This review contains spoilers
Spoilers only discussed at the very bottom of the review
Halloween’s almost upon us and, like most gamers, I thought I’d indulge in some horrorcliches festivities to honor the season. Cue Through the Woods, a Nordic-inspired adventure released back in 2016 that had been on my back-burner for some time. Question is, was it worth the wait or are you better off looking elsewhere? Unfortunately, my answer is the latter due to a number of flaws indicating it to be more of a prototype than full-fledged release, though it’s certainly not without its pros.
The premise is you’re a single mother named Karen looking for her son Espen after he went missing on an island. To give more details would spoil the beginning of this tale (which is technically a big twist relative to the ~3.5 hour runtime); however, it ultimately matters little as the story simply isn’t good enough to hold sway due to it being too literal for its own good. What I mean is, horror games often take one of two paths: they’re either bog standard yarns dealing with phantasmic threats, or they’re metaphorical spiels whereby the danger is real yet more of a psychological representation of the protagonist’s fears/regrets/insert_emote_of_your_choice.
Through the Woods tries to have it both ways wherein the Isle simultaneously draws out Karen’s guilt over past decisions she made for Espen whilst hindering her with very real behemoths, and the problem is neither of these two halves mesh well with the other. Minus one critter, the beasts have no allegorical meaning, no secret power hinting at a sprawling backstory- they exist purely as roadblocks on the path towards Espen, leaving the psychogenic revelations down to monologues interspersed between story beats. And it’s a shame because this is a game that truly would’ve benefitted from the Silent Hill/Those Who Remain route of existential symbolism in which the world Karen finds herself in is a nightmare of her own creation.
As it stands, you basically have to contend with two different threads: one dealing with Karen’s aforementioned intrapersonal conflict(s) and a secondary one involving uncovering the Isle’s mysteries. By no means is this an inferior storytelling tactic to the parabolic one, but the problem is it requires a lot more length and energy; when you want to transport players to an alternate plane of existence, you must give them sufficient time and spectacle to create that immersion, and sadly that isn’t the case here. The monsters and fables you encounter may be ripped from Scandinavian lore, but they’ve had their essence stripped down to generically evil myths indifferent from your usual slasher villain. And in case you were hoping for relief on the flipside, you’d be mistaken as Karen’s monologues are equally poorly integrated, coming down to simple narration dumps as though the writers had no idea how to best incorporate the dialogue. In the end, you aren’t going to learn much about ancient mythological beliefs, nor care for any of the characters due to the both trains being shortchanged in screen-time (resulting in an outright bizarre conclusion++).
Not helping these storytelling qualms are the graphics, which bolster my aforestated point about the prototype-nature of the game. First-off, let me clarify that Through the Woods is a phenomenal achievement for any indie company, and is certainly far beyond anything I could hope to conceive as an aspiring coder, so by no means do my criticisms come from a hifalutin perspective; they are, more-so, meant to highlight flaws that developer Antagonist should work to address in future releases. The first of these are the cutscenes, which were rendered in-engine and look utterly uncanny -- character models move awkwardly, boast dead putty-like expressions, and appear to be staring past each other during conversations. It quickly becomes apparent why there are so few of them (and why the devs opted to leave most of the divulgences to off-screen narration) as they are, without a doubt, the worst visuals in the game.
Next is the water, which starts off decent but becomes horrendous, and not in a creepy atmospheric way. I’m not sure what shader Antagonist was using, however, the result is a white mass of ugly protrusions and jagged horizons, the perturbed mesh resembling a moon surface over oceanic waves.
Lastly are some minor quandaries that aren’t game breaking in the slightest but deserve to be mentioned for the sake of an honest review. One, there’s an occasional jutter that occurs whenever you walk between different levels of elevation (such as climbing up/down a stone or step), as though your character suddenly developed a prosthetic leg. Thankfully it’s not consistent, and outright disappears while running (of which you will be doing a lot, but more on that later). Two, almost all foliage, from ground verdure to tree leaves, are not only blatantly copy/pasted 2D assets from the Unity store, but completely out-of-place in the various locales you traverse through. Finally, I noticed Karen’s flashlight doesn’t generate a stream, the beam circle seemingly manifesting out of nowhere.
