Willow Guard Review
Lackluster action undermines the strong narrative of Willow Guard.
Willow Guard. MiTale
Willow Guard, developed and published by MiTale, aspires to blend narrative depth with action-packed gameplay in a dark fantasy world populated by anthropomorphized animals who were given agency and then abandoned by their gods. The player is Ghweros, a badger and Willowguard, who investigates mysterious monster attacks in Woikos, a remote village. While the premise is intriguing, the game's execution is decidedly mixed.
Willow Guard combines top-down 2D combat action with a choice-driven narrative. The story progresses through choice-based interactive fiction gameplay, as Ghweros speaks to characters he meets and gathers clues in point-and-click gameplay sections. The Inclination system assigns points to different aspects of Ghweros’ personality based on the player’s decisions, adding layers to the storytelling with its effects. The game's narrative is ambitious, with multiple endings as the world reacts to player choices.
Willow Guard. MiTale
Willow Guard. MiTale
While the story mechanics are enjoyable, the action gameplay is underwhelming, at best. Players customize an action deck of cards in a system that feels half-baked and tacked on to the real-time combat. The action pauses to let you pick from two drawn cards to assign to a button, interrupting the flow. Combat becomes repetitive and is uninteresting.
The game's visual presentation lacks polish overall. The pixel art graphics are dull and sometimes muddy, with some animations that feel stiff. However, the hand-drawn art during the narrative portions of the game makes the game’s fantasy setting feel unique and mysterious.
Willow Guard. MiTale
Willow Guard also features a Dungeon Run mode that focuses exclusively on combat. My impressions of the game’s repetitive combat made this mode unattractive. Honey Badger mode increases player stats after each death, offering a reprieve to players who struggle with the game’s difficulty curve.
Willow Guard strives to merge deep storytelling with hack-and-slash combat. While the narrative aspect of the game works, the action falls short and sours the experience, making the game unsatisfying overall.
Willow Guard is available now on Steam.
Overall Score: 5/10
Played on: Steam Deck
