Witch Strandings
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Critic Reviews for Witch Strandings
Witch Strandings is a simple yet fascinating game that manages to build a world and make you care about it with little detail at all.
Witch Strandings is odd in the best possible way, with an esoteric story and unique gameplay and visuals that - for the most part - work very well.
My struggles with Witch Strandings are not of its simplicity, but that of lack of depth. Witch Strandings is not meant to be Death Stranding, part two. Instead, it's meant to be a simplified and more desolate interpretation of a "strand-type" game. The gameplay loop is so simple, all you need is a mouse; you will be wishing that your keyboard will have a greater purpose. Sure, the characters are well-written (albeit needier than I without my morning coffee), the atmosphere is moody and melancholy, and the core (rather, single) gameplay loop leaves the player to assume that they have only one purpose. However, I feel that Witch Strandings could do with another layer of complexity and depth, be it lore-driven or gameplay-driven, to bolster its attempt at experimenting with an already experimental genre. I do not consider Witch Strandings to be a fun in its current state (nor do I consider Death Stranding to be fun, either). Witch Strandings is an intriguing experiment that underdelivers on complexity but excels in atmospheric emulation and simple gameplay. I cannot help but want more from Witch Strandings, and I hope that Strange Scaffold continues to build on this experiment.
Taking after fairy tales, Witch Strandings manages to tell a predictable story in unpredictable ways. It can often be painful to play but the experience is one I won't forget soon. Witch Strandings is a game I'm glad exists, even if I'm not sure I enjoyed it all that much.
When you set out to make something truly unique, you may find that what you make simply isn't for everyone. Even with the short couple of hours it takes to reach one of the game's endings, I find it hard to completely recommend this to everyone. It's weird, it's abstract, and it asks more of you than you'd expect. But for the weirdos who are seeking something brand new, willing to overlook some moments of stagnancy, and are open to embracing the love of helping your fellow neighbor, Witch Strandings is worth experiencing. And if you aren't a weirdo, why'd you just read 1500 words about a "strand game?"
An intriguing and novel take on Hideo Kojima's Strand ideas, Witch Strandings is a bubbling cauldron of magic and menace about saving or suffocating a haunted forest and its woodland inhabitants.