Despite these negatives, it should be made clear that the majority of the title is an absolute treat, its aesthetics built on those eerie forest vibes you’d often get in horror classics like Evil Dead or The Blair Witch Project. As a small woman armed with a tiny torch, you truly do feel alone amidst the creaking copses, and while the game isn’t particularly scary, it does do a solid job evoking isolation, a facet made all the more visceral when you encounter the Nordic monstrosities. I won’t go into details for fear of spoiling the experience, but let’s just say it’s evident the lion’s share of Antagonist’s budget went towards the, well, antagonists, with strong textures and smooth animation work rendering them terrifying foes.
Ironically, though, the part that most wowed me wasn’t anything on Earth, but the sky above as Through the Woods may have the BEST depiction of the celestial heavens I have ever had the fortune to experience. Whereas most releases opt for a generic dark blue/white dot schematic, the artisans here took a realistic capture and seemingly projected it onto their aerosphere: the nightsky now a hodgepodge of peregrinated azures and multicolored stars.
Unfortunately, the music isn’t as praiseworthy as this firmament due to a lack of thematic cohesiveness. What I mean is each track technically fits the respective scene it plays over, but taken as a complete package, the score comes across as melodically disjointed: you’ll hear something that sounds straight out of a Hallmark movie(+), another akin to one of those RuneScape voyage tunes, and of course your typical creepshow lays. Again, it’s good music and doesn’t feel out of place within the game; however, the entire arrangement is hardly befitting for an eldridge journey into the unknown, its tonal waverings seemingly done to provide composer Dan Wakefield recordings for his portfolio (if you need further proof of this, the official soundtrack comes with a random bonus song straight out of the 90s alternative scene).
SFX generally falls along similar lines to the visuals in that some things were clearly prioritized over others. On the plus side, multiple footstep dins have been programmed into the world, door hinges creak on cue, and every enemy resounds terrifyingly. On the dark side, though, environmental prompts like wind and bird caws are brazenly rehashed audio files, a decision that wouldn’t be inherently bad were it not for such noises making up the bulk of the ambience.
To complete the sound trifecta, we’ve got voice acting, which is actually surprisingly good. You can play the game in either English or Norwegian, and honestly couldn’t go wrong with either version (especially with dedicated lip flaps created for each). Personally, I found Karen’s English actress to be a bit more emotionally-resonant than her Northern counterpart, though this was offset by Espen’s awful voice, so your mileage will vary.
I’ve saved the gameplay for last because there really isn’t much to say. Through the Woods has been described as a walking sim, but, much like Soma, features moments of adrenaline-fueled dashery as you try to outmaneuver the wandering ghouls of the night. Yet, because these are reserved purely for action beats, I can’t quite label it a “running sim” either (considering Close to the Sun followed a similar template, I suppose the proper term for both should be jogging sims!).
Regardless of what you want to label it, the reality is you’re going to be spending the majority of your time ambling around the game’s forespoken land, and in terms of exploration factor, Through the Woods tragically drops the ball. Those of you who were critical of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s extravagant longhouses need not worry as you’ll be seeing a lot of historically accurate viking abodes here; in fact, that’s all you’re going to be seeing as there is almost nothing worth finding on this island. Entering houses or stumbling off the beaten path may yield some pointless collectable(s); however, there are no cool sights involving Nordic folklore(+++). It’s the same empty interiors, same giant doorframe, even the same corpse model for every dead human/mummified baby.
Luckily, the explicit horror scenes are solid, but their introduction often suffers from a faulty cinematic factor- there are several instances where you’re technically required to initiate them from either looking a certain way or entering a specific area, and because these actions are left entirely to player agency, you’re liable to unintentionally not doing them: and by not doing them, you’ll either get stuck in a longwinded chase, meet an untimely demise, or outright miss the grand menace. Heck, for one of the monsters, I was even able to cheese past solely because of this inadequate structuring.
