Willow Guard

The gameplay in Willow Guard feels simultaneously nostalgic and fresh, and I honestly had a lot more fun that I expected. I have died many times so far in my quest for answers, and yet somehow the fighting is sufficiently challenging and addictive that I just keep coming back for more. We play as Ghweros, a grizzled badger and hunter of monsters in a world where animals were once elevated by ancient gods, only to be abandoned and left to the cruel vagaries of a world full of monsters. There is magic and lore in abundance, but never in a way that feels forced. The writing conveys the world to you with consummate ease, evoking the setting and characters around you with a clear and distinct voice. As the story progresses you are slowly introduced to a widening cast of interesting characters, each with their own agendas and secrets (shoutout to the Mother of Monsters, why hello thar). The world feels very lived in, full of history and wonder, but you never feel like anything is being info dumped and the narrative and clue progression flow along at a good pace. As your realm of knowledge expands you can chat to various characters you meet, observe your surroundings to gain clues (be sure to use your Focus wisely!) and explore the world at a pace that suits you. Thus far some of the things I’ve particular enjoyed about the game are: -The fighting, why so fun while I am simultaneously so bad at it? Who knew picking nuts could be so perilous. T.T -The art! The intro in particular deserves a special mention for its stylistic cinematic glory (as well as how neatly it introduced us to the mythology of the world), but overall every aspect of the artistic direction evokes a wonderful sense of warmth and grit that makes the world feel both gorgeous and lived in. I am ridiculously in love with all the character designs as well. -The sound design is equally great, and the backing tracks are cozy and atmospheric but never feel repetitive. -The UIX is clear and easy to use, and I found the deck building aspects to be both fun and intuitive. I was also surprised by the presence of an equipment pane, and look forward to seeing how the customisation and crafting progress further along in the game. -And right back around to the writing, because the narrative elements are what truly brings this world to life and makes you want to discover more. 
I can’t wait to spend many more hours exploring, and fighting monsters (and inevitably dying a little) while uncovering the secrets that linger beneath the skin of this world. Would definitely recommend it!

This game could have been fun but bad gameplay and mechanics ideas and decisions make it just more annoying than fun. The card system doesn´t serve any purpose. It is as if somebody on the dev team liked card games too much so the dev just forcefully shoved some card mechanics into this game. Why? The whole stamina idea with selecting new card (which is basically an ability) when the bar gets full is boring and dull. Gear upgrade system sucks, because the material drop rates are abyssmal. This is just copying a mechanic from a mmo to a single player game. What for? Annoying and boring. Game systems are poorly explained. For example, there are some chests that are protected by a barrier. Sometimes you can brake them by whacking with your sword at them, other times you cannot. My only guess is that if I have upgraded my gear I can break it and if I didn´t, I can´t. Even now I can´t tell what that was about. There are many more places like this, where you are completely lost at what you are supposed to do. The gamepad support is just an afterthought, terrible implementation. It only needed a bit more work to make it a much more enjoyable experience. The base game loop is to go through the same locations each days again and again and push the story a bit each time. But all that I have mentioned above, is making it just tedious and boring. There are some bugs here and there. The game story and premise was OK-ish, I think that it draws inspiration from the Witcher, as other people have pointed out. It could have been a pretty decent game, but either inexperience or just downright bad game design decisions make it not fun to play.

BadgerWitcher, sorry I mean "Willow Guard" combines old-school fast-paced brutally difficult action with deep lore and story elements and a deck building system for special abilities. The world building is lovely and takes advantage of the badger-ness of the protagonist, it doesn't feel like its just anthropomorphic badgers instead of humans.

