Werewolf Party

[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38888018-United-Critics/] Please follow [b]United Critics[/b] for quality reviews[/url] [h2]Werewolf Party Review[/h2] [table] [tr] [th][h2]Categories[/h2][/th] [th][h2]Rating[/h2][/th] [th][h2]Explanation[/h2][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] [b]Gameplay[/b] 🎮[/td] [td] 6[/td] [td]Social deduction with role variety, but it is lacking some kind of depth.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] [b]Visuals[/b] 🎬[/td] [td] 6[/td] [td]Simplistic and Minimalistic, not graphically intensive.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] [b]Sound/Music/Voice[/b] 🎼[/td] [td] 5[/td] [td]This could use some improvement to enhance the immersive experience.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] [b]Replayability[/b] 🎡[/td] [td] 6[/td] [td]This is purely replayable as a multiplayer concept because there isn’t much replayability within the gameplay other than the loop.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] [b]Price[/b] 💰[/td] [td] 6[/td] [td]Wait for a sale, due to lack of content[/td] [/tr] [/table] [b][u]Introduction[/u][/b] [b]Werewolf Party[/b] developed by Absam Studios is an Early Access Multiplayer Social Deduction game that lends its roots from popular titles like Among Us. Although this is a fun and engaging idea when we look at a title like Among Us that garnered millions of fans. Werewolf Party feels unpolished in terms of gameplay content. Seemingly relying on its quirkiness and charm with the usage of emotes and signs you can hold up makes for fun memories with friends but for a limited time. [b][u]Gameplay[/u][/b] At its core [b]Werewolf Party[/b] is a social deduction game designed for 3 to 11 players and the main objective is to either survive the night as a villager or as the werewolf. The game will switch between a day / night cycle, where you and your friends will deliberate who you think is the werewolf by voting and deducing facts and hearing each other's reasoning why they are in fact not the culprit. And the aim of being the werewolf is survival and to eliminate the villagers one by one. Each player is assigned a special role, villagers have roles like Seer, Priest or my personal favorite Clown (allows you to put clown shoes on the Werewolf, just makes for some good laughs xD). The day cycle allows players to strategize, buy items from the shop, vote for who they think is the werewolf or if you just want to get right to the action you can sleep early and trigger the night time phase (and even enjoy a game or 2 of flappy cat). During the night time phase depending on your role, some aspects or abilities allow you a much higher probability of survival than others. [b][u]Graphics and Audio[/u][/b] Visually the game is very minimalistic in style and makes use of bright colors to differentiate between objects in the game world, and in terms of audio the game makes use of proximity chat which I thought was a great addition especially in an indie game like this where it’s not about a narrative but the story you create with friends so it really allows you to get into the feeling of roleplaying. The game also makes very minimal use of sound effects or music which i find does diminish the immersive experience. Some notes I took was that you are able to switch between different graphical settings but the change is barely noticeable. There were also points where at night time it was just super dark on default brightness and I had to crank it up to 11 to be able to see. Myself and a friend I was reviewing the game with had the same issue. These are simply design issues and simple fixes and could improve people’s impression of the game. [b][u]Story & Narrative[/u][/b] Werewolf Party is more of a player driven story, You can look at it as if each run is a new story based on the role you receive as a villager and how you strategize to discover who is the hidden werewolf. As I mentioned before, roleplaying seems to be a big part of this and if that is something you enjoy, you will get value from this. (Just make sure you have some friends to enjoy it with). [b][u]Replayability and Longevity[/u][/b] For me when I think about replayability in the context of this game specifically, I feel torn. The reason I say this is because I believe that since this is a player driven narrative you should be able to extract many hours of laughs and fun with friends, and the different roles and abilities should lend to that experience. But on the other hand, I felt that there just isn’t enough content to keep someone locked in. My main gripe is the day time since there really isn’t anything to do, no tasks, no quests, no sense of achievement before being thrown into the night time escapade.The most you can do is make custom signs and emote with your friends. The developers should look at incorporating some kinds of daytime activities. (In the guide it also says there are coins on the map which you can purchase stuff from the shop with, i walked around the whole map and found no coins). [b][u]Comparison and Context[/u][/b] Inspiration is drawn from classic games like Werewolf and Mafia, or as a more recent title that most are familiar with Among Us. The highlights that distinguish Werewolf Party from those titles is the theme since it is medieval themed, the proximity voice chat and that it relies heavily on player communication. But, any kind of environmental interaction or purpose would be a welcome addition to the Werewolf Party. [b][u]Pros and Cons[/u][/b] [list][b][u]Pros-[/u][/b] [*]Role variety [*]Proximity voice chat (helpful if not using something like Discord with friends) [*]Emotes and creating signs[/list] [list][b][u]Cons-[/u][/b] [*]Limited content to keep people engaged [*]Minor graphical issues that can affect gameplay[/list] ☁[b][u]Final Thoughts[/u][/b] [b]Werewolf Party[/b] tries to be an immersive social deduction experience with friends thanks to its proximity chat and its player driven interaction foundation. But its lack of some kind of engaging mechanic like quests or tasks really holds it back. I know this title is still in Early Access so I hope the developers will look at implementing some additional content. Rating: 5.5/10 [b]PS: You can jump on the red canvas and may even discover a secret[/b]