So yeah, in conclusion, Through the Woods suffers from over-ambition. It’s an amazing accomplishment that showcases a lot of talent within the company, but ultimately doesn’t live up to its potential. And combined with the $15.00 price tag for less than 4 hours of game-time, I can’t recommend it in good faith.
NOTES
+I enjoy Hallmark movies, so no, this isn’t a jab at such fans.
-Someone has to explain to me the game’s loading screen icon, a sci-fi circle that looks more like something out of Ben 10 or Martin Mystery than the dark fantasy genre Through the Woods inhabits.
-Surprisingly no “Into the Woods” jokes to be found here.
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SPOILERS
++So Espen, a minor with underdeveloped cognitive functions, makes the rational decision to help Erik by sacrificing himself in order to prevent Fenris from destroying the world. First off, the idea that a kid would just randomly believe the babbling of a crazy old man is laughable, but the twist that this is actually legitimate somehow tops it in preposterousness. You mean to tell me the world will be destroyed unless a child is sacrificed? Maybe this would’ve been fine if set in a portal dimension, but to have it take place on a grounded Earth where Karen is dealing with very relatable problems is beyond nonsensical: that a society where working-class people have to contend with divorces are unknowingly at the mercy of a deity who wants to end all of creation unless a random kid dies (I don’t even believe it’s accurate to the original folklore).
It also raises a bunch of questions- if this is set on our Earth, for instance, why can’t any kids’ death across the globe count towards Fenrir’s blood sacrifice? Why does he need specific tots on this specific part of the planet? If they had to be eaten, it’d be one thing, but Espen dies from a fatal fall, and that was apparently enough to stave off destruction.
Putting all that aside, though, the real idiocy is the ending, which darkly implies that Karen will continue Erik’s work of finding future victims; a boneheaded resolution that stands at COMPLETE CONTRAST to her character arc of trying to atone for the terrible things she did in the past. Yeah, great reversal there Antagonist.
+++The exception being that cave with the children’s toys gathered from prior martyrs. An absolute gem of a vista- too bad similar efforts were not found elsewhere.
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Halloween’s almost upon us and, like most gamers, I thought I’d indulge in some horror
The premise is you’re a single mother named Karen looking for her son Espen after he went missing on an island. To give more details would spoil the beginning of this tale (which is technically a big twist relative to the ~3.5 hour runtime); however, it ultimately matters little as the story simply isn’t good enough to hold sway due to it being too literal for its own good. What I mean is, horror games often take one of two paths: they’re either bog standard yarns dealing with phantasmic threats, or they’re metaphorical spiels whereby the danger is real yet more of a psychological representation of the protagonist’s fears/regrets/insert_emote_of_your_choice.
Through the Woods tries to have it both ways wherein the Isle simultaneously draws out Karen’s guilt over past decisions she made for Espen whilst hindering her with very real behemoths, and the problem is neither of these two halves mesh well with the other. Minus one critter, the beasts have no allegorical meaning, no secret power hinting at a sprawling backstory- they exist purely as roadblocks on the path towards Espen, leaving the psychogenic revelations down to monologues interspersed between story beats. And it’s a shame because this is a game that truly would’ve benefitted from the Silent Hill/Those Who Remain route of existential symbolism in which the world Karen finds herself in is a nightmare of her own creation.
As it stands, you basically have to contend with two different threads: one dealing with Karen’s aforementioned intrapersonal conflict(s) and a secondary one involving uncovering the Isle’s mysteries. By no means is this an inferior storytelling tactic to the parabolic one, but the problem is it requires a lot more length and energy; when you want to transport players to an alternate plane of existence, you must give them sufficient time and spectacle to create that immersion, and sadly that isn’t the case here. The monsters and fables you encounter may be ripped from Scandinavian lore, but they’ve had their essence stripped down to generically evil myths indifferent from your usual slasher villain. And in case you were hoping for relief on the flipside, you’d be mistaken as Karen’s monologues are equally poorly integrated, coming down to simple narration dumps as though the writers had no idea how to best incorporate the dialogue. In the end, you aren’t going to learn much about ancient mythological beliefs, nor care for any of the characters due to the both trains being shortchanged in screen-time (resulting in an outright bizarre conclusion++).
