It's hard to give this game a fair review - part of me wants to say this should not have been a game and would have fared better in another medium. Its character-work its setting and its artistic choices are all gorgeous. It's hard not to fall in love with the cast of distraught young adults struggling to transition into the responsibilities of adulthood and holding onto the fun of their teenage years of not long ago.

There's a lot of times where I could not pay attention though, the core game as a walking side-scrolling simulator was hard to bare and I couldn't pick out the times I should be paying attention or times that are irrelevant to the plot and are there to further develop the world or characters. This was the second time I picked up the game and the first time I played it to completion. I don't understand the plot of Night in the Woods; I would need to replay its entirety again.
There is not much game to review, as the core loop is walking and chatting with characters, exploring the world through the eyes of the protagonist - having been removed from their small childhood town for a few years now. The minigames that pad it out and cut through the monotony are sparse in the core game, I think it could have done with more in the main span of the game as there isn't much else to do.

I love the setting, I love the art, I adore the characterwork, I have a hard time playing the game.