it's bad form to use one work to put down another, but it's something I can't help sometimes, especially when one of my friends brings up the same comparison. she was playing through goodbye volcano high at my recommendation and said "I hate to say it but this game is working for me way more than night in the woods did"
(full spoilers for nitw and light spoilers for gvh)
they're not directly analogous in the actual story ideas, only superficial broad strokes like being stylized narrative games with funny animal characters. though they are similarly character-driven games, the ultimate approach in balancing characters and story are where they differ the most
nitw's biggest problem, and likely why it left such a lukewarm impact on me, is that it's very plot-focused towards a plot that has little to do with the lives of its central characters, in such a way where their stories don't meaningfully resolve. it's in service of plot revelations that recycle the film hot fuzz so that the author can tell me my own politics
so, if the two games do have something in common, it's that they heavily involve a plot device that is both literal and figurative. in nitw's case, it's a dying boom town where the older residents engage in ritualistic sacrifice of youths to bring life back to it. in gvh, it's a meteor that represents the end of the character's youth, whether that's due to growing into adults or an actual end of the world
in gvh's case though, that is not the plot. the plot is about a character desperately trying to keep their life the same, even as everyone else is clearly moving on. while the two games share main characters who are challenged by great change in the people around them as they cling to their past, gvh has an intrinsic interest in how that develops whereas nitw is more concerned with how that fits into the plot metaphor
each hangout scene for the main 4 of nitw revolves around a central idea: regardless of how everyone besides mae feels about their childhood attachments to this town, they want to escape from this place whereas she—after the complexities of college life become too much to bear—wants to escape to it. while gregg still shares the youthful nostalgia, he'll ultimately go with the man he loves who plans to leave for greener pastures. bea does everything she can to forgot she can't really leave this shithole and, while briefly amusing, her and mae getting up to old tricks is only a reminder of how far gone this place is
the small town cult plotline is where these stories more or less end. this reveal does not provide any new information for them to look at their lives, it just hammers the point that this place does not deserve their continued presence. mae seemingly confronts a mania which suggests that the entire visual framework of the game is a manifestation of her need for simplicity in life. someone practically looks at the camera and says Unions Are Important. little has materially changed for this central cast in this conflict and then the game ends
firewatch came out around this same time and was hugely divisive for its anti-climax. but it totally worked in my view, because it's still a climax where the characters confront the narrative theme and complete their story arcs. it being as sad as it was gave more impact to the painful truth that these two lost souls had to come to grips with
by the final act of gvh, the whole cast have to wrestle with the idea that their futures are completely uncertain due to the state of the world, and fang has to accept that their friends will still be with them no matter how that future manifests for all of them. it's still worth enjoying what we have now, even if we're not the same people or even here tomorrow. the ending suggests anything could happen, but that all these characters have realized how strong their bond will always be and that nothing can take away the memories they've shared
the cast of nitw are hopelessly lost in a simile of the north american midwest, their only hopes of absolution lying in escape, escapism, or a foundational reckoning that may never happen; "unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. it's not"
that's cool. I can tell that's exactly the story scott benson wanted to tell. but man it sure seems like the literal abandonment of this nation towards its youth was used as an excuse to abandon actually resolving these character's stories, in any positive or negative way
I don't need to be told what I already know. I want to see a story involving those ideas, where the way those characters navigate them lends me, the viewer, a greater perspective on the world. gvh gave me that, nitw did not