Not helping these storytelling qualms are the graphics, which bolster my aforestated point about the prototype-nature of the game. First-off, let me clarify that Through the Woods is a phenomenal achievement for any indie company, and is certainly far beyond anything I could hope to conceive as an aspiring coder, so by no means do my criticisms come from a hifalutin perspective; they are, more-so, meant to highlight flaws that developer Antagonist should work to address in future releases. The first of these are the cutscenes, which were rendered in-engine and look utterly uncanny -- character models move awkwardly, boast dead putty-like expressions, and appear to be staring past each other during conversations. It quickly becomes apparent why there are so few of them (and why the devs opted to leave most of the divulgences to off-screen narration) as they are, without a doubt, the worst visuals in the game.
Next is the water, which starts off decent but becomes horrendous, and not in a creepy atmospheric way. I’m not sure what shader Antagonist was using, however, the result is a white mass of ugly protrusions and jagged horizons, the perturbed mesh resembling a moon surface over oceanic waves.
Lastly are some minor quandaries that aren’t game breaking in the slightest but deserve to be mentioned for the sake of an honest review. One, there’s an occasional jutter that occurs whenever you walk between different levels of elevation (such as climbing up/down a stone or step), as though your character suddenly developed a prosthetic leg. Thankfully it’s not consistent, and outright disappears while running (of which you will be doing a lot, but more on that later). Two, almost all foliage, from ground verdure to tree leaves, are not only blatantly copy/pasted 2D assets from the Unity store, but completely out-of-place in the various locales you traverse through. Finally, I noticed Karen’s flashlight doesn’t generate a stream, the beam circle seemingly manifesting out of nowhere.
Despite these negatives, it should be made clear that the majority of the title is an absolute treat, its aesthetics built on those eerie forest vibes you’d often get in horror classics like Evil Dead or The Blair Witch Project. As a small woman armed with a tiny torch, you truly do feel alone amidst the creaking copses, and while the game isn’t particularly scary, it does do a solid job evoking isolation, a facet made all the more visceral when you encounter the Nordic monstrosities. I won’t go into details for fear of spoiling the experience, but let’s just say it’s evident the lion’s share of Antagonist’s budget went towards the, well, antagonists, with strong textures and smooth animation work rendering them terrifying foes.
Ironically, though, the part that most wowed me wasn’t anything on Earth, but the sky above as Through the Woods may have the BEST depiction of the celestial heavens I have ever had the fortune to experience. Whereas most releases opt for a generic dark blue/white dot schematic, the artisans here took a realistic capture and seemingly projected it onto their aerosphere: the nightsky now a hodgepodge of peregrinated azures and multicolored stars.
Unfortunately, the music isn’t as praiseworthy as this firmament due to a lack of thematic cohesiveness. What I mean is each track technically fits the respective scene it plays over, but taken as a complete package, the score comes across as melodically disjointed: you’ll hear something that sounds straight out of a Hallmark movie(+), another akin to one of those RuneScape voyage tunes, and of course your typical creepshow lays. Again, it’s good music and doesn’t feel out of place within the game; however, the entire arrangement is hardly befitting for an eldridge journey into the unknown, its tonal waverings seemingly done to provide composer Dan Wakefield recordings for his portfolio (if you need further proof of this, the official soundtrack comes with a random bonus song straight out of the 90s alternative scene).
SFX generally falls along similar lines to the visuals in that some things were clearly prioritized over others. On the plus side, multiple footstep dins have been programmed into the world, door hinges creak on cue, and every enemy resounds terrifyingly. On the dark side, though, environmental prompts like wind and bird caws are brazenly rehashed audio files, a decision that wouldn’t be inherently bad were it not for such noises making up the bulk of the ambience.
