In the coming months, as many as two games based on the Werewolf: Apocalypse RPG system , which are part of the already mentioned World of Darkness , are to be released . The release plan seems to follow the same path as Vampire: Masquerade . There, the smaller, text-based experience of Coteries of New York was released at the end of last year, laying the groundwork for the more grossing and heavily touted Bloodlines 2 (which we are still waiting for). The flagship production of Werewolf is to be the third-person action-RPG Earthblood with its premiere in February 2021, but it will be preceded by our today’s highlight – Heart of the Forest – starting in December 2020.
What do we know about the plot and what do Poles have to do with it?
As in the case of the Vampire text adventure , the game was created by a Polish studio – this time it’s Different Tales. This is not the end of our national flavors, because the title forest is nothing else than the Białowieża Forest. In the Dark World narrative, it is full of secrets and primal, natural energy and is especially close to werewolves, especially our protagonist Maja. She is an American student with Polish roots who, one summer, is going to Białowieża with a friend. The trip is partly driven by the desire to visit her homeland and learn the history of her ancestors, and partly by the disturbing dreams with which the old forest seems to attract the girl.
The seed of the story itself looks really good, and the first stages made available in the demo version make a definitely positive impression. There is some necessary exhibition here and a lot of completely pleasant exploration, in which – very characteristic of the World of Darkness – everyday life and moral threads are intertwined with looking for supernatural references between the lines and a sense of slowly and cautious entering the ranks of a secret community, for which we will be like children who leave the world uncertainly out of the fog. In addition, there are also a few suggestive, oneiric sequences inside our protagonist’s dreams and delights, which undoubtedly also contain a lot of potential.
What is there, sir, in mechanics?
At this point, I must point out that I am not familiar with the rules of the “table” werewolf , so I will not explain to the avid cube rollers how meticulously these rules were transferred to the screen – and I know that the title was advertised with a high level of fidelity to the original system and some of you are curious. However, even without it, there is something to write home about!
The whole thing seems to focus heavily on the player himself. Our character describes a series of parameters that discuss what we really are. Our moves add and subtract points in various categories, and the “results” in those categories define Maya. On the one hand, these are features that describe her personality, such as courage, analyticality, spirituality, and smartness. On the other hand, we have three indicators of her current state – Anger, Health, and Willpower. Almost everything we do in the game affects these parameters in some way, and their current layout affects what happens – not only are certain dialogue options opening or blocking, but also the description of events and the way the world is perceived by our character is changing. Hence,
As far as it can be judged through the prism of the demo version, our personality is reflected primarily in the descriptions that are presented to us, we pay points of willpower for “forcing” to do something difficult, and anger affects both the narrative and the available options dialog. It’s just that the latter acts less as a currency and more as a constantly moving indicator that we try to keep at the desired level. Anger quite strongly reminded me of hunger in the Coteries of New York , because it can change some scenes in a similarly drastic way – although here we will not find such a strong emphasis on the theme of fighting the inner beast and the threat of losing control.
In addition to that, the system also monitors our relationship with more important side heroes and shows us messages that indicate changes in their attitude, such as “friendly”, “compassionate” and so on. At this stage of development, the game does not make any specific use of this information, but it will definitely change.
Lots of hope and a few fears
Overall, the demo made a good impression on me and I will definitely pick up the full game when it comes out. The story seems interesting, and the perspective of an experience tailored specifically to my problem-solving and general approach to life based on my character’s “detected” personality traits is very promising. The potential for personalizing the game increases the more that the player is asked to define the most important goal for his heroine (e.g. researching the secrets of the forest or discovering the history of the family), and then receives rewards for developing a given plot. The audiovisual setting also looks really good. The style of drawings and graphics perfectly builds the desired atmosphere, and the creative mixing of misty darkness with bright, “shocking” colors reminds me a bit of this year’sAlder’s Blood , which in this respect really impresses. The soundtrack, i.e. music combined with background noises harmonizing with the text we read, does not disappoint either.
Personally, I am a fan of this kind of narrative adventure and have a lot of sympathy for the World of Darkness , so I expect great fun – at least as good as the Coteries of New York . Unfortunately, in light of this association, I have to keep my fingers crossed so that Heart of the Forest does not fall into the same traps that slightly spoiled my interaction with the text Vampire. What is it actually about? The very short time needed to complete the title from A to Z, the almost completely apparent nonlinearity of the plot and the waste of the potential of very promising mechanics. The coterie also looked great in the first minutes of the game and then showed me the end credits as soon as I immersed myself in history for good and expected spectacular consequences from my carefully monitored choices. So, if the new Werewolf lives up to seventy percent of my hopes after the demo version, it will be a great title worth recommending to every text game lover, or the World of Darkness itself .
