The Fernweh Saga: Book One

I first came across this IF back in late 2022, where I tried out the demo and I remember enjoying it, but sadly I kind of fell out of interactive fiction as a whole until earlier this year. After being reminded of this IF via a post on tumblr, I decided to look into it and was surprised to find that book one had been finished and was now available to purchase. So, I took the plunge and I have to say: I am so thrilled I did. [b]The quick review[/b]: It's one of my all-time faves now, and if you like: small town mysteries, spooky forests, unnerving atmospheres, and a touch of the supernatural, you'll enjoy The Fernweh Saga. It's a hefty read, and I think people who tend to play IF's by skim-reading might be turned off by the length, but I still encourage you to give it a shot! [b]The longer review[/b]: The author describes this as a sort of "slow-build horror" and I couldn't agree more! While there is definitely a strong sense of disquiet and uneasiness right from the beginning, I'll admit, there's also a very cozy aspect about this story for me; I know there's something dark lurking, but by the end of book one, Fernweh felt like home to me. I might be a little biased, because this type of story is right up my alley, but the author does a fantastic job of setting a scene and building atmosphere. I often find in IF's that authors can sometimes fall into a trap of either skimping on the details, or spending too much time trying to describe everything without really saying anything of important, but I think this author finds happy medium. I understand that for some, the length of this IF might be a turn-off. For me, it was a selling point; again, I get that this is subjective and a lot of readers would rather get to the action quicker, or prefer to skim-read to get to the romance bits. Nothing wrong with that, but just know going in that this is a hefty one. I found the prose to be well-done and engaging, so reading through wasn't a problem for me, but it might turn others off. If you're on the fence, give the demo a try before buying. As stated by the author, this is a romance driven series and there's something here for everyone, I think. The player can decide the gender of each RO (which I vaguely remember being a topic of mild discourse a few years back, when I was highly active in the IF community, but is a choice I don't have a problem with since it means everyone can enjoy the RO of their choice) and I've gone through all of them, with my favorites being: J, B, S, and W. There's also a poly option, between J and R, for those who are interested! Even setting aside the romance, each character feels fleshed out and unique; I loved reading their interactions, both with one another and with the MC, as well as the various side-characters who pop up throughout the story. Just as Fernweh began to feel like my home, these characters began to feel like friends... or, maybe not friends, in some cases! I also really appreciated the use of a checkpoint system. You don't have to use it, but I'm someone who really enjoys messing around with choices, so it was nice to play a chapter and then go back to the beginning of said chapter to see different outcomes. It's something I wish more IF's would implement, especially since these games often don't have a save feature in the full releases and not everyone has time to go back through a game entirely. All in all, I think this is a gem of an IF. I vaguely remember a few people comparing it to another supernatural-romance IF, Wayhaven, but aside from a few surface level similarities, I don't think they're all that alike. And I'm saying this as someone who also enjoys the Wayhaven series. Again, try the demo, and if you like it, please play the whole thing! The author is already making headway into the second book, and I for one cannot wait to see what's in store!