Jogo truncado com avaliações de perícia difíceis de entender. História mediada. Vale o tempo nele.
I got this on a bundle, played it to get some trading cards to sell but ended up having a nice time. Steam also dropped an expensive card, so that's cool.
Sin duda una buena novela visual donde las decisiones realmente importan. Si bien yo no voy a hacerlo por falta de tiempo, es tremendamente rejugable. Si algo hecho en falta es un glosario con algunos términos, el ponerle cara a los personajes, o unos dibujos que me aclararan más que está pasando, cosa que no ocurre. Pero quitando esto, recomendable a quien le gusten estos juegos.
Lovely prose and presentation but the game ends right when a lot of it's plot starts moving. It's also political. Like I get "all art is political" and what not but this game is like, very vocally and aggresively about enviromentalism and fighting against systems that try to kill the forest so if you just expected a fun werewolf choose your own adventure game prepare to be shocked.
This might honestly be my favorite visual novel experience. It never feels dragged on like some games in the genre, and the RPG elements add a lot to the replayability. My only one (but major) complaint is that it's too short. By the time the plot starts to pick up, the game is already nearing the end. The fun stuff could have been explored more.
Despite the flaw, this is hard recommendation even for people not familiar with the World of Darkness. It does really well at exploring the setting, taking the parts that make it good and presenting it as something that's enjoyable on its own.
Despite the flaw, this is hard recommendation even for people not familiar with the World of Darkness. It does really well at exploring the setting, taking the parts that make it good and presenting it as something that's enjoyable on its own.
It's a very well written CYOA kind of game with really nice illustrations, sound design, really many weighty choices and in general it's one of the best CYOA experiences you can find. I may very much enjoy Choice of Games stuff, but the lack of anything besides text makes none of them any match to Heart of the Forest, which has amazing ATMOSPHERE.
The one thing that bummed me out... It's just too short. If the team ever gets another chance to write a World of Darkness CYOA game, hope they get more time and budget to write a bigger story.
Worth every penny and probably multiple playthroughs till 100% completion of achievements, though am not gonna do that yet myself, hard for me to make choices i would not do IRL.
The one thing that bummed me out... It's just too short. If the team ever gets another chance to write a World of Darkness CYOA game, hope they get more time and budget to write a bigger story.
Worth every penny and probably multiple playthroughs till 100% completion of achievements, though am not gonna do that yet myself, hard for me to make choices i would not do IRL.
Visual novel in the World of Darkness setting with a focus on the werewolves. Good art and music with often well written and good mechanic concepts, while also rushed in every sense when it comes to learning about other characters and the setting and is over so quickly that like a lot of games that try to use stats or health they end up being pointless.
The five personality assessment options just end with the highest pushing you into a style for the last 1/3 of the game, werewolf form changes is a great idea barely used, and glory/honor/wisdom that takes over for your personality type after you become a werewolf are entirely pointless. It's all a good system to have for a game about learning that you are a werewolf, finding a tribe, looking at situations differently based on the personality you built and characters responding differently based on what they think of you, and using your abilities in a visual novel form but you never really get to enjoy any of it. Your amount of current rage can change how your character responds to situations and willpower can be used often but I haven't seen health be as useless in a game since Disco Elysium, it is rarely required and even if used it is easy to get back before it is needed again. You spend so little time with most characters and depending on your route some of the likes and dislikes really just won't matter at all and the way in which your actions can completely change police and journalists views is particularly ridiculous. With all the minor changes that can happen there is the usual few events or dialogue lines that don't really make sense and some being quite impossible when it seemed to imply a dead guy showed up. It's kind of strange in some series of events that it still seems to consider the main human guy to be a friend of yours.
With the game being so short (under two hours for a playthrough) and so little time to get to know yourself and the characters it is unfortunate that one of your first decisions is going to see the forest where you will meet some of the characters and where you can feel the presence of the forest and your dreams more or you can go to town to meet different characters and learn more about the townspeople, your family, the history of the forest. It would help to just have both. Even the final conflict can be solved in a very sudden, rushed through, and anticlimactic way if you go for a more peaceful route. If you end the game fighting you can use your form changes in a more practical way that will conserve health and energy in the fight but even that tends to not really matter.
I can give it a small recommendation. It's not a great one to play through once going off of the choices you would want to make but if you are willing to take multiple playthroughs (which will cause you to see a lot of the same events a lot but sometimes with a few differences based on your rage level) you get a wider view of the characters and setting, and you can have a final battle ripping off the heads of Polish politicians, police, and neo-Nazis and I can't complain about that.
Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1363629703483904001
The five personality assessment options just end with the highest pushing you into a style for the last 1/3 of the game, werewolf form changes is a great idea barely used, and glory/honor/wisdom that takes over for your personality type after you become a werewolf are entirely pointless. It's all a good system to have for a game about learning that you are a werewolf, finding a tribe, looking at situations differently based on the personality you built and characters responding differently based on what they think of you, and using your abilities in a visual novel form but you never really get to enjoy any of it. Your amount of current rage can change how your character responds to situations and willpower can be used often but I haven't seen health be as useless in a game since Disco Elysium, it is rarely required and even if used it is easy to get back before it is needed again. You spend so little time with most characters and depending on your route some of the likes and dislikes really just won't matter at all and the way in which your actions can completely change police and journalists views is particularly ridiculous. With all the minor changes that can happen there is the usual few events or dialogue lines that don't really make sense and some being quite impossible when it seemed to imply a dead guy showed up. It's kind of strange in some series of events that it still seems to consider the main human guy to be a friend of yours.
With the game being so short (under two hours for a playthrough) and so little time to get to know yourself and the characters it is unfortunate that one of your first decisions is going to see the forest where you will meet some of the characters and where you can feel the presence of the forest and your dreams more or you can go to town to meet different characters and learn more about the townspeople, your family, the history of the forest. It would help to just have both. Even the final conflict can be solved in a very sudden, rushed through, and anticlimactic way if you go for a more peaceful route. If you end the game fighting you can use your form changes in a more practical way that will conserve health and energy in the fight but even that tends to not really matter.
I can give it a small recommendation. It's not a great one to play through once going off of the choices you would want to make but if you are willing to take multiple playthroughs (which will cause you to see a lot of the same events a lot but sometimes with a few differences based on your rage level) you get a wider view of the characters and setting, and you can have a final battle ripping off the heads of Polish politicians, police, and neo-Nazis and I can't complain about that.
Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1363629703483904001
The game held a lot of promise, but I felt that the story was rushed, particularly during the two main events. The decisions I made seemed to have limited impact, resulting in a somewhat shallow experience.
I encountered a peculiar issue where the options presented sometimes switched between character actions and story-related choices. This disrupted the immersion, as I expected to interpret the character's motivations consistently.
On the positive side, the game excels in its systems, and the music and ambiance contribute to a captivating atmosphere. Despite its flaws, the three-hour duration offered a concise yet engaging narrative.
While I believe there's room for improvement, "Werewolf: Heart of the Forest" manages to provide a satisfying gaming experience for those who like visual novels.
I encountered a peculiar issue where the options presented sometimes switched between character actions and story-related choices. This disrupted the immersion, as I expected to interpret the character's motivations consistently.
On the positive side, the game excels in its systems, and the music and ambiance contribute to a captivating atmosphere. Despite its flaws, the three-hour duration offered a concise yet engaging narrative.
While I believe there's room for improvement, "Werewolf: Heart of the Forest" manages to provide a satisfying gaming experience for those who like visual novels.
I enjoyed the Rage and Willpower systems. The visuals really raised the bar for me in terms of what I want visual novels to look like!
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest é um jogo que sempre esteve na minha lista de interesses, mas por fazer parte de uma franquia enorme eu sempre me senti na obrigação de evitar até no mínimo entender o básico. Contudo, esse ano optei por dar uma chance só para tentar observar como esses jogos se comportam com o público mais casual e tive algumas surpresas bem negativas.
O que mais me chamou a atenção logo de cara foram as artes disponibilizadas conforme a progressão, essa exploração com cores, simbolismos, personagens que misturam atores com comics produziu combinações psicodélicas que deram um charme enorme e ao mesmo tempo situaram o jogador no tom da narrativa.
Infelizmente, mesmo com essa amostra única Heart se perde totalmente na área de maior importância. Entendo que por não ter conhecimento sobre o universo posso ter perdido muitas informações, porém o jogo passa todo o enredo como se estivéssemos em um conto e não em um momento de crise, impossibilitando o desenvolvimento e apego aos personagens.
Tudo é muito rápido e sem sentimentos, o que faz certas escolhas e elementos da gameplay se tornarem inúteis para a narrativa em questão de minutos. Além disso, o sistema que optaram acaba deixando qualquer um “trancado” na questão de escolhas, pois a todo momento você precisa decidir entre agir de maneira agressiva, neutra ou extremamente passiva, coisa bem chata quando se tem uma relação de poderes e influência disponíveis para cada uma dessas escolhas (uma coisa extremamente confusa e sem muitas explicações).
Um elemento da narrativa que me deixou ainda mais frustrada foi a forma optaram em explorar o enredo com o tema exploração florestal. Esse é um assunto pesado e extremamente importante, mas colocar em um conto de lobisomens que possui no máximo 3 horas é um pouco imprudente, não que seja ruim, mas é muita inocência acreditar que daria pra entender alguma coisa que não seja um “seremos agressivos ou pacifistas?”.
