![]() It’s not perfect in this area: the overriding objective is a faulty one. The world often reacts to your crafting and fetching in imaginative ways. And there’s a dark sense of humour running through it like rock. The deviants you are killing are hulking, grotesque versions of woodland animals, and they have fairy-tale-like stories to make them larger than life. This is a beautiful game, in much the same way that Knights & Bikes and Wild at Heart are beautiful, with 2D cutouts dancing on a semi-3D world. It stops the feelings of grind and repetition that you often get in MMOs or large-scale RPGs.īut the main way that Wytchwood files off its own edges is it’s overwhelming character. You can pop to the right region, do one action, and you are now fully stocked. ![]() The first is that you rarely need more than one of each item. Wytchwood understands this, and does a couple of things to mitigate it. You would be perfectly justified to put down the pad when Wytchwood asks you for the same far-flung item that you have gained five times before (looking at you, ghost skull). It’s a yawning void of picking up items, trapping creatures and combining other items. Sometimes, and it’s not a rare occurrence, Wytchwood’s beautiful wrapping peels back and you see that it’s made of the same interactions, over and over again. Then comes the “Zombie Husband,” whose greeting is an eloquent “B-gggYAUHH?” Ghosts wander around a haunted mansion, and then “Black Sheep”-a literal black sheep who looks like was pulled straight from Pan’s Labyrinth-fears you have been sent by The Ram to “finish him off,” and then laments that he knew he “couldn’t trust that Gargoyle to keep a secret.” Guys, I can’t even.It’s the gaping chasm that Wytchwood tries to build a bridge over. The Witch responds with a “Howzit growing, farmer?” If what we are looking at here is a quirky game about folklore with talking goats and bad farmer puns, I am so unbelievably in.Īfter seeing a dog (?) with a skull hovering over its head-maybe it’s poisoned?-the Witch punches a chicken in the face to retrieve an egg and this immediately became one of my favorite upcoming games. Upon entering the field of crops (and the Witch doing something to them), the “Vegetal Farmer” welcomes her to his homestead. Then I see that there is an item called “Bottled Fear” and I get the impression that Alientrap and Whitethorn know precisely the kind of vibe a game like this should have.The positive feeling I was getting became stronger when I saw the Witch in conversation with the Goat-a goat who is busy “sensing the first four Souls we seek.” Now, we’re talking.Īfter getting the marching orders from the goat (I love that I am able to type that), we see the Witch travelling across various locales of this fairy tale world, ranging from swamps and crop fields, to what appears to be a kind of hospital run by a creature that looks like a cross between a plague doctor and one of the colored tentacles from Maniac Mansion. What exactly are “Apothecary Humors,” you ask? They are described as “liquid life, as proven by modern medicine.” That one of the ingredients listed is “Blood” makes me encouraged where this game is going. After collecting what she needs, it’s time to jump into a menu to brew some “Apothecary Humors.” We then watch the Witch collect various ingredients from around some beautifully-rendered wilderness while donning an upside-down cauldron atop her head -witches are nothing if they aren’t resourceful. Before scurrying out into the wilderness, we get a glimpse of the Witch’s house-bookshelves overflowing with books and trinkets, scattered candles, and a cauldron (duh!) sits at the room’s center. From the opening moment the Witch rises from her red armchair, you already feel a part of this world. Described as ”a crafting adventure game set in an expressive land of gothic fables and fairytales,” your role is that of “the mysterious old witch of the woods,” and are tasked with wandering the countryside collecting magical ingredients to brew your sorcerous concoctions.Īlentrap recently released the first gameplay trailer for Wytchwood. But as I thought about it, and the uncomfortable truth that as I age I draw ever-closer to this classification, I settled on a greater appreciation that the audience for such low-key experiences is more than likely immense.įrom that desire to produce such games, Whitethorn has teamed up with developer Alientrap Games on the upcoming Wytchwood. Whitethorn Games has a clear mission for the games they publish, succinctly encapsulated by their Instagram bio: “Low-stress games for nervous people.” I laughed when I first read it, partly because it’s quaint and unassuming, but also because it was humorous to think that “nervous people” would specifically need an entire genre of gaming devoted to them.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |