Willow Guard

A little indie gem for narrative RPG lovers that gives Witcher 3 vibes. The story unfolds in a non-linear way, making you wonder if you made the right choice. The characters are interesting and well written. Combat can be a bit frustrating at times, but is made captivating by the card mechanics that always gives it a twist. So far, I absolutely recommend it!

Combat and story start off basic to put you in a false sense of security. Not long after its much more complex. it has some good ideas and is well thought out. The story feels like a good novel. The more unravels the farther you get into it. Day 1 i felt was too easy. Then i went out at night on day 2 and died a lot. Excited to see where things go. Will update upon completion.

A small hack and slash story focused game with animal monster hunters. Choices do feel like they matter and you can tell a lot of love went into this game and its lore. The criticisms on the gameplay are valid as cycling through tools needed to solve puzzles and also running out of specific tools is an issue. EX: I crafted magical fire arrows by combining my magical arrows and fire materials. I had thought "magical fire arrows" would count as both magical and fire in terms of solving puzzles that require "magical" arrows. This was NOT the case and I was soft locked out of some puzzles because I no longer had "magical" arrows. This meant I had to go through most of the game without magical arrows to complete certain puzzles until I RNG rolled another set of the magical arrow crafting card. Near the end game. There was also a strange bug that locked me out of equipping items / abilities. This meant I was locked out of completing certain puzzles. This was after I unlocked full willow guard gear, so not sure if that set's passive was causing issues? Even with all the bugs and issues, this game is still worth a play through as the characters are cool & cute and the story was pretty good.

Willow Guard Review: Willow Guard is an unusual game that blends several genres while placing a strong emphasis on narrative and atmosphere. Story and World: The game makes an emphasis on the story and characters. The world isn’t overly large, and there aren’t many characters to interact with, but the interactions that do exist are surprisingly deep (the gameplay mechanics for world and character interactions somewhat resemble classic quest games). Over time, you grow attached to the locations and characters, getting to know them better, which creates a pleasant sense of "coziness." At first, the game might feel text-heavy—the opening hours can be overwhelming with the sheer amount of information and dialogue, especially if you're not used to a lot of reading. (PS: This game is for those who enjoy reading.) Gameplay and Combat: The combat system is a mixed bag. On one hand, character controls are smooth and responsive—it feels good to move your hero around. On the other hand, the battles themselves sometimes feel either too easy or suddenly too difficult, especially in tight spaces where enemies can kill you in seconds. The difficulty often feels inconsistent, disrupting the sense of steady progression. Additionally, the number of enemies can sometimes become excessive—they attack in hordes, which make it nearly impossible to avoid damage.(PS: This is clearly not a game for those seeking perfectly balanced action or an easy playthrough). That said, I have to give credit where it’s due—building and upgrading your character is engaging, and thanks to creating an overpowered build, I managed to push through the toughest late-game battles. Another minor annoyance is that monsters in combat zones respawn every in-game day, sometimes forcing you to clear the same areas. This may start to feel like unnecessary padding by the second half of the game, even with some elements of procedural generation in the combat locations. Verdict: Willow Guard is far from perfect. It has rough edges, questionable design choices, and balance issues. Yet despite all that, it remains an engaging experience, leaving behind more pleasant memories than frustration. So yes, I’d recommend it.