Willowguard combines several cool things so masterfully it ceases to be just combination of parts, but becomes it's own seamless artefact. Let's just say for starters that main ingredients are, with many caveats, action rpg and detective adventure. You're a lone ranger, sent to investigate ferocious monster attacks on small town on the periphery of kingdom. You're also introverted, silently badass and socially awkward badger with disconcerting dreams. Skillfully outlined character I loved to play as. So... you're exploring places, fighting monsters, upgrading your equipment, gathering clues, interrogating and befriending local people. All is connected very fluidly and most of the time you'll be doing more of these things at the same time. Each one also affect others, often in surprising ways. Dev's motto might be "stories come first", but they really nailed the gameplay here, too. Even fighting, which seemed a bit clumsy at first. When I got a grip around it though, it showed it's true colours: it's fast, dangerous, tactical and dynamic dance, where you need to know your enemies (very original cast of nightmarish beasts) as well as your abilities. And be always careful. Story is still Willowguard's biggest strength though. It's not just about engrossing and perfectly dosed mystery, pulling you forward with Agatha Christie-like power. It's about that rare strong sense of place. You come to rather small community on the edge of the civilization, surrounded by wilderness, danger and secrets. Lore and characters are well realized and make a breathing, living place in which you can easily lose yourself. It reminded me of Roadwarden a lot, which was big masterpiece of crafting believable gaming world. Game might seem quite small at first, with only a handful of places and "dungeons" (they're mostly above ground, in forests and fields, but they work that way) to visit. But here comes cool trick of Willowguard - those place change and deepen with time and storybeats. Dungeons expand as you discover new information, gain new abilities, and as events happen. It has this metroidvanian feeling, again seamlessly combined with other mechanics. Willowguard is perfect example of hidden gem. It's original, inspired and well-crafted In every aspect. It's exceptionally absorbing. And nobody knows about it. I'm currently slowly finishing the game and feel more and more sad that it will end. That's a rare experience for me. P. S. If you want to discover other less known gems, you're welcome to visit my curator page: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45655021-Nods-for-Underdogs/]Nods for Underdogs[/url].

I played the demo and found myself hooked. Then i bought the full game, and immediately played for 3 hours in a row - not something I do often! This game switches between semi visual novel style narration, & exploration/combat. The story has enough mysteries to keep you interested and wanting to explore to learn more, and the game mechanics are balanced and engaging without getting repetitive. The combo card based/hack and slash action is a super fun mechanic, and I enjoyed upgrading and balancing my deck. And most notable for me personally... having to replay areas after you die is actually enjoyable. I typically lose patience with "soulslike" games... just don't feel like I have the time - but with this one I found myself playing the hardest challenge a good 15 times in a row nonstop to learn the patterns. I see a lot of references to Witcher 3 in the reviews, but in my opinion the storytelling is the most reminiscent of Roadwarden - one of my top 10 games of all time. Overall I'd say this is one of my favorite games of the year so far. Very impressive from such a small indie studio!

After about 90 minutes of playing I'm already addicted to this game. It has an interesting plot that keeps you wanting to discover more clues and the characters I've met so far are really cool. I formed an attachment to the main character the first time he had to interact with someone and he felt that it was hard to speak to another person after being alone for a long time. I mean, who hasn't dreamt about being a socially awkward and totally kickass badger who travels through the land killing monsters. The art is lovely and it conveys the mood of a place or the personality of the characters very well. I also love the combination of cuteness and violence. It's just so satisfying when the monsters burst into a pixel spray of blood. It's fairly easy to get the hang of the basics of the gameplay, but it's going to take me a while to actually get good at it. There's straight up smash-the-button fighting and a deck of cards with different abilities that will give you a lot of different strategy options. Sometimes you see the monsters coming from a long way, but at other times they pop out from behind something and you have to react quickly to stay alive. All in all, this is a really cool game. I definitely recommend it!

DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS!!! The Land O' Bland Ultimatum 4/14/2025 I was intrigued, then put off by the trailer, then intrigued again with the 32 bit music. I'd say without a doubt it's memorable, for all the reasons one would dread and far, far more. The conflicting art style, coupled with the violent nature of the game play really draws out a bland taste in my mouth. It's one of those games that has to walk a mighty fine line in order to be done correctly. You have to carefully balance everything you're presenting, and if you tip the scales to far in one direction you'll only receive chaos. It takes too much from other dark fantasy rpgs (Witcher, Don't starve, etc) and meshes them into an in-cohesive muddle. I enjoyed the combat up to a certain point, because it becomes *very* repetitive. After 5 hours or so you fight the same enemies on repeat except for the final boss. Dungeons are only randomized up to a certain point, making repeat trips to the same 5 arenas (not exaggerating) boring and more mundane than they're worth. There's a lackluster amount of armor and gear unless you want to drudge through said dungeons over & over again farming an RNG sim. The only way to get extra armor & weapons is by unlocking "secrets" one per dungeon at a time. I did the dungeons when not required for a quest totaling maybe 10+ extra times & received 2 helmets that suck and a chest "armor". A brigand poncho that is so bad I'd use it as a rug. The game only gives you one complete armor set to strive for that I found other than the starting kit. Hitting rng slot machines for armor pieces should not even be in a game & is complete laziness. I've found three separate pieces of armor, only one in the description lists other pieces for you to collect for a complete "set". Unless you want to needlessly grind for a complete set of "unique armor". One such set nets you a whopping 25 extra damage for a magic crossbow bolt, one ability, usable three times per dungeon before your deck hand needs to be refreshed. Your stock kit is the best you'll get all game, because you'll get swarmed so hard you'll need all the defense it provides. 30 extra health, physical armor and magic armor at the tier one upgrade. Oh and by the way, you get *no* stats for ALL the other armor pieces until you upgrade them. Phenomenal game design. Then there's the 4 different "skill trees" for dialogue that are partially used for some combat skills that are not requirements. It's main purpose is supposedly for interacting with characters. I wouldn't know, it only changed what I said, not the outcome in any way, shape or form. Oh & before I forget the "your choices matter" shtick. Yea I'd say I 80%'d the game, the mechanics of "world building" the game attempts to sell you on in the first 10 minutes, "what you do matters & you could get locked out of certain choices". Does. Not. Hold. Water. The game over emphasize's and hammers in your head for the first hour "Please listen to us, this game really has complex moral choices and dilemmas". I missed 1 character that was an optional side quest, I would have had to have gone out of my way to complete it. Fortunately in such an alive and responsive world it changed a whole lot with the outcome of the game. His absence changed nothing and influenced nothing as per "your choices matter, trust the science". At the end of the game It presented me with a choice to either 1: save Waikos, the main village or 2: go fight off the monster hordes to save the willow trees. believing I'm playing a true "your choices matter" & not the tell tale kind. I Had to reach a verdict and sacrifice one party. This took me 10 minutes to decide, I knew what had to be done. I chose the latter, to save my favorite apple trees, low and behold, EVERYONE in the village survives. Except maybe that side character I was told was so crucial I could miss key points in the plot, but oh well. The game even gives you a second chance to "save the village" after defending the trees successfully, but it kept infinite loading so I couldn't complete it. I chose to leave the village and continued my hunt to finish the game. No consequences for not helping them over the peach trees, nothing. The worst part by far is the overall theme that the game tries to play into. The game cannot decide if it wants to be a visceral & dark rpg like the witcher with kid like cartoon characters. Or a female fantasy adventure novel with violence sprinkled so mundanely, meaninglessly and thoughtlessly just so it can be labeled an "adult" product. The gore isn't so much viscera as it is a "splat" of blood & "parts". Review your bingo card for "it has violence simply to check a box for adult audiences". The first thing that turned my pattern recognition on was the trailer, it's not like trailers showcase the game, developers interests or anything, right? This game feels like it was made for women, by women and a "man" just so happened to have a generalized inclination on the direction it should go, that's it. Then the obvious gender identity politics of calling a "god" "they & their", in the first 5 minute intro, twice. The main theme the game plays into that agitated me consistently. Is how every single graphic, art choice, every character, every enemy, every thing about this game. Is like it was dunked in a feminine brain and then they said "lets make it gory and work a story around your funny mind, tee..hee...hee". The game is some asinine female fantasy world made with enough violence and "gripping world building" to hold a minuscule, inconsequential amount of attention from a man. It's a spit in the face of real games of which too few are even made, let alone thought of. The developers couldn't handle a shot of raspberry schnapps much less a game. This inability to cohesively seam the threads of this game leaks & reeks throughout the entire experience, because I dare say good man it definitely was one. Suffice to say, I wasn't too surprised when I reached the credits and found 5/6 of the devs are women. T.L.D.R. Tell tale game design: meaninglessness of choices, lackluster combat, irredeemable "world building", pathetic game design, & implementation, & it's presentation is deep as a pancake. A bizarre female fantasy that attempts to be adult, like if a child peaked inside one's mind & became traumatized, then made a game... wait a minute. It's coarse, rough and irritating, & it gets everywhere. Games, games everywhere, all of it an inedible pile of slop. All you ret@rds who like this have no standards, no dignity and no self respect. Acting like a bunch of sub humans.

Don’t let the cute animals and charming art style fool you! 😄 It’s actually a surprisingly challenging game that requires focus and careful play. Beautiful visuals, great atmosphere, and that “just one more try” kind of fun. I enjoyed it way more than I expected! 🌿✨

Fantastic game, should definitely have more people playing it than it has right now. The story, music, atmosphere, and characters are all incredibly well done and add to the overall vibe of the game. My only complaints are that the combat feels slightly wonky with weird hitboxes and lack of animations on the monsters attacks (sometimes I get hit and have literally no idea how). Other than that, amazing game.

This is a very charming little game with an adorable badger in it and you should give it a try! You might just end up liking it a lot!