Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Purgatory

In my eyes, Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Purgatory is no better than Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest, being a serviceable sequel. On the other hand, I can see people not enjoying this one as much. This game is all about plot progression; you don't connect with any of the new characters. Even the old ones from the previous game, you don't get an introduction to them, so anyone playing this game first will not know who they are, and if you so happened to have played the previous game, some old characters act uncharacteristic due to the lack of time you spend with them, so you don't know what they are really like now. All the characters here just feel like tools to advance the plot, preventing you from having any emotional bond with them. I'm not saying every visual novel needs to do this, but coming from Heart of the Forest, I was expecting more of that same connection to continue and evolve. But no, it's all about speedrunning the plot and resolving everything as quickly as possible despite the stakes and the setup. For one, despite having the name Werewolf in the title, this doesn't feel like a werewolf game. It is more used to piggyback to resolve conflict, set out the story threads and use mechanics to harden werewolf abilities, but no more than that. It is missing the spiritual connection Heart of the Forest has. Wyrm is more present in this game. Think of them as wicked humans who sold their souls to the devil to gain supernatural powers, becoming a different being in itself to cause chaos and destruction. I would have liked wyrm if they were under a different banner, as they do provide some interesting visuals and concepts of humans becoming their worst selves. I'm a sucker for imagery, and this game doesn't shy away from surprising me with some. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3585947193 You know what, the more I write this review, the more I might as well not recommend it. I was gonna give it a recommendation, not an exciting one, mind you, but after listing some issues, I changed my mind. I didn't want to do this in the first place, but I much prefer people to play Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest first and not touch this one, as this one is devoid of why I like about Werewolf: The Apocalypse from the beginning or maybe my membering of it isn't as accurate as I remembered, one or the other.

I am a bit conflicted. I think main gripe with the game is that it's probably not my type of visual novel in terms of how the text is structured and presented. I prefer the way it's done in Heart of the Forest or the Vampire games (including Reckoning of New York): each paragraph or dialog requires explicit press of a button and auto-continue or whatever it's called is an option. Here it's completely automatic and requires your action only when you need to make a choice and when there is a change to the "next page" or "chapter". While this may be somewhat more convenient, to me it felt like an inconsistent pace, and it especially affected the "fighting" sequences, where frequency of pressing "Space" can create a necessary rhythm. And while you can use it to speed things up here, the pieces of text are usually larger, more elaborate, and a couple of times hitting "Space" a millisecond later resulted in a choice selection, that I did not even see (so holding the button is better). It's not the only gripe, though, and this more like a preference, or at least more of a preference than the other things. The art is another thing. I really liked some of the pieces here, and it's generally way better than "Reckoning of New York". Probably not for everyone, but it has character and works well with the narrative most of the time. Some things felt a bit inconsistent, but I think they felt like that because they did not match the text or did not sync with the text properly (although, maybe adjusting the speed of the text can address that). The most obvious example was in the last chapter, when wolves were traveling in lupus form, but the art showed homids. The story though... Firstly, there were some choices which affected what you see in the environment, and if they made sense in dreams, having a choice in "reality" did not: it does not affect anything, but can change perception of the moment with no obvious benefit. There were also a lot of choices for the character background, which were spread-out across first half of the story, and I think it would have been better to have a character creation instead, even if it is "outside of the narrative", because those choices broke the rhythm of the game. Other that it was ok. Quite logical and intriguing and with clear paths, that blocked out content, which is good for this kind of game. That is until the last 2 chapters. Chapter 5 was... Weird. It had understandable structure, and the purpose of it was quite clear, but it still felt as if something was amiss, something was skipped (possibly dependent on the choices). It was short, but made sense, although previous chapters had more "banter" moments which gave the chance to build relationships. Chapter 6, though... Again, maybe it's just because of my choices but it ended very abruptly. Here's the fight that's supposed to be the culmination of the story, which I kind of avoided, I guess, and then just a few lines summarizing that now everything is kind of good, but could have been better. It felt like I missed like another 20 minutes of reading, even if I consider that my choices led me to having now fighting at all. I am also not sure it was a good idea to show icons of "resources" near choices, because in some cases it skewed what I chose. I think they need to be hidden. The music while good as a standalone often did not match what was happening in the text, for example, fighting music starting too early or playing for too long. (another reason for using explicit "Space" presses). While writing this, I opened the page for Heart of the Forest and based on screenshots, I realized, that some of the gameplay aspects above might have been true there as well, but I do not remember that game in the same manner for some reason. Which, probably makes it better in my eyes. Is it a bad game, though? No. And if you can support the devs, please, do, I do want more games to come out in the series. But manage your expectations. It just does not have as much "bite" to it, even though the main topic is much more tangible nowadays for a much wider audience.