Willow Guard is an interesting game that combines elements of dungeon crawlers, action RPGs, deck-builders, and visual novels. The story is presented in a visual novel style, where the player can choose where to go, who to talk to, make dialogue choices, and observe surroundings for clues and extra lore. Some of these actions progress the time of day, while others can only be performed during specific times—day, evening, or night amplifying the "choices matter" aspect of the game. Certain actions also require that you've discovered a specific clue, item, or spoken to a particular character, further enhancing (or at least providing the illusion of) meaningful choice. During combat, the player enters a semi-randomly generated dungeon to face numerous monsters. Instead of traditional leveling, the game allows the player to draw cards that grant various bonuses, items, spells, and skills. These bonuses reset each time the player enters a dungeon or dies. Unfortunately, the deck-building aspect feels somewhat limited, as the game is quite stingy with card variety and makes it challenging to find, create, or upgrade new cards. The same applies to the equipment system; aside from the starting gear, there are only a handful of items available to equip. This limitation hurts the game's replayability, as most playthroughs will involve players using very similar decks and equipment. Combat itself feels satisfying, with fluid and responsive controls. Hacking and slashing enemies is accompanied by ample feedback through gory animations and sound effects. However, it can take some time to adjust to the game's large hitboxes and hurtboxes when navigating, attacking, and dodging. Most enemy attacks are heavily telegraphed, making them relatively easy to avoid when encountered in small numbers. Given this, it's a shame that the game includes many underutilized mechanics, such as the equipment system, set items, traps, and other environmental hazards. Even the semi-randomized dungeon layouts feel underdeveloped, as the dungeons have a limited variety of rooms. With so many beautiful 2D indie games available, the visuals in Willow Guard leave much to be desired. The visual novel sections feature a children’s book-inspired style, though somewhat amateurish in execution. . The dungeon-crawling sections, on the other hand, suffer from a lack of refinement—washed-out colors, weak outlines, and uneven highlights detract from the overall appeal. Combined with the perspective, this occasionally makes it difficult to distinguish interactable objects, destructible items, walls, and accessible areas. That said, the visuals are at least consistent enough throughout the game and may grow on players, becoming less of a concern as they progress. Despite its flaws, Willow Guard manages to be a fun and enjoyable experience, thanks largely to its fluid combat, interactive story, and visual novel elements. The game also has significant potential for growth, with future updates hopefully addressing and fleshing out its underutilized mechanics.

enjoying this one. it's got witcher vibes and some wonderful charm. the dialogue is especially well written. the combat is incredibly fun

Excellent art, story, world building, and you play as the adorable badger [strike] Geralt [/strike] Ghweros. Combat is fun, fluid, sometimes hectic, with a neat deck building mechanic.

This is a cute game, I love the art style and the gameplay. I haven't spent a lot of time in-game yet but I can tell that this is going to be a great game when I finish.

So, I've been waiting for this game to finally come out for more than two years now. Had the pleasure of playing it in very different states, and I love to see how it all came together in the end. Can't pinpoint it but the both the art style (you gotta love a "badger witche"!!) and way of how the story is told, including the observe and clues feature is integrated, feel a bit like being transported to when I played "The Dark Eye", both pen and paper and the old games. So yeah, nostalgia's speaking, and that might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm genuinely enjoying it. Gameplay-wise, I like the integration of the card/perk system into the generally basic combat design (especially compared to early versions), but it does what it's supposed to do really well. Again, surely not up everyone's alley, but I'm glad I can finally check out the whole game and see where the story's taking me :) Great job!

After having just beaten Willow Guard, my experience with the game can be summited by "Missed Chances" The game is on a very strict timer, you only have so many days to burn through before the end game is upon you, and it is exceptionally easy to reach that point woefully unprepared. Throughout your adventure you will be teased by various puzzles that you lack the resources to attempt. It is next to impossible to anticipate which puzzles just require more in game progress to unlock, and which will vanish the moment you complete a "dungeon" never to be accessible again. There are also many barriers that require specific elemental cards to be in your deck in order to unlock them; fire for the vines, magic for purple force fields, and explosives for cracks in the walls. You are not informed in game that you are able to pass these barriers until near the very end of the game, at which point all of your chances to access those earlier missed opportunities are well and truly gone. If you don't know ahead of time what items you will need for each dungeon, you will miss out on content. If you dont start certain quest lines in time, you will also be locked out of their content (namely the main four allies, the fox, the shrew, the badger, and I assume the elk, though in my playthrough I apparently failed to save him. Though Im not sure why as his quest was the first I attempted, but perhaps theres more to it than what I am aware of. One barrier I NEVER learned how to pass are the mysterious locked gates that shine green when struck, but perhaps they require acid elements to open. I had obtained a key at some point in my quest, but no matter who I showed it to, it never led to anything, and having it on my person did nothing. I assume all of these are intentional design choices, perhaps to get players to feel like trying another run at the game after beating it the first time, but right now all I feel is disappointment. If I was to change any one thing, I would suggest adding an interactable object in dungeons, perhaps a campsite, that would allow players to change out their equipment without having to completely abandon their progress once they hit a dead end. I would also suggest informing players about the importance of their elemental cards much much earlier in the game, rather than close to the end of the game, where the information is practically useless. Otherwise, I liked the story, wish there was more to talk to the NPCs about, especially the bard who never contributed anything in my playthrough. The combat was also well done, and did not get stale at any point.