To The Wolves

Disclaimer: (Spoiler - click to show)Hi, this are the reviews I did in the the IFComp 2016. I’m Ruber Eaglenest. Co-author of The skyscraper and the scar, and entry of that year. The review is posted without edition, and need some context about how I reviewed and rated the games. So, apart of my bad English I hope to be constructive. I will point to the things I don't like of the game, but I hope to be helpful. The structure I follow is this: Title, one line review, two to five word; Mobile friendliness, overall, score phrased based on IF comp guidelines. I had back ache and so that’s why I played most games in Android mobile, I looked closely at how games behave on mobile and review and vote based on that.

Mobile friendly. Not too much, but playable. Save system, but no autosave.

Overall: The game grow on me. Half world modelling, half hypertext, with ellipsis and such. But in the end is not consistent enough, and has lacking for it.

The start of the game and the first chapter are more consistent, the last chapters and ending could benefit of a better structure and developing. I found some actions to be problematic against my motivations as a player. I think the game could benefit a lot from an editor or a confiable tester who could said what works and what not works in the game. And then rewrite. But for a future work. What’s done it’s done.

I like the trying to make a consistent world in twine, but the authors has done some loops, and those loops are not variable enough. Take the example when you arrive at the cottage. The scene describes you arriving, but if you enter, and go out, the scene is describe again as if you were arriving for the first time. That is a huge problem for me, it just breaks the immersion.

Some scenes are rushed and make a poor work on building the narrative of surviving day to day on the forest. For example, in day two where you must take care of feeding yourself, you go out, get some food, and when you return, the day is over and you go to sleep. Too rushed.
This repeats in later chapters, overall, all the plot feels a little rushed, I would like a more modelled implementation of the forest, more tangible and less abstract. Definitively this game would benefit of being a parser one. So I could enjoy, explore and know the environment as my home. But in the end that sensation was only in the very first chapter.

There’s a growing relationship with the wolves in the game, but again, it is rushed, there is no room for really building that relationship with the mother wolf, so it is not succeed in that either. This is not like in Princess Mononoke where all the implicit existence together is evident, or like the relationship in Dancing with wolves or just the play with the fox in A change in the weather. So in the end the game doesn’t nails the story, topic and setting.

However I liked the writing and tone. I think the author is someone to look for in the future.

Score: Recommended with reservations

This game has some good graphics, excellent styling and a convenient user interface with saves and achievements. This is a great setup for a Twine game, especially one like this with more 'game'-y features.

The story was a good read, too. You are cast out of a village and left 'to the wolves', but you make a new life for yourself. Your interactions with the villagers and yourself are up to you.

The mechanics were a little opaque, and the endings didn't quite click for me, but overall, Highly recommended.

The story actually branches a fair bit, though some branches are much harder to find, and there's a lot of scope in different things you can try, as some of the achievements show. I played several times to try different options & didn't encounter any missing paragraphs or errors on my playthroughs...

I found the story quite tight, with every event contributing to the greater storyline; and there are a number of ways the finale can play out.