What ties everything together and lies at the heart of the entire experience is the story. There are several puzzles to solve some are quite easy, a few are a bit obtuse, but others are borderline genius in the way they make use of every single aspect of the Wii U hardware to set up the game's macabre mood. There is extensive use of the gamepad's gyroscope, but don't worry: even I, who absolutely hate motion controls, was surprised in a good way by how the game plays. The exploration is done in a 2D manner, with several separate sections of the woods to go back and forth through. The gameplay is from a first-person perspective, but not in the way you may be accustomed to. The setting is so effective, in fact, that even the beginning of the game, when you set out to meet your forbidden love inside a windmill in broad daylight, is significantly ominous. The game absolutely achieves the sort of mood it sets out to, with great stylyzed graphics and a wonderfully eerie soundtrack (by the way, wear headphones). Along the way, chances are you'll come across some nightmare-inducing mystical creatures, having to appease them if you want to successfully complete this disturbing mission. The purpose is making your way to a church in the middle of the forest, where you'll get a glimpse of what the coming year holds for your future. As you find out soon after booting the game, year walking is a practice in Swedish folklore in which a hapless chap starves himself then goes walking through creepy, snow-covered Scandinavian woods right before midnight at New Year's Eve. Year Walk seemed exactly this kind of game, and I wasn't disappointed. If a game is creepy in a more psychological manner, slowly making its way to giving you goosebumps instead of blatantly screaming at your face while holding a chainsaw, I discovered, I'm more than willing to let it do its thing.
That's because after I had a surprisingly good time playing that title (seriously, it's free, so give it a try), I realized that I don't really hate horror titles as I thought before I just hate jump scares. That's because My interest in Year Walk should probably be attributed to a browser-based PC game called The Uncle Who Works For Nintendo.
My interest in Year Walk should probably be attributed to a browser-based PC game called The Uncle Who Works For Nintendo. I basically only play off-tv, so this was a refreshing application of the dual-screen possibilities of the game pad. I did find the motion control frustrating at first, but eventually appreciated how they integrated it like a sort of tool kit - the section for taking notes was necessary, and the map is central to the experience. I found myself wishing for a bit more guidance a few times, but then wondered if that would have ruined some of the the satisfaction of finding solutions - the hint system offers a nice balance. I didn't really get the "horror" that others warned about - bit creepy at times, but not just in an atmospheric, compelling sort of way. It's super abstract and confusing, but not in a frustrating way - felt more like an interactive art installation than a traditional game.
Loved the art style and sound/music, and overall sense of mystery.
Part of the attraction is that there's not really anything else like it on the Wii U - maybe a bit like The Fall and shades of The Swapper, but this is really unique. Part of the I had put off trying this one because of the motion controls and the lack of off-tv play, but I'm glad I finally gave it a go. I had put off trying this one because of the motion controls and the lack of off-tv play, but I'm glad I finally gave it a go.
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