#Way to the woods game Patch

What I will say is that for a 130,000-odd word script, the fact that the developer was able to fund all the voice acting is an impressive indulgence all by itself, and I am glad they went the extra mile for those that want it. Now I say that having seen plenty of other people celebrate the VAs, so I’m not going to suggest that everyone turn them off, but I did, and enjoyed creating voices for these characters in my mind instead. I wasn’t a fan of the voice acting though.

The town, as an isolated wintery wonderland, is another character in itself, and even if the game does occasionally dip into cliche, it’s only ever temporary.

Every character is allowed to breathe and have their own personalities, and the way they slip between conflict and warmth, playfulness and horniness is all entirely believable, even with all the paranormal (and occasionally shocking) events going on around them. It just is what it is, and it’s all so naturalistic it that this quality, all in itself, is warming.īacking this up is the writing itself, which is elegant and interesting from start to finish. Heart of the Woods doesn’t grab you and shake you until you appreciate how LGBT and therefore positive it is. Especially those that go all the way with sex scenes (on PC, anyway – on Switch it’s just a story of pretty girls and a lot of suggestion) and otherwise look like something that designed for the otaku. As much as the indies have taken great strides to diversify the kinds of experiences that games offer, it remains true that quality and non-exploitative LGBT-focused titles are not all that common. This is, of course, something that is an objective good in this industry. The relationships that are depicted are between girls and, indeed, there’s not a sausage to be seen. The other thing worth noting, of course, is that this game is a proudly LGBT story. Why is the mayor of the town so hostile to these outsiders? Why is the woods forbidden territory? Why is their guide, Morgan, on the outers with the rest of town, and just why did she get these two girls to come to visit? Heart of the Woods isn’t trying to bait-and-switch you, but if you do find it to be dragging its feet at the start, just be aware that the fantasy, sweet romance, and mystery elements are coming, and you will hit a point in this ten (or so) hour game that it becomes very difficult to put down. It is, after the first hour or so, a page-turner of a game, filled with a whole lot of mystery that just demands to be solved. This set-up is more than a little melodramatic, and it meanders its way to its conclusion.īut then the paranormal stuff starts happening, and Heart of the Woods takes on an entirely different texture and drama. At length… at long, long length… they decide that they’re going to make this last hoorah one to remember, and that’s when they meet the town local that will act as their guide. See, one of the girls decided to make this trip their last, before they go to splitsville, and the other is justifiably upset that they’re losing both their companion and business partner. Unfortunately, they’re both in a very bad mood. See, the two girls are influencers with a popular YouTube channel for hunting down the paranormal, and they had been called out to this town on the promise of some Conjuring-style happenings. Things kick off with two girls on a train ride to a secluded little village, where they’re promised ghosts. Heart of the Woods does start slowly, and if I wasn’t reviewing it I actually may have been tempted to put it down before getting past this.

On the Switch, you do get this rather wonderful little game for on-the-go play, and that’s a nice compromise.

With that being said, you can also play the Switch version and just go look up that art once you understand the context.

#Way to the woods game Patch

To be right up-front here – Heart of the Woods is fine on Nintendo Switch, but if you want the proper experience you’re going to want to play the PC version, where there’s an R18+ patch and the sex scenes are really, really good.