Where the Heart Leads

Has a very slow start but develops into a vast and branching narrative the likes of which I have never experienced before. You become invested in Whit and his families’ journey through their lives, shaping it in ways that seem to be monumental. That is the absolute greatest thing about this game is you live with your choices and they keep coming back to inform your next decisions; they are not one-off’s like most choice-based narrative games. It’s all one continuous stream of pivotal moments, not self-contained episodes. I think it falls flat in some respects, in particular the music department. It becomes very repetitive with these ethereal, undulating, heartbeat-like rhythms that start to wear thin over many hours making choices and wandering its various mini-worlds. The art style left a lot to be desired. It worked for its purpose, but wasn’t great to look at; I wasn’t a fan of its muddy colors and I found the bloom to be excessive and irritating to the eye. I think its low detail presentation was a tactful strategy that allowed them to go all in on a truly branching narrative. Also I thought the writing was decent but never really rose to the level that I thought would rival a great novel. It was serviceable, but a bit choppy at points. Sadly the epilogue was exhausting with the amount of long pages of character summary to sift through. I enjoyed reading the conclusion of each character and my effect upon their life, but I wish it could have been shown with vignettes like it was for some of the characters it deemed worthy. How it all connects though through your choices is brilliant. It tells a grounded story in a slightly surreal atmosphere (that feels a bit tacked on), but serves to allow Whit to reflect on his life by revisiting important junctures. In telling this grounded story it allowed me to reflect on my life and my future in a way I had never attempted before. What choice would I make if I was in Whit’s shoes? But that’s what made it so compelling: I very likely will be forced to make choices along these lines, which made them personally more difficult to contemplate than dealing with something otherworldly. Even with all its faults, how your choices effect its large cast of characters, your choice of residence, what career or lack of career you will pursue, who you will back and who you will turn your back upon, is the best choice-based gameplay I have ever experienced just for the sheer weightiness of your choices and their far-reaching effects. It will stick with me for a long time and I’d like to think it’s prepared me in some small way for those same choices ahead in my life.

Where The Heart Leads (WTHL) is potentially an excellent hidden gem, so obscure that I came across it by accident. Unfortunately a critical flaw in the game design caused a score lower than I wanted to give it, but I must use my own experience since it's my review. The graphics of WTHL are very charming. They are not overly detailed or jaw-dropping, but they convey what the game is trying to achieve well. One key facet is that only your character is drawn and animated properly, while the rest of the cast takes on a ghostly ethereal appearance. This had me scratching my head at first but then became something I appreciated as it really places the emphasis on your character being central to the story. Other than that, the camera angles and lack of detail occasionally makes it tricky to traverse some areas but with the familiarity you build up this issue gets resolved quickly. The gameplay of WTHL makes for an interesting discussion. Some may argue there is almost no gameplay here and depending on how you define gameplay, then you could be right. Gameplay involves exploring your environment and interacting with objects and people. There's no jumping, fighting or much action other than that. The gameplay here is only there to communicate the story. What we do see is the ability to make choices ala Life is Strange. This may not be everyone's cup of tea but the story can really be compelling so I recommend it on that basis. The story of WTHL is the core of the game and what you will remember. I really enjoyed getting to know Whit's background and the development of him and other characters, influenced by your decisions. This is something I am careful not to spoil so it's tricky to review in a game where narrative is key. Some sections of the game did drag on a bit much, though. Now I talk about the specific problem I had. In one mid-section of the game I was required to take down some sculptures. I went up to said sculptures and nothing would happen - no prompt or indication, no clue from other characters and despite extensive exploration and looking online, no solution could be found. I may be missing something stupidly obvious, but the game does this a few times occasionally, leaving you adrift to figure things out. This experience may have been unique to me so I'm not going to lambast the game completely for it, but it has prevented me completing an otherwise 4/5 star game. Overall, WTHL is a game I'm very disappointed not to be able finish. This speaks volumes about how much I enjoyed the game, so it's an easy recommendation for those who value story above all else. My only worry is the potential bug I found may not be the only one, so I hope your experience was not ruined like mine.