Where the heart leads is a story focused on the impact relationships we have on our family, our friends and our community, encouraging reflection on small moments which, over time, are added to something much more called life. It is a fully achieved version of his vision, and even if I think that vision is imperfect, I also believe that it is a good adjustment for all those who love interactive novels, worrying about choices, philosophical reflections and / or brothers who are very in experimental art.
Whit in Wonderland
Where the heart leads, who released on July 13 for PlayStation 4 and 5, You control the protagonist Whit Anderson, the second son of an agricultural family in the country who tries to understand who he is in the world. At the start of the match, Whit was awakened by a bad storm and goes out with his children and his wife to save the family dog, who fell into a chasm. To no one’s surprise, Whit falls deep into the abyss, gets lost and must try to find his way. While spending time alone in natural catacombs under the ground, he reflects on his life to this point.
Interactive flashbacks cue. Where the heart leads Start slowly in these first minutes, but quickly becomes engaging once you have given Whit ‘memories. The greatest strength of the game lies in the writing and dialogue of his character. I really cared about Whit’s brother, sege, the spirit free of troubles, and her childhood darling René, who wants to prove to all those she is going to be someone.
They are not the only ones. There is a long distribution of characters who are woven in and out of these memory chapters. I have never lived in a “traditional little city”, but this game was faithful to what I imagined being like – people knowing a little too much about everyone’s affairs, for the best or for the worst. Sometimes it was easier for Whit to negotiate a construction project when he could call on an old relationship, and other times, a situation was more difficult when people already had preconceived ideas on Andersons.
Make an honest life
Since early, Where the heart leads It is clear that it is not a “scary” game. Unlike other adventure games Hearth (trying for nerves), One night in the woods (disturbing), What remains of Edith Finch (disturbing), or even Life is strange And Life is strange 2 (both undoubtedly openly depressing), Where the heart leads Hit a lot of cooler. There is even an automatic game text option to make your visualization experience more relaxed. This game is better appreciated with your coffee early on weekends.
I found myself returning to the game during a week, comforted by his dreamy music, his resolutely “indie” style art and his emotionally motivated narration. The game has a feeling of melancholy, and I tried to lead Whit in a good life. “My” Whit was a family man, an equal but pragmatic creative counterpart of his brother Spacy, one brother’s response to another to maintain family peace.
In my game, I chose to generally and regularly support Whit’s brother, even when it meant to discuss with his René wife or disapproving the parents, Aldwin and Sofia. I tried to be a hard ass when my brother was dangerously irresponsible. Most of our conversations were 1: 1, so I did not expect that other characters refer to my choices (just like the norm for games like this).
So, I was surprised when, during a chapter, a secondary character with whom I chose to speak revealed that she was the interest of Sege’s love and told me how my support had meant for him over the years, that I was one of the only people to have believed in him, who saw him for whom he was and accepted him. This moment of virtual intimacy took me off guard, and I was incredibly moved by this small bubble of speeches.
Live with the choices of life
Where the heart leads Regularly relies on this butterfly effect (even by literally calling it) of choice in the chapters. Sometimes the choices are obvious: supporting the strange art of sege, or telling him that it fears. Other moments are more subtle and may or may not have a devastating effect.
For example, in the first moments of the game, I tell children that I will try to save our dog, Casey and descend into a bathtub attached to a winch attached to a tree on the edge of a massive abyss. (Great Safety.) When I arrive in Casey, she is too afraid to jump into the bathtub with me. The game tells me that I can “calm Casey” or “find another way”. I am a young father; I cannot risk dying, so I go back to seek an alternative. But of course, I saw the trailers of the game, and I should have known: there is no way that the bathtub does not fall into the bowels of the earth.
Not only Whit falls, but he finds the Col de Casey, with the involvement he has just killed his dog. Immediately, I had a PS notification let me know that I had found a very rare trophy because, apparently, no one else did what I did, and I am a monster. While I guided Whit through invaded tunnels, I said to myself, Casey could he have been with me all this time?
The cat enigma was not the only one, and in a rare decision for me, I did not save and rewind. Instead, I let myself live with the consequences of my actions. There were times when I wondered what would have happened if I could have found this additional scale, if I had stolen the champagne, my father had saved a picnic with René, or if I had trusted my instinct on an artistic project with Sege. The stakes increase as the characters age, and I am not sure I have made the right calls, even if I did my best. (Which could terbatim be something that says about being a father. Where should I end and start?)
I was happy to know that I could not constantly predict the effects of my choices. I thought that spending a day building with my father would help him realize how important the family was; Instead, during the years that followed, he focused on monetary success following these buildings, blowing his grandchildren. I am curious to know the other paths, but to be honest, I am not sure that I am curious enough to play all the game again. It is long for essentially an interactive novel, traveling around 15-20 hours, and there is quite a lot to run around big cards and find the right people to talk to and when.
An arduous trip (but valid)
This is where the fault lies: for me, Where the heart leads has exceeded its welcome by around 25%. At first, I had the feeling where the game was going, then he went there, and I was cool with it, I appreciated it, I continued to play it. And then it continued. And go. At one point, Whit even said to another character: “I have the impression that we have been doing this for a long time.” And I said to myself, I couldn’t have said it better myself, my brother.
Perhaps a part of its longer length is to justify its price of $ 24.99, which, in my opinion, is a bit for a game like this. Or, developer Reinforcement games is so involved in the global vision of Meta-Game (that I would like to chat with someone else who plays him, if HMU) that it went, even if the game could have been better in the process of being a little shorter.
Despite its length, or perhaps because of this, it was clear for me how much love had been poured into this game. There are poignant conversations. There are super satisfactory (although very unrealistic) animations of construction of sculptures and structures throughout the game, and sparkling and reflective images of contours of characters in the shape of a mirror. There is a basic emotional motivation throughout history: at the beginning, the world of Whit revolves around his love, René, and his brother, Sege. Over time, Whit’s heart must develop and evolve: it goes from a naive adolescent to a young man reflected to a father without evidence to a reliable basic food in the city. Whit checks her children, her aging mother, her old friends and his rivals.
Right away, Where the heart leads is only available on PS5 and PS4, but I could see it be a fantastic switch or an iOS port, and perhaps an even more natural fit for Xbox Game Pass. It would integrate into the range of non -violent service games The gardens between, what remains of Edith FinchAnd Oriental.
Final reflections
Where the heart leads Fills a void after the closure of Telltale, which popularized the interactive and without fighting games that require decisions to be made and conversations to have. I could practically see an icon spinning in the upper right corner, saying, Sege will remember that you said that.
I hope Where the heart leads is a sign of more games in this space. If you are looking for a game that is calm without being boring, philosophical but not peaceful and soft without being banal, then Where the heart leads should be considered for your next independent frenzy.
Score: 7.8 / 10
* Review the code provided by the publisher
