Wicked Willow

Absolutely love this game! Great Story, Beautiful Art and amazing full VA! I'll absolutely be trying for the other endings and achievements. TF is an incredible Dev, Very kind and active!

First of many visual novels I've played I really loved and craved more of. Was taken aback by how well the many endings of visual novels was included in the game and loved each story (except for shadow's IMO) and honestly wish I could experience this game again and see if my choices would vary on the first playthrough. Keep it up, amazing game!♥

Witches... Wicked witches... Enough said! To be a little more specific, this VN is really fun to play. Not in the gameplay obviously (VN duh) but I did laugh one or three times which is not so commun for me. Also, the art syle is to die for. Really, it was a really pleasant journey so thank you devs! Go and try it, you wicked fools ;)

Very emotionally moving story.

It took me a while to decide what to write here as I wanted to make sure that what I wrote truly gave my real feelings on this VN. In short, T.F. Wright is a genius. I only have played through to one ending as of now (although I am going to be playing through until I get all of them!) but that one ending had me going through so many different emotions, and learning about myself and others as well. In long, this VN is a true work of art in every way. The writing feels real and believable. The art is immaculate and truly shows each character how they should be. The choices you make feel like they have a real impact on the story (I truly believe even cosmetic choices would feel that way with how amazing the writing is). This next part is going to be a little spoilery so please don't read it unless you have played through it yourself. You really should experience this the first time through the VN and not through a review. [spoiler] I started this game not really having a plan of who I was planning on ending up with in the story. I also quickly decided that I HATED Lydia. She was everything I hate about a person. Funny story, I ended up with her at the end (kind of). I went from hating her, to learning about her, to feeling for her, to loving her both in game and out. [/spoiler] To me, the fact that happened, all within a 2 hour period at that, shows how good the writing truly is.

Dying and resetting, dying and resetting, huh.. oh, and loving sometimes Good quality visual novel with catchy characters, GORGEOUS(!) Voice Acting, cool CGs and cynical but charming Willow (I like her "sharp tongue)" Most of time she will kick Lydia's ass, partydancing at Tanya's room, smoke weed with Xarzi (no) and other branches, that you will decide by choices... Last path was touching for me, because [spoiler] even if Tanya struggles over and over with all that resets, and still loves Willow, even if Willow went to love Valerie, Lydia or Shadow... It has impressed me, because in her place it would be very painful for me... [/spoiler]

Absolutely beautiful, totally underrated game. So much passion went into the art, story, and voice acting. $20 is steep for a visual novel but you get what you pay for!

As far as gameplay goes, this visual novel is as simple as it can be: no scores, no variables, the only choices to be made are between two different options and there's a tracking function, too. Where this game really stands out is in its themes: evironment, marginality, LGBTQ+ rights, magic and many other. The narration is never dull and Willow faces several moral dilemmas. Every final is very different from the others and it almost feels like reading eight different stories. The art is static but well drawn; the voice acting is very good.

I had an absolute blast playing through just the first of 8 outcomes thus far. This game is meticulously crafted and superbly written, with compelling characters and unique ethical dilemmas that really make you wonder about life, the universe, and everything. Personally, playing through the game helped me understand and resolve some of the conflicts and events in my own life, so I'd tout this game as equal parts fun visual novel and useful healing tool. With work like this, T.F. Wright is well on his way to being a household name in this genre. I also had a blast doing the voices with my partner, which made for an entertaining stream. I'd highly recommend this to anyone looking for a compelling, richly-woven visual novel or streaming experience!