Pelas outras análises fica perceptível que a melhor forma de experimentar Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest é jogando ou lendo os outros títulos da franquia, porém acredito que pelo preço que paguei (R$3,60) o jogo acabou me deixando satisfeita e de certa forma se “pagou” só pelo trabalho de representação visual.
O que mais me chamou a atenção logo de cara foram as artes disponibilizadas conforme a progressão, essa exploração com cores, simbolismos, personagens que misturam atores com comics produziu combinações psicodélicas que deram um charme enorme e ao mesmo tempo situaram o jogador no tom da narrativa.
Infelizmente, mesmo com essa amostra única Heart se perde totalmente na área de maior importância. Entendo que por não ter conhecimento sobre o universo posso ter perdido muitas informações, porém o jogo passa todo o enredo como se estivéssemos em um conto e não em um momento de crise, impossibilitando o desenvolvimento e apego aos personagens.
Tudo é muito rápido e sem sentimentos, o que faz certas escolhas e elementos da gameplay se tornarem inúteis para a narrativa em questão de minutos. Além disso, o sistema que optaram acaba deixando qualquer um “trancado” na questão de escolhas, pois a todo momento você precisa decidir entre agir de maneira agressiva, neutra ou extremamente passiva, coisa bem chata quando se tem uma relação de poderes e influência disponíveis para cada uma dessas escolhas (uma coisa extremamente confusa e sem muitas explicações).
Um elemento da narrativa que me deixou ainda mais frustrada foi a forma optaram em explorar o enredo com o tema exploração florestal. Esse é um assunto pesado e extremamente importante, mas colocar em um conto de lobisomens que possui no máximo 3 horas é um pouco imprudente, não que seja ruim, mas é muita inocência acreditar que daria pra entender alguma coisa que não seja um “seremos agressivos ou pacifistas?”.
Pelas outras análises fica perceptível que a melhor forma de experimentar Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest é jogando ou lendo os outros títulos da franquia, porém acredito que pelo preço que paguei (R$3,60) o jogo acabou me deixando satisfeita e de certa forma se “pagou” só pelo trabalho de representação visual.
it's a bit "baby's first world of darkness" but i think it really captures the spirit and themes of it, and of werewolf specifically; plus, i'm personally familiar with the general setting of this and i thought much of the depiction was quite true to life
it's a bit of a shame it's so short, more of a visual short story than a novel really. i think i'd be happy trading branching paths and skill checks for a longer and more focused story in this style. it's good though.
it's a bit of a shame it's so short, more of a visual short story than a novel really. i think i'd be happy trading branching paths and skill checks for a longer and more focused story in this style. it's good though.
every time i read into werewolf the apocalypse, i get a little repulsed. mainly by the gross lore, the bioessentialism, the frequent racist appropriation. but that's mainly a criticism of white wolf's editorial oversight. it's only worth mentioning this because the writers of heart of the forest, like a good game master, have made something palatable out of a setting i found unpalatable, have made something compelling out of a setting that doesn't particularly appeal to me. the writing is very good. it's all introduction and clever loredumps—you're a newcomer, surrounded by acquittances that represent different demographics of a hairy world that you're unfamiliar with. the systems of balancing rage, will, and health work very well here. so well that it's a little unfortunate that it is just an introduction, that these acquaintances don't have time to grow. unfortunate, but understandable given the scope of the game. i really hope these developers do more in this setting and these systems!!
extremely happy to see a nonbinary werewolf in anything, especially something this good. also lesbian werewolves. "as if being a lesbian wasn't hard enough" well said
extremely happy to see a nonbinary werewolf in anything, especially something this good. also lesbian werewolves. "as if being a lesbian wasn't hard enough" well said
Bar none the best introduction to the Werewolf: The Apocalypse setting that I've ever seen.
Yes I am including the official intro stuff and lore books in this statement.
There's even a reasonable Red Talon in this game, which is an amount of nuance you don't even see often in the tabletop itself. Plus, while the political nature of the main conflict may turn some folks off, it's topical as hell and holds up well.
Some people have gripes with what was done w/ the Get of Fenris; those people didn't play long enough to see that what is /said/ about the Get in game can vary from what /is/ true about them -- but I feel that the VN does a good job handling a group that has a troubled history to say the least.
Yes I am including the official intro stuff and lore books in this statement.
There's even a reasonable Red Talon in this game, which is an amount of nuance you don't even see often in the tabletop itself. Plus, while the political nature of the main conflict may turn some folks off, it's topical as hell and holds up well.
Some people have gripes with what was done w/ the Get of Fenris; those people didn't play long enough to see that what is /said/ about the Get in game can vary from what /is/ true about them -- but I feel that the VN does a good job handling a group that has a troubled history to say the least.