For the past several weekends I've been watching [iconname]froogle92[/iconname] play the independent game, Night in the Woods, on Twitch.tv and Saturday brought the final segment of the game. If I had to sum it, and the two supplemental games, in one word, it would be 'Wow!' but that would be so horribly inadequate to describe the whole experience.

Not being very much of a gamer myself, I have spent numerous hours watching my brother play various Nintendo games. And since acquiring a better internet connection, I've watched a few playthroughs of games that have intrigued me but I know I will never have the ability to play. However, Night in the Woods is so totally unlike any video game I've ever watched.

Despite their rather realistic & somewhat depressing problems and occasional stress-induced outbursts against others, I found the characters very appealing and because of that the story was very engrossing. It was almost more interesting to find out something about the characters and what motivated them than it was to find out about the central mystery of the story.

In this age of increasingly realistic depictions used in games (I would almost describe it as hyper-realistic but you have to consider when I was a kid, 8-bit was state of the art and it was an innovation when Atari introduced the first wire-frame style arcade games like the first Star Wars), the art style of the game is refreshing and carried very well throughout the entire game. I wasn't too sure about it at first but feel the choice was one of genius and only aided my ability to get into the story that much more. It would be nice to find an 'art of' book out there somewhere eventually.

And finally, I have to mention the soundtrack. I loved it! Most of the time, I don't usually notice the soundtrack of a game unless it's a familiar one (Danny Elfman's score used in the first Lego Batman game for example), an overpowering one (though I can't think of an example of this one right off) or a really good one (such as the first Legend of Spyro game that I actually purchased through iTunes). I did take notice of the soundtrack for Night in the Woods here and there and found it as compelling as the story. I've found several volumes available from the composer, Alec Holowka, available on Bandcamp ( https://infiniteammo.bandcamp.com/ for the interested) and will likely try to get them at some point when I'm able to afford it.

The only downside - and it's not really much of a downside at all; mostly a curiosity because I almost always wonder what happens next in a story beyond what we usually get to see - I have is so many questions about the ending and about some other aspects of the game. At this point, I guess it's unknown if there will be another game but I certainly hope so. I would definitely be up for watching someone play it because the first game is like watching an interactive movie.

Thanks again for playing the game and streaming it, Zera. Should you do any other playthroughs to discover other aspects of the game, I'll be eagerly watching.