Winter Voices Episode 2: Nowhere of me Review

It’s New Year’s Eve, everybody! I’m sure you’ll agree there’s no better way to celebrate than to consider the episodic progression of strange indie RPG Winter Voices: a game about a girl with a dead dad. You might remember me posting a review of the game some time ago (have a look). It was a very mixed experience for me as, while the starkly unique take on the genre was brilliant, much of the actual gameplay wasn’t. What must be remembered, though, is that Winter Voices is episodic. It’s still happening. Unlike the “in the next couple of years” approach Valve seems so keen on, Beyondthepillars are churning these out at a good rate. This means my judgement of the series is already out of date, so it’s only fair to take another look.

The interestingly titled, or perhaps translated, new episode is “Nowhere of me”. We rejoin our mopey, borderline-psychotic heroine as she prepares to traverse an especially desolate wasteland. As the story goes, harsh weather has rendered the main routes impassable, so you’re forced to take a long-forgotten path. At the chapter’s opening, Winter Voices’ cleverly subtle difficulty slider pops up. You’re given a choice of several different routes, varying in their distance and exposure to the elements. What it seems to boil down to is: ‘how hard do you want this to be?’ Much like the intriguingly double-edged ‘memory’ mechanic, this allows the player to dictate the level of challenge, without forcing the unbridled shame of ‘easy mode’ upon them.

Disappointingly, where Beyondthepillars seem to have recognised the strength of their game in one respect, they’ve plunged both hands into a separate, gaping, issue and metaphorically goatse’d the fuck out of it. You see, previously I’ve been very impressed with the lengths Winter Voices goes to in integrating gameplay and storyline. The humour attribute allows you to shrug off emotional attacks, etc etc. It’s charming, and it’s very well done. This put me in a surprisingly tolerant mood when it came to sections of extended combat. As I said in the main review, fights often feel mind-numbingly dragged out and unfair. Every game has its issues, though, and while this was a fairly big one, there was still enough to like.

The new episode’s premise is an arduous trek and this typically translates such hardships into combat. Lots and lots of combat. As it downloaded, I felt hesitant. I was right too. Nowhere of me forces you to empathize with the character a little too much. It feels like an endless cycle of walking to the edge of the map, travelling some distance, being attacked in your sleep, waking up and doing it again. I assume it ended at some point, or I wouldn’t be writing this now. Unfortunately, several hours of often-awful combat and little else left me weary and dazed, as if I had made the journey. Perhaps this is actually an example of mind-blowing storytelling; though, when I apply the same to something else -let’s say Trainspotting- it seems pretty shit in the way I wasn’t forcing a needle through my eyeball afterwards.

Admittedly unfair hyperbole aside, Nowhere of me is a generally bad experience – even when it seems to be trying. Fairly often, the game’s combat is mixed up by the inclusion of puzzle-like gimmicks – teleportation pads, taking the form of a spirit, that sort of thing. Unfortunately, they’re a little too perplexing, some requiring very specific actions to progress, while also explaining very little. This naturally leads to the dissolution of mental challenge in favour of zombified trial and error. Irritating still is that the less tiresome, straightforward, encounters don’t seem to have advanced much at all. It’s either going to be ‘survive for X amount of turns’ or run a slow-paced gauntlet to the exit.

In a depressingly appropriate compliment, I felt this episode had a distinct lack in polish – an issue not nearly as prevalent in previous instalments. Certain combat abilities seemed to simply not work; instead treating me to what I can only assume is a floating French error message. I encountered a few other bugs, as well as some pretty noticeable spelling mistakes. While I appreciate the developers are both French and independent, this is particularly irksome when you’re already running low on forgiveness.

Yes, I certainly feel this is Winter Voice’s low point. However, it seems wrong to end the year on a totally negative note. As ever, the sound work was excellent; this time adding some notably different, yet fitting, new tracks. Where the audio has been consistently superb, I’m sad to say the story hasn’t followed suit. I felt Nowhere of me added little in the way of new information or drive, instead further muddying already ambiguous waters with yet more dream-like ramblings. At this point, I’m uncertain whether the tale is still one of introspective metaphor, or is indeed veering off into the dreary realms of fantasy. I certainly hope the prior, though it’s increasingly difficult to tell.

Nowhere of me’s focus on a difficult journey ultimately resulted in what’s little more than a series of repetitive, laborious combat sequences. One of my favourite aspects of the previous instalments is the bizarrely tense nature of the dialogue – it’s written in a way that makes everything feel as if you’re missing something; as if something is dreadfully wrong, but who knows what? Think – David Lynch. Without social context, the writing appears to drift aimlessly from one chunk of half-developed symbolism to another. Nothing major feels resolved or revealed – though I did level up!

In a U-turn of Nick Clegg proportions, I have to say I’m really looking forward to the next episode. Infuriatingly, Nowhere of me waited until the very last minute to introduce my first human companion – a stoic hunter willing to accompany you to a sizable village close-by. Not only does this suggest the possibility of a new party dynamic (prior to this, it was just me and a crow), but also plenty of brilliantly awkward interactions within the approaching town. Don’t get me wrong, though – next time it’s make or break. The charm is wearing off fast, things beginning to feel predictable. If Beyondthepillars are content to follow this formula, I’m not sure I’ll see the series through. However, what is promised of the next episode leaves me tentatively intrigued.