The story just beats you over the head with the theme in every single scene, and it’s really hard to connect to any of the characters, they just exist to move the plot forward. What’s supposed to be a traumatic loss and the grieving of a family member ends up feeling like empty filler garbage, as the writers drag you through it multiple times to “confront” your past. Why do I have to sit through so many flashbacks when the point of every single one is the same? These people had hard lives and don’t you ever forget it, player.

Big fan of Revised Edition WtA, I also read 5th Edition. If you take 5th edition and skim it down even more - you get this game, I am not talking about the mechanics, its about the lore that does not make sense. Most of it feels like weak fanfiction and the writer clearly did not understand Werewolf the Apocalypse. Would you treat another of yours, in the time of the Apocalypse, as a Pariah? You are outnumbered against the Wyrm 10:1 - and then one day a Garou - one possible ally shows up at the doorstep of your sept, and the first reaction is to alienate? Well so much about the Writer and his understanding of the Lore. Wait it gets even better: (from the game) "Why did Andrzej hate the refugees so much? While there had always been a bit of a divide between the Polish and non-Polish Garou, this seemed to go far beyond that." Since when does a Garou care about nationality? He is a Garou, THEY CULLED the humans during the impergium, they couldn't care less about nationality. Lol, now we have racist Garou because of the place you have been born? That is a new one. So Werewolf 5th Edition removed beeing born into a Tribe - the writer incorporates Polish vs Afghanistan refugee issues "within the Garou" instead. Unbelievable. Why not have the Wyrm feed on the racism of the homids - you are hopelessly outnumbered anyway - the Garou should actually struggle because of the homids mindset - as the wyrm feeds on it. Yes, I can understand that a irrational Garou might become angry of that, but the game omitted one important mechanic here 'Hauglosk' - the opposite of Harano. This is bad writing. NPCs and packmates feel awkward. They are still connected via their packtotem, they should actually share a special bond. Packs are closer than any family. Where is the shamanic/spirtual connection ... it does not exist within the first 2 chapters. If I stand in front of a bar, and some guys go aggressive on me, the next moment they will all need a 2nd pair of underwear (due to the delirium), because the whole pack which is 10m away will show up the moment you threaten one of yours - just because of the connection. And whats up with that wannabe Shadow Lord Andrzej? So you meet someone new, and the first thing you do is piss off a potential connection. Well done, let me guess this idiot is going to be an antagonist - or shall symbolise the "struggle" between the Garou. Wow! *clap clap* good job - wanna write for Disney? Dear Writer, Werewolves are creatures which were already here before the first nation and do exist in the spirit and material world. Garou couldn't care less about the concept of a state. Most of them were just re-incarnated - they may be around for thousands of years. The only reason they suffer of the national conflict is - when the Wyrm uses that hatred to feed on it getting stronger. Some of them grew up as homids before their first change - but some of them as lupus. The thing is, the way they grew up - they are not 100% part of human society anyway. Some might argue that Bone Gnawer and Glasswalker are better integrated - but they still have their gripes with humans. Missed opportunity pack/sept to try to do deal with politics and help to improve the public opinion/mindset instead of fostering more hatred. Despicable! Not sure If I manage to finish this. But tbh, not sure yet, rather read one of the original WoD books instead. This game does not deserve the Werewolf the Apocalypse title!

They might have well just released a novel instead. There is no real choice in this game. And the one-sided political garbage that gets rammed down your throat the entire time gets old real quick.

I played the first game, and enjoyed that, so I was prepared for more of the same (and wouldn't have complained). But this game is a definite push forward in the sense that the story is longer, and there is actual combat. I'm in love with the way the devs are handling the IP and will for sure be looking for more titles. Well Done.

