Werewolves: Haven Rising

Моя остання ігрова сесія тривала 10 годин, і хай це буде відповіддю на питання, чи цікавою для мене була ця новела. Дуже приємно було читати і формувати власну історію. І я б із задоволенням почала нові проходження для того, щоб дізнатися більше інформації про цей світ та головних героїв, але не можу втриматися від того, щоб не продовжити свою історію в другій частині, в яку можна імпортувати збереження з цієї. Зазначу, що мені ніколи особливо не подобалися перевертні, і я взяла цю новелу виключно через автора, і в принципі не помилилася, бо йому вдалося настільки сильно залучити мене до подій новели, а також змусити мене відчути себе саме тим перевертнем, яким я обрала бути, що я не могла відлипнути. Написано неперевершено. Мені подобається, як автор вміло маневрує між зображенням жорстокості та досить легкими, світлими моментами. Та й сама проблематика твору разом із конфліктом мені імпонують. Дуже рекомендую її тим людям, які володіють англійською мовою. PS: зі збереженнями трохи лажа, бо для них потрібно бути зареєстрованим на сайті розробника, тобто в самому стімі немає синхронізації, а після закінчення гри вже неможливо підтягнути збереження, якщо зареєструвався на сайті після проходження. В другій частині є можливість швидко пройтися по ключових виборах першої частини, щоб сформувати стан світу, але в мене чомусь виходить інший фінал. Тому, якщо хочете продовжити саме вашу унікальну історію, майте це на увазі та створіть акаунт на choiceofgames.com відразу.

[h1]喜欢狼人的玩家别直接入，这是一个政治故事，可能并不是你想要的狼人故事[/h1] 本来懒得写review的，看到这个系列都出到第三部了甚至还挺火爆的，我又觉得还是有必要写个差评劝退一下了。 首先是作品本身。如果是从《狼人启示录：森林之心WTA：heart of forest》以及《狼人启示录：炼狱WTA:purgatory》过来的话，直接劝退。本作不是酷炫独狼单打独斗的故事，是狼人vs人类全面战争的故事，游戏甚至还给你两个选项逼你做政治倾向选择。额，我真的对两个老登都不感兴趣，为什么要在我玩游戏的时候来塞这种现实向的事情。这直接导致了剧情变得很像X-man系列，狼人也不像狼人，更像一群变异的超能力者。然后因为故事背景设定，本作的狼人非常厌恶人类。这本身问题不大，人类也确实不值得喜欢。但这点在客观上很大影响了玩家去带入和共情MC，玩着玩着我就感觉我不是狼人，而是在通过狼人的视角窥视一场针对人类的战争计划。角色也有些无趣，女角色除了Bly外感觉都比较单薄没什么特点，男角色则是超雄和老登。 其次，actually choices do not matter。因为距离上次玩时间过去很久了所以记不太清楚，但印象里本作提供的选项其实影响不大，类似hero rise系列那类早期cog那种线性故事，你的选项顶多改动stat里的数据 最后一点比较个人，我不喜欢这个作者的写作风格，读起来很累，有一种越往下看就越让人想直接复制黏贴文章丢给翻译软件看机翻的魔力。非母语者看英语故事已经有一层障碍了，这个作者还总喜欢搞谜语人😅 总之如果你不是特别热爱狼人可以包容以上缺点，或者有闲有钱的话，都不推荐入手。

Too many stat choices ruin this game for me. Basically if you don't make choices that align with your skills you will fail. So at the start of the game you will have to make a choice of one of 4 paths and stick to it to the end of the game. Which is pretty bad in game about making choices.

