The Wild at Heart Review

Moonlight Kids are on to something with The Wild at Heart. It’s a journey of getting through grief, opening communication, and understanding the life that is going on around you. There is so much here, and it all starts with the story but ends with pleasant and clever gameplay.

Welcome to The Wild at Heart. You’re going on a journey with this one.

Let’s get right into it.

Story, puzzles, and cute sprites
The Wild at Heart is anything but basic. The devs at Moonlight Kids have done an incredible job of mixing together a meaningful story with a heavy amount of adventure, action, and puzzles. The combination of everything is something remarkable and it really does all begin with the story.

The story follows a runaway named Wake, who is angry, alone, and convinced that there is nothing for him at home. Frustrated and fed up, Wake goes on an adventure into the woods to meet up with his friend, another runaway, in hopes of finding a new life where people care about him and know that he is there, and more importantly worth something. Along the way to a new life, Wake runs into a strange sprite, who drags him into a destiny-driven journey that leads him to a mysterious figure named Grey Coat, a person embedded in nature. Grey Coat needs Wake’s help to undo some broken paths and put balance back into the forest before it’s too late. Wake’s journey leads him through dangerous territories, frightening foes, and across a land that is horribly shattered and waiting for his help.

There are so many parallels between what is happening to Wake in the real world and what is happening in the forest that is in desperate need of his help. It’s a helluva fun story to see unfold, and it’s a long adventure, and it might even make you feel the feels.

The gameplay in The Wild at Heart is driven by the story, which means you only get what the story wants you to have. That’s not a terrible path, though slightly linear by design. Definitely a design that won’t appease all gamers, but nonetheless a design that was meticulously planned to follow along with the story. In my opinion, an appropriate design, although you will have limited moments of non-linear journey-ing. I always lean towards a positive experience when the story has its hooks in the gameplay. That usually means the developers worked hard to make the story meaningful. Usually, not always. In The Wild at Heart, the story is very meaningful.

Anyway, the main mechanic of the gameplay starts with groups of unique sprites that follow you around. These tiny creatures have certain functions. For example, the initial wood sprites that you get at the beginning of the game can take down barriers, destroy poisonous mushrooms, and attack basic enemies. You get them to do these things by throwing them towards the items of appropriate interest. If you throw them close to the items, they’ll begin to function the way they need to against them (hitting, destroying, collecting). There are some obstacles in the game that require different sprites with alternate attributes. For example, the next set of sprites you’ll get in the game are fire sprites, which can knock down flaming barriers, burn down vines, and pretty much react to anything fire-related. They can also do some basic functions of the wood sprites, though they cannot attack mushrooms or poisonous creatures – that is unique to the wood sprites. Getting the gist here? The sprites are the main mechanic in the game, and they play into far more than just throwing them at enemies.

The secondary gameplay element which both Wake (and his friend you’ll meet later) and the sprites play into is puzzle solving. You will run into different puzzles that are landscape-based meaning that you must get to a certain part of the map but have obstacles in front of you to get around. These obstacles could be gates, they could be broken mechanisms, they could be large bosses, or they could be multi-tiered puzzles that require many steps to get passed. Using the sprites and Wake (and eventually his friend) are the only ways to solve these environmental riddles. For example, you may have to throw sprites onto a ledge, keep them there, go to a different part of the map, open a gate, and then retrieve the sprites to stand on a mechanism to open yet another gate. The puzzles get more complex as the story begins to unfold, and the puzzles sometimes become so complicated that you must take a break to contemplate a solution. The difficulty of the puzzles is gradual and appropriately so. There was never a moment in the game that I felt overwhelmed, rather usually just baffled by the puzzle’s complexity, which was usually easily remedied after I thought about it. In short, the puzzles were great, and I always felt like I was near a solution.

Anyway, the balanced mixture of the variety of sprites, the puzzle-ridden maps, and a tightly knit story made for a gratifying gameplay experience.

Collecting is a secondary gameplay experience
The additional joy of this game that becomes a secondary gameplay experience is the collecting aspect. The Wild at Heart features breaking down surrounding nature and the occasional trash bag to gain parts, hatchable sprite eggs, glowing orbs, and a slew of different items you can combine to create fun/dangerous goodies. You will spend a fair amount of time collecting in this game, which might not be your cup of tea, but quickly can become an addictive gameplay element. There is so much to this part of the gameplay, so let’s break a few of these parts down.

The glowing orbs and mechanical parts are the two forms of currency in this game. The orbs come from giant glowing vegetables. If you break them open, you will find orbs and/or sprites eggs. The orbs translate to more sprites. The sprite eggs can be hatched at various camping spots in the game in exchange for the glowing orbs. Gradually throughout the game, you will grow the number of sprites you can carry at one time, which translates back to collecting more sprite eggs and orbs. The more sprites you have, the better/easier the game is going to be for you. The different types of sprites you carry with you will determine what obstacles you get past. Again, everything really dances together in this game.

The collectible parts are the second form of currency. The parts afford you different types of items, allow you to purchase upgrades to sprites, new items, and allow you to build the main town up as you progress through the story. The parts can be found in trash bags, can be extracted from windmills, and can be found within toolboxes laying around the entire forest map, which is huge by the way.

If all the above in this section doesn’t tantalize you, then how about crafting? The crafting in The Wild at Heart is simple in function, but unpredictable in final results. This means you can mix and match parts and items found (pop rocks, crystals, mushrooms – and more) and produce food, weapons, or just a stinky vial of bleh. If you like crafting and aren’t expecting a Fallout-esque crafting experience, then you’ll enjoy this part of the game.

The gameplay is far more than what you would expect from a game priced at $24.99. It really is a steal when you see how much thought and design was put into this title.

The night is fine, but it does drag the gameplay a bit
The night is your recurring enemy in this game, where bad things (creepy Planktin-looking baddies) come out to find you and your sprites. If they touch the main character(s), it is an instant kill, and the characters will fall over, wake up in the closest camp, and must start that part of the journey over again (save and save often, kids). If the baddies touch sprites, it’s a sad moment. Your only remedy to these bad things is to simply get back to a camp and sleep until morning. While I get the ‘bad things’ purpose in the overall story, they are highly annoying especially when you’re on a roll during the game. The annoying part? When going to sleep you must put your sprites up for the night. You must retrieve them through a menu when Wake wakes. It slows down the gameplay and is overall an unnecessary step in the game. It’s briefly like walking through mud. Now, did Moonlight Kids do this to ensure you wouldn’t beat this game in 3 hours? Maybe, as it certainly breaks up the gameplay and slows the speed of the game down, giving it an even-paced feel. But since it fits the story, it does make sense overall.

This is a minor complaint that is more of an annoyance than a game-breaker. It will regretfully sit at the back of your mind while you are juggling puzzles and collecting/crafting items. Maybe that is by design, but I’m not in love with this looming recurring set of enemies.

Plenty of substance to be had
In the end, The Wild at Heart is just a great game to play. The developers at Moonlight Kids were mindful of the gameplay balance between mechanics and story. They did a wonderful job of presenting everything they wanted and taking the gamer along their journey with a melancholy sense of wonderment. In addition to this delightful mixture, you get some incredible art that brings home the emotions of what is trying to be conveyed and pushes along a heavy narrative that is given to you in small doses instead of large gulps. It’s a gorgeous game with a lot of layers.

Conclusion
Moonlight Kids have a hit on their hands with The Wild at Heart. It brings a strong narrative, some clever puzzles, and enough of an endearing journey to make it one of the better releases this holiday season on the PlayStation.