Snake gave it a 10. Now I have to add it to my list.

9

9.5

plasmabeam posted...

Oh, shit, Snake gave it a 10. Now I have to add it to my list.

https://twitter.com/Esqueer_/status/1542373061298724870

10

Holy shit some of these low scores are insane.

Finally!

9.5 - I do somewhat agree with the common critiques of its questionable pacing, even if I'm often more inclined to say such a structure serves a valuable purpose. However, I just don't care on a subjective level, for many, many reasons.

6.5/10

This is tricky to evaluate because I liked the game in a general sense until it wound up just going nowhere. The moment-to-moment writing is where NitW excels, but it's also the reason I ultimately put the game down. (That and the stupid dream sequences.)

I'm going to label those components a matter of gameplay rather than story, even though the two are actually linked inextricably, because the MC is a lot of fun when she's not frustratingly breaking social norms.

8/10

8/10

9.5

The only reason it's not a 10 for me is that there is actually too much going on in this game. In a lot of ways the specific beats about anxiety made it an exhausting experience to get through, and some of the other context was definitely lost. It's something I'd both love to revisit and feel like it's too hard to do so. After all there's friend hangouts I missed! But like...you can't ever really go back.

Anyways. That game being a bit too good at what it's doing for me personally is how I know it's a masterpiece.