This is my first review, so go easy on me. Wicked Willow is a beautiful choose-your-own-adventure visual novel starring the titular Willow learning she is a witch with magical powers. Less game and more observation of events as they unfold, I found Wicked Willow to be a delightful interactive story, but not without its flaws. Let's break it down! Story: Being an interactive novel, the plot is the main feature of the game. And without giving too much away, there are intricate threads told in a "what happened in other timelines" sort-of way. Think "Community" Season 3 Episode 4 (Remedial Chaos Theory) or the movie "Sliding Doors". Most of the story lines end with Willow (read: you) being told to try again and starting from the beginning of the story. The plots are well thought out and not too many events are out of left field if you accept the universe in which the story is set. The ORW concept feels like an Omniscient Council of Vagueness (look it up), but it helps move some of the plot elements along, so I was good with it. Setting: The setting surprised me. I thought it was modern, with the look of the streets and buildings and schools... the focus on soy-lates... But actually, the game is set in the early 1990's. May 1993 is on a newspaper. Willow brings up Janet Reno, who was sworn in as the US Attorney General in March 1993 being in a newspaper. No cell phones. No flat-screen TVs. Willow is a few months away from turning 21, so she is in college, junior college, uni? I thought she was in high school until she started talking about weed and drinking. There was one scene where she was intimate with someone and it almost sounded like the partner was worried about the noise reaching people down stairs. I thought "people down stairs" would be relatives until I realized the issue with Willow's parents. Audio: Now on to the TRUE stars of this story, the voices. The voice acting is amazing! Direct, sultry, meek, soft, purrfect. Everyone sounds reasonably like their character should and you can't tell if the lines were recorded separately or with the talent together in the same booth. Strangely, the Schoolteacher's voice sounds a lot like John O'Hurley. Actually, the only real gripe I have with the game is the audio levels of each voice talent. Some voices are louder than others, like the mastering wasn't smoothed to make it sound like the characters were in the same setting together. If we take Willow's voice as what the environment should sound like, Shadow's voice sounds like he is in an audio recording booth closer to the mic while Avery sounds like he is standing a few more steps away from the mic than everyone else. BUT! Don't let that bother you. Actually, I hope you read this after giving the game a chance, because it certainly deserves one! Art: The art is gorgeous, sexy, and quite entertaining. Check the screenshots and the previews and you'll see what I mean. Hell, the screenshots and previews are probably what enticed you to check out this store page. It certainly enticed me... Gameplay: I completed most of the plot threads in about 4 hours. Understand there is MINIMAL player input here, but that doesn't make it a bad "game". It's more like a voiced web comic. If we are talking about game play, then you should really be pleased with the "Auto" and "Skip" features. Auto makes the story continue on its own. To make good use of this, go into Preferences and move the "Auto-Forward Time" slider all the way to the LEFT. It makes the game progress as though it were an audiobook. It's perfect for putting the story on and letting it play while you nibble on snacks. As for the "Skip" feature, you will be required to play through the game more than once to get the different plot lines. You can skip any portion you have already done before, which is VERY good if you want to fish for different choices. You cannot skip stuff you have not yet completed, but when you see how fast the function zips through dialogue you have already completed, you will be thankful you don't have to sit through the axeman scene over and over again. If there's any gripe to be had here, it's that the scenes don't move like they do in the preview. Everything is static except for the scrolling dialogue. In the end, there's a handful of life choices that all lead to different endings, so grab some popcorn and enjoy them all! LGBTQ: You can't acknowledge this game without acknowledging the LGBTQ aspect of it. The game was featured in the Summer of Pride Steam event! Let me say love is love, lust is lust, partners are partners, and anyone can be with anyone. Now that that's out of the way, for a game that touts its LGBTQ, there was not very much of it. I was interested in seeing more long-term intimacy change or soften Willow's personality over the long term. Unfortunately, all the relationships are short lived and barely indulged. Some of Willow's various partners are quickly tossed aside for different timelines of the game, and there are no scenes of intimacy. If you are looking for sexual situations, this story is not for you. This is in stark contrast to the visuals. The game's ladies (except for Willow) are fantastically busty, certainly drawn to raise your body temp. The one or two men in the game are drawn to differing degrees of handsome, too. Certainly, this was done either to the artist's taste, or to the target audience on the sales charts. It drew me in, got me to spend, and then let me down with the lack of developed intimacy. HOWEVER! Let me close by saying this minimally interactive story is a WONDERFUL trip into the life of a young witch learning how to exist in a world she barely understands. Certainly a coming-of-age allegory that is fun to insert your thoughts and reflections on your own youth. If you strip away the magic, it's still a story of interpersonal relationships gone right or wrong, based on your decisions. I think the bigger thought is how few decisions actually change the course of her existence. We, as the player, make hundreds of choices in a given day, but how many of them actually affect the outcome of our lives? This game shows you that the 10 or so decisions you make could possibly affect the existence of the world itself.