That takes the cake for the worst game I've played this year. Pathethic try at commentary of "current" events, terrible use of WoD as the mean to convey it and the most boring story... Choices and implementation of skills are alright, but by the third gain in any of the skill you realize it doesn't matter and they give you whole nothing even when they show up during dialogue As much as I like WoD, some of the text based games work as an anti ad for it

Nie spodziewałem się i byłem miło zaskoczony, że postanowili zrobić drugą część i mimo, że cała fabuła została jeszcze ciekawiej opowiedziana niż w "heart of the forest", to mimo wszystko "purgatory" wychodzi trochę słabiej niż poprzednik, ale już mówię o co kaman: Jak już wspomniałem fabuła zdecydowanie góruje; generalnie spory motyw detektywistyczny i jeszcze lepiej zaprojektowane wybory, ale trzeba po prostu przetrwać rozdział 1; prolog, rozdziały 2-5 i ending wyszły naprawdę świetnie, mocno wciągnęła mnie historia, ale początek jest dosłownie o wszystkim i o niczym. Wiadomo, że trzeba jakoś przedstawić postacie i świat, tyle, że rozdział 1 ma sporo nie potrzebnych zapychaczy: mega dużo polityki, jakichś różnic kulturowych... Jak wchodzą do gry o wilkołakach to raczej chodzi generalnie o wielkie, futrzaste, często muskularne bestie, które są w stanie przyjąć czołg na klatę; więc czy naprawdę musiał pojawić się dialog o tym, że jedna kobieta była kiedyś facetem... no ludzie, błagam, nie wciskajcie mi w grze o wilkołakach czegoś takiego... Dobrze, że tylko rozdział 1 jest takim średniakiem, bo reszta była świetna. Czy potrzeba grać w poprzednika żeby dobrze się tu bawić: no jasne, że nie, ale odbiór tej części będzie na pewno ciekawszy, jeśli zna się pierwszą część, bo jest tu sporo nawiązań i kilka powracających postaci. O wiele bogatszy system wyborów: już na start dostajemy wszystkie przynależności; dialogi od początku są zróżnicowane i o wiele ciekawsze, do tego dochodzi nawet, jak to lubię nazywać, wskaźnik depresji - jedna ze statystyk, którą raczej lepiej trzymać nisko, a nawet wybieramy specjalne umiejętności i przedmioty; w skrócie gra ma duży potencjał, żeby powtarzać ją kilka razy (co mam zamiar oczywiście zrobić) i nadal znajdować coś nowego. Klimat w dalszym ciągu bardzo dobry, ta stylistyka choby malowane obrazy nadal przyjemnie wygląda, soundtrack daje to porządne napięcie i głównie dzięki niemu czuć ten mrok oraz lekki horror. W "heart of the forest" z początku nasza postać nie wiedziała, że jest wilkołakiem, więc mieliśmy konkretne i dłuższe wdrażanie w wiele funkcji, a w "Purgatory" już de facto wiemy to i owo, więc oprócz tego całego ciekawego motywu kryminalistycznego z szukaniem poszlak, mamy też więcej momentów akcji, co za tym idzie, więcej momentów, gdzie wybieramy jaką formę wilka lub wilkołaka chcemy przybrać, co też może znacząco wpłynąć na przebieg walki. Poza tym, jest to kolejna dobra okazja żeby podszlifować swój angielski; ja tam w dużym stopniu ogarniam ten język i byłem w stanie normalnie zrozumieć o co chodzi w danej scenie, ale są takie momenty, gdzie opisują przez 5 zdań wygląd drzewa; no i z kontekstu da się ogarnąć, że jest mega stare i ma jakieś duchowe moce, ale oni tak tam cisnął... tak nawalają słowami, które czasami pierwszy raz w życiu widziałem, że aż jestem pod wrażeniem. Z pierwszej części mam walnięty zeszyt ze słówkami i tutaj zrobię to samo; pewnie 95% z nich nigdy nie przyda mi się w życiu, ale i tak mam na to ochotę, bo gra jest na tyle wciągająca. Jak wam ktoś mówi, że gry niczego nie uczą to nie mógł być w większym błędzie, bo nic tak dobrze nie uczy angielskiego jak gry wideo. Bardzo dużo jest tu smaczków, dzięki którym człowiek patrzy w ekran i nie chce jeszcze kończyć posiedzenia, bo ciekawi go co będzie dalej. Naprawdę fajnie opisali te korelację pomiędzy ludzką i wilczą stroną postaci, zwłaszcza kiedy są momenty transformacji w wilka/wilkołaka. No i muszę przyznać, że [spoiler] Pat [/spoiler] to jest jednak równa babka; w pierwszej części była se tak po prostu spoko, a tutaj bardzo fajnie rozwinęli jej postać. Moja ocena to 8/10. Polecam.