To complete the sound trifecta, we’ve got voice acting, which is actually surprisingly good. You can play the game in either English or Norwegian, and honestly couldn’t go wrong with either version (especially with dedicated lip flaps created for each). Personally, I found Karen’s English actress to be a bit more emotionally-resonant than her Northern counterpart, though this was offset by Espen’s awful voice, so your mileage will vary.
I’ve saved the gameplay for last because there really isn’t much to say. Through the Woods has been described as a walking sim, but, much like Soma, features moments of adrenaline-fueled dashery as you try to outmaneuver the wandering ghouls of the night. Yet, because these are reserved purely for action beats, I can’t quite label it a “running sim” either (considering Close to the Sun followed a similar template, I suppose the proper term for both should be jogging sims!).
Regardless of what you want to label it, the reality is you’re going to be spending the majority of your time ambling around the game’s forespoken land, and in terms of exploration factor, Through the Woods tragically drops the ball. Those of you who were critical of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s extravagant longhouses need not worry as you’ll be seeing a lot of historically accurate viking abodes here; in fact, that’s all you’re going to be seeing as there is almost nothing worth finding on this island. Entering houses or stumbling off the beaten path may yield some pointless collectable(s); however, there are no cool sights involving Nordic folklore(+++). It’s the same empty interiors, same giant doorframe, even the same corpse model for every dead human/mummified baby.
Luckily, the explicit horror scenes are solid, but their introduction often suffers from a faulty cinematic factor- there are several instances where you’re technically required to initiate them from either looking a certain way or entering a specific area, and because these actions are left entirely to player agency, you’re liable to unintentionally not doing them: and by not doing them, you’ll either get stuck in a longwinded chase, meet an untimely demise, or outright miss the grand menace. Heck, for one of the monsters, I was even able to cheese past solely because of this inadequate structuring.
So yeah, in conclusion, Through the Woods suffers from over-ambition. It’s an amazing accomplishment that showcases a lot of talent within the company, but ultimately doesn’t live up to its potential. And combined with the $15.00 price tag for less than 4 hours of game-time, I can’t recommend it in good faith.
NOTES
+I enjoy Hallmark movies, so no, this isn’t a jab at such fans.
-Someone has to explain to me the game’s loading screen icon, a sci-fi circle that looks more like something out of Ben 10 or Martin Mystery than the dark fantasy genre Through the Woods inhabits.
-Surprisingly no “Into the Woods” jokes to be found here.
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SPOILERS
++So Espen, a minor with underdeveloped cognitive functions, makes the rational decision to help Erik by sacrificing himself in order to prevent Fenris from destroying the world. First off, the idea that a kid would just randomly believe the babbling of a crazy old man is laughable, but the twist that this is actually legitimate somehow tops it in preposterousness. You mean to tell me the world will be destroyed unless a child is sacrificed? Maybe this would’ve been fine if set in a portal dimension, but to have it take place on a grounded Earth where Karen is dealing with very relatable problems is beyond nonsensical: that a society where working-class people have to contend with divorces are unknowingly at the mercy of a deity who wants to end all of creation unless a random kid dies (I don’t even believe it’s accurate to the original folklore).
It also raises a bunch of questions- if this is set on our Earth, for instance, why can’t any kids’ death across the globe count towards Fenrir’s blood sacrifice? Why does he need specific tots on this specific part of the planet? If they had to be eaten, it’d be one thing, but Espen dies from a fatal fall, and that was apparently enough to stave off destruction.
Putting all that aside, though, the real idiocy is the ending, which darkly implies that Karen will continue Erik’s work of finding future victims; a boneheaded resolution that stands at COMPLETE CONTRAST to her character arc of trying to atone for the terrible things she did in the past. Yeah, great reversal there Antagonist.
+++The exception being that cave with the children’s toys gathered from prior martyrs. An absolute gem of a vista- too bad similar efforts were not found elsewhere.
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