Night in the Woods - About the ending (Explanation - SPOILER)
Some stories leave things and details loose and without explanation so you can use your imagination, but I agree that some things in the game felt rushed or unfinished.
Still, I think that the game delivered it's moral as intended.
One of the main quotes from the game is: "At the end of everything, hold on to anything".
The black goat god and the cult were all the things that are horrible or bad in the world.
Mae began to be aware of the god in junior high (the time around you stop being a child: innocent and naive), thus, she developed a nihilistic mentality that lead her to depression and anxiety.
At some points, it seems she thinks there's no point in living, she even doubts if she should care about others, because, after all, their existences are pointless too (that's why she hit the other boy with the bat before, as a sort of experiment). She recovers during high school but has relapse in college.
But while you progress the game, she recovers from her new crisis in college and starts seeing value in life again: she improves her relationship with her family and friends, makes new ones, eats a lot of tacos and pizza again, appreciates nature, learn stuff, remembers her childhood, etc...
The "darkness" (cult) showed itself for bits during the game (pentagrams, cryptic mentions of it, the dissappearance of Casey...) and at the end it just exploded, because, just like depression and other negative feelings or mental diseases, even if you are feeling completely good, they never truly go away and can manifest anytime (but can be controlled).
There may be no god or heaven, and your existence may not have purpose and the world itself is cruel and uncaring. But still, life is worth living it because of the small things and pleasures that it can offer us; and there can be people that care for us, and we care about them too.
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