Set in the backdrop of the Afghan refugee crisis on Polish-Belarussian border, Werewolf the Apocalypse: purgatory tells story of one such refugee - Samira, who secretly is also a Werewolf. Or, as they like to call themselves, Garou - warriors of Gaia in endless, losing war against the Wyrm - mad deity of enthropy, that spreads corruption and pollution. Samira is dragged into investigation that will make apparent to her that agents of the Wyrm ale meddling in the events at the border, ensuring very real crisis escalates even further. One of best advices how to handle World of Darkness, with its supernatural horrors coexisting alongside man-made ones from our present day and history alike, is to not explain the latter with the former, but instead have the former take advantage of the latter. You don't want to, say, claim a genocide of gay people in Chechnya isn't real and was faked to cover up murder of vampires opposing the one who controls Chechnyan president - not unless you want to cause international controversy, that is. Which, by the way, is a thing that happenned last time some genius tried to ignore that common bit of WoD wisdom. By contrast, Purgatory does it right - it doesn't claim Banes of Wyrm or Cult of Fenris are causing the very real tragedy, but they show up to try and make it even worse. This story is interconnected even more with real-life events than Different Tales' previous Werewolf: the Apocalypse game, Heart of the Forest, which is especially empathised because Samira herself is a person suffering from the crisis. She cannot afford the dose of distance that made real events just a plot point and backdrop of of previous game. The same direct conenction between the refugee experience and the protagonist makes these parts of the story feel far more authentic and striking at emotional core much stronger than We, the Refugees: Ticket to Europe - another polish visual novel tackling the subject, one that choose to make its protagonist effectively a tourist living the experience. The game uses the same mechanics as Heart of the Forest, where you manage Rage, Willpower, health and new statistic, Harano, which represent werewolf depression. Certain actions earn or cost those statistics, and having them on certain level in a situation will lock you into specific choices. It's a very good system, tho I do not see what is the point of Harano, which you can get pretty low very easy and effectively remove it from the game, since high levels of it impair your character. It feels like its supposed to be negative counterpart of Rage and Willpower but it doesn't represent anything that low rage or low willpower could not, except maybe that other Garou like you less now. Beyond that, the game builds your statistics based on your choices, and it also lets you choose your tribe, role and even Gifts (which are one-time use superpowers) early on. The game has also much more action that its predecessor, you get far more chances to flex your werewolf muscles, and far more often it is a good idea. There are some issues, however. Multiple times I felt like the images accompanying the text were not scaled well with my computer, getting cut in half. While this may be a me problem, same grace cannot be extended to one of choices in a part of act five straight up not working, but selecting different ones in its place. Thankfully that happenned to me only once. Music, while excellent, often gets too dramatic too erly, spoiling that a threat is approaching and a fight will happen before the text gets there. I was disappointed to see this game lacks awesome ending them Heart of the Forest had. I will also note that two paths to take follow similiar story beats and biggest difference is filling them with different supporting characters and antagonists, but the selection of WtA villains makes it impossible to have a third path that combines both investigations. Overall, compared to its predecessor, Purgatory is more refined Werewolf Visual Novel experience, that makes great entry point for new fans and fun side-quests for veteran garou enjoyers. Highly recommended.

I remembered playing the demo for this game and thinking it was absolutely amazing. When I got the game as a gift I immediately started playing it only to find it a bit lacklustre. It's not bad but it's not amazing either. It's just meh. This was the first game in the series I played and it hasn't stopped me from wanting to play the others, however. I'm not really one for politics, and I hadn't realised that would be a major part of the game. I have no problems with politics, I just don't care and I am well aware that that is a me thing. I couldn't help but feel that the game was trying to make me feel sorry for the refugees but I just couldn't care, again I am aware that that's a me thing and possibly an ASD thing for me, but I just couldn't have cared less. Did I help the refugees? Absolutely I did, I'm not entirely heartless, I just didn't feel anything which I think the game was trying to do but not quite nailing. As for the main big fight near the end, (I chose to help Aleksander, not sure if the fight is the same if you chose to help the chic instead), it felt so anticlimactic. Like that's it? Just choose a few options and it's done? It didn't feel very rewarding. TLDR; The game felt rushed and in doing so wasn't able to make things feel like they mattered. I'm not going to say don't play this game. But, I will say that I feel this game would be good for a specific audience and that audience wasn't me.