When Night in the Woods released in 2017, it truly was the talk of the town. Everyone I knew had played it and loved it, from the crust punks to the stoners and the skaters. And that still makes sense to me: Night in the Woods is a game that touches very profoundly on that awkward part of life, when you’re not quite a kid anymore, yet you’re just barely an adult. It tells its story with humor and earnestness, all in a world that is aesthetically and narratively captivating.
Now, we get to return to this world! The original co-creators of Night in the Woods recently unveiled Revenant Hill, which will be released on PS4, PS5, and Steam:
Does that cat not look exactly like an ancestor of Mae Borowski?? If that’s not enough to draw you in, read the official description on Steam:
The year is 1919. After the barn he was living in burns down, Twigs the cat takes up residence in a wet log near an abandoned graveyard. When the owl from the next hill over starts demanding rent, Twigs must find a way to make ends meet, and things just get more complicated from there.
Grow crops to sell at the secret market or use for your own purposes. Put down roots. Run through the fields and the trees. Watch the seasons pass. Make friends who become neighbors who become family. Also make enemies. Thatās unavoidable sometimes. Figure out what the ghosts want. Host increasingly ambitious parties for witches and demons and other things that donāt have proper names. Get tangled up in a world in the midst of violent change. Build a community by accident. Square dance with a possum. Eat mice.
Learn to write. Cobble together some hexes and charms, do dangerous things with your new friends, and jot it all down in your journal. See the world, or at least the stranger parts of it. Meet whatever it is that lives there. Work your way up the ladder towards your dream job of being a fully licensed familiar.
Times are hard, making ends meet is harder, and the world doesnāt stop at the edge of the graveyard. Something big and dark is at work in the towns, the factories, in the forests and hills. At some point, someone is going to have to push back. And they canāt do it alone.
Revenant Hill sounds utterly delightful. There is so much going on here. You’re not just playing as a catā you’re playing as a cat who’s trying to get a life. Even more than that, your kitty self can eventually transcend to a whole other plane of existence. And honestly? Goals.
Now, I’m definitely biasedānot just because I love the first game, but because I absolutely adore media that anthropomorphizes animals in very silly, typical ways. But Revenant Hill genuinely sounds like it will be such a charming, engrossing game in the same spirit as its predecessor, yet with even more to do. They even kept the original accordion-heavy sound for the soundtrack!
If you haven’t yet played Night in the Woods, I highly recommend it, if only in anticipation for this upcoming release. This game world, though not without its own history of strife, is so lovingly crafted and full of warm, interesting details, and I’m truly excited to explore a new part of it when Revenant Hill releases.
(featured image: The Glory Society)
