Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest

Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest is a great visual novel when you put more emphasis on the novel aspect. Relatable characters, an excellent representation of marginalized communities, and a real-world setting make this a believable game that doesn't hang its entire worth on the supernatural elements. This game is absolutely worth your time.

Heart of the Forest is an instantly gripping, beautifully illustrated visual novel with a nicely branching storyline, difficult choices, and skillfully introduced RPG elements. [13/2020, p.42]

Short RPG story about being a werewolf. Excellent script and ambient sounds easily bring you into the heart of the forest filled with adventures. [Issue#308]

Ultimately, the climax of the story was driven by the choices I had made along the way, and each stacked upon the other — by the end, I felt happy with where Maia landed, though I could see how other choices could have made a differences. The ending, like the game itself, felt short, but I found its worth replaying and it left me with strong emotions.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest doesn’t necessarily reinvent the wheel and I wouldn’t say it’s genre-defining, but it still manages to be unique in some aspects. End game pacing issues aside, the game tells a great story and offers enough choices that I never felt slighted. Even the small option of choosing which werewolf form to shift into was nice. Heart of the Forest is a simple and easy to follow addition to the World of Darkness games but still manages to avoid becoming boring or repetitive. It’s a fun, uncomplicated game and honestly, that’s all I want sometimes.

Different Tales studio - as the name suggests - believes that there are still gamers who want something more from games than just Fortnite skins. Their games based heavily on text, like the ones from 1980, are for those very people. It's both a great thing and a huge weakness - Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest will probably stay in its dark pit. It's pretty and interesting but won't become a bestseller.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse-Heart of the Forest is an easy choice for me as far as text based games go. It ticks the boxes of a setting that I love, a plot that I enjoy, and most importantly I felt like my choices mattered even if some of them seemed more subtle and took a while to pay off. Is it a game for casual World of Darkness fans? Probably not. It’s not difficult by any means, but without the action that draws a lot of gamers this may not be for casual players. You’re probably better off waiting for 2021’s Werewolf: The Apocalypse-Earthblood and Vampire: The Masquerade- Bloodlines 2. But for those who are really finding themselves pulled into this universe, you should definitely check out Heart of the Forest.

Heart of the Forest is an engaging game that has a much-needed new perspective on the World of Darkness, as it steps away from the vampires and offers a different kind of horror. The experience is over a little too soon, but it's worth going through each path and seeing how each run-through plays out. Short runtime aside, Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest is an interesting exploration of environmental issues tied into a personal story of anger, and it makes the prospect of more World of Darkness titles in the future more exciting.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest has an intriguing atmosphere and there are many choices that can affect the outcome of the story. Sadly, the story isn't all that memorable.