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 558: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆☆ (7/10) [i]Werewolves: Haven Rising[/i] is a solid, straightforward read. You play as one of fifteen young werewolves born in Haven, a government-run internment camp designed to control and monitor werewolves. The story follows your struggle to survive, navigate the social dynamics of the camp, and confront the moral and ethical dilemmas of being hunted simply for who you are. While it doesn’t break new ground, the narrative is surprisingly fresh with a good plot twist at the end. Your choices and stats matter quite a bit, as well. However (and this is purely a me issue), I did not vibe with the author's prose at all. It’s technically solid and descriptive, with clear attention to character, but I struggled to feel invested in the cast. The vibes comes off as somewhat YA, and the characters lean heavily on archetypes—Hakem is the brute, Bly the hothead, Jolon the lone wolf, and Dena the sweet one. Still, I might check out the sequel if it goes on sale. [b][h2]Pros:[/h2][/b] ✅[b] Strong plot.[/b] [i]Werewolves: Haven Rising[/i] isn't your typical urban fantasy. You’re not a cool, free-roaming apex predator—you’re a kid growing up in what is essentially a steel cage. The internment camp setting adds a constant layer of tension, and the story does a good job exploring control, fear, and systemic oppression without feeling cartoonish. The story touches on colonialism too, as well as independence and democracy. I went in half-expecting a [i]Twilight[/i]-style werewolf love triangle. That expectation was very quickly—and very pleasantly—destroyed. There's also a surprising plot twist at the end of the game! I found it was foreshadowed well and very relevant to the game going forward. Honestly, the writing is quite solid. ✅[b] Choices that matter.[/b] The beginning of the story starts off pretty normally regarding stats. You can choose a different build ranging from a pacifist, intelligent werewolf to a feral, bold killing machine. The options were clear and well-developed, so all right, let's see how this goes. But then I started encounting more choices, choices that had clear consequences for the rest of the game. For example, I chose to study with the elder instead of training with Bly or Jolon. As a result, I developed a strong bond with him and ended up even becoming [spoiler]head of the pack![/spoiler] There's a lot of branching, as well—who do you want to spend time with? Which path should you take? There's also three major different endings with different motivations for going down different paths. I always felt that my choices were respected, and I never felt like I couldn't make a choice that was not given to me. [b][h2]Cons:[/h2][/b] 🟥[b] Writing wasn't for me.[/b] On a technical level, the prose is clean, readable, and descriptive, and the story clearly wants you to think about moral gray areas, systemic violence, and resistance. But ... "baby, we should break up. It's not you, it's me" basically. I can see that the author wanted to—and did!—focus on quite a bit of the cast. But to me, the characters fell flat. They felt more like stereotypes or mouth pieces for their side of the conflict (e.g. pro-violence or anti-violence). The overall tone also leaned more YA than I personally prefer, which isn’t a flaw so much as a stylistic mismatch. Emotional beats are often very direct and clearly signposted, and the characters’ personalities tend to stay within familiar archetypes rather than evolving. Characters frequently explain how they feel, why they feel that way, and what they believe is right, rather than letting those ideas emerge naturally through action or subtext. None of this makes the writing bad, either! It’s clear, earnest, and purposeful. It just didn’t fully pull me in on an emotional level, and I found myself more interested in the setting and central conflict than in the people experiencing it. [hr] If you enjoyed this review, please check out my curator page to find more: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45814768-Verdict-Play-or-Pass/]Verdict: Play or Pass. [/url] Also, please leave a like and visit [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Indie_Gems]IndieGems[/url] and our YouTube channel for more reviews like this one. [/hr]

Jolon is hot

I logged over 100 hours, and beaten this game at least 40 times and counting

Honestly one of the best text based stories I've played in my life (There's plenty I've played on a long gone account I once had due to forgetting the password and email I used for it) or online. I loved the Vampire: The masquerade text based games that came from Choice of Games. That said, this is it's own original universe as far as I can tell, and MAN is it a world I got absorbed into big time. I HIGHLY recommend this for those who love text based stories.

Sadly, not very good. It came up as a recommend from Night Road and Book of Hungry Names, but this one is deeply inferior. For one, despite being a "choice of games" it has very very little choice at all. Most of the deaths are set, all the plot beats are, most of the dynamics are fixed, and most of the effects are superficial. For instance you might fight a group of soldiers, and regardless of how good your combat is, lose...because the plot needs you to. There is no satisfaction of beating enemies you couldn't on your diplomatic play because...the plot determines which fights you can win. No deep spoiler, but you can find a few choice enhancements early in game that basically are a super serum, a cybernetic enhancement and a cloaking device. None of these ever seem to do more than provide a stat boost, so despite taking super serum you still get tired when you normally would You can be a diplomatic silvertongue, and you get basically the same result as a blood mad murder machine. For that matter some stats just seem to get tested constantly, while others don't. It's really annoying. And, as others have said, despite being a "choice" you basically choose what sort of character you play in the first three chapters and commit *hard* to that with no real variation. Maybe on a deep, deep sale

The game's author is Jeffrey Dean, the same author who wrote the exceptionally great game "Parliament of Knives" (which is set in the World of Darkness universe, unlike "Werewolves: Haven Rising"). I played Parliament of Knives surely more than 7 times and thus looked for more from the same author. WHR is not a bad game, it is definitely amongst the better ones the publisher Choice of Games has to offer: You have a lot of customization options, you can freely specialize in abilities or interests, you have multiple love interests to choose from and your choices can and will result in very different endings (albeit I think it is not always fully logical what you get). The writing, especially in the first half of the game, is very well-done, but towards the finale both the plot and the writing get more chaotic and "lost in the action". It is fitting in a way, but it's not what I expected. A word of advice for the gameplay: Stick to what you know you are good at, stats-wise (unless explicitly prompted not to). Maybe I am just spoiled rotten from the genius "Parliament of Knives" experience, but WHR just doesn't scratch the same itch for me that I had hoped it would. Nontheless, I would still generally recommend WHR for werewolf lovers, revolutionists that yearn to fight The Good Fight and dark (horror) urban-fantasy enthusiasts.

If you like werewolves you can find your inner wolf here. Go for it.