Developer: Moral Anxiety Studio
Publisher: Moral Anxiety Studio
Platforms: PC
Tested on: PC
Tales From Windy Meadow – Review
Sometimes all you need is some quiet time in a small village, or not? In Tales From Windy Meadow you are able to get the insights of three normal inhabitants and the effects of their decisions on each other and the town. Are you ready for these choices though?
Story
You travel to the calm town of Windy Meadow, a small community living in the woods and fields. Play the game as Vena, Fabel or Iudicia, each having their own set of problems to go through and answers you need to provide. After you’ve walked the path of all three narratives, you’re able to see the outcome of the several decisions you took and how the story evolves.
As this game is a visual novel, the story is one of the biggest aspects of the game. Truth be told, as this is the biggest drive to play the game, it felt rather shallow and unsatisfying. Ok, you are following the story of three people living in Windy Meadow, living a whole different era as what we know now, but it feels like it had a lot more potential. You’re through the game in about two to three hours and of course, you can always dive into the game again to see what other outcome(s) you can get but it doesn’t feel rewarding enough.
Graphics
The developers chose to take rather old-school retro graphics. It kind of fits with the setting, being thrown back a few decades in time. You’ll be able to follow a story in a 2D style, where the character sprites stand out against the environment. Don’t be worried though, the surroundings are rather detailed, with a variety of colors splashing on your monitor. The portraits are brushed up more, making it easier to relate to the characters. The facial expressions change with the mood of the conversation, which is a fun aspect in this type of graphics. There is also a map available for you to check, but as you are obliged to follow the visual novel and not wander off on your own, it kind of feels useless to have one.
Sound
Just like the graphics, the music fits the game and the story well. You’ll be hearing some nice soothing piano tones, perfect as a guide for the narrative. The only downside is that the same song is looped a lot, or a variation of this particular track. This makes that nice song become annoying rather fast as it’s just the same over and over. For the sound effects, they are missing too or so it feels at least. The immersion is lost a bit in this way, especially as there is no voice acting either. It feels like it is a bit lacking here.
Gameplay
Tales from Windy Meadow is a visual novel in its purest form. You follow the story of three inhabitants of the small village Windy Meadow. Some of these titles add sometimes some extra elements like point and click interactions or the need to find items to proceed the story, but you won’t find any of this in this game. The only thing you need to focus on, is the narrative and the choices you have to make. This will shape the future of the three protagonists and the ending of the story.
At the beginning, you can only choose three out of four stories. It doesn’t really matter which one you start with, as everything is combined in the last chapter, which will unlock after all previous ones have been completed. There are some elements to help you during the gameplay. You can choose to save and load at any time, fast forward if needed but also return and pick another choice if you have second guesses.
To be honest, this is all that there is to the game. In total you’ll be diving into this tale for about two to three hours and although you can go for another round afterwards, it just isn’t that engaging enough for you to keep your interest. Being a pure visual novel, the narrative should be grabbing you by the throat and not letting you go but the grip really isn’t that strong.
Conclusion
Tales from Windy Meadow has three stories for you. The gameplay isn’t more than clicking through the story and making choices and although the graphics will take you down memory lane, the available music isn’t that entertaining. If you really like visual novels without much extra fuss, retro graphics and old-school music then you might want to give Tales From Windy Meadow a try but it will only keep you busy for a few hours.
Tales From Windy Meadow - Review,
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