No matter what issues I might have had playing, it’d be downright [i]stupid[/i] to deny [b]just how insanely impressive Wordless Forest is.[/b] Here we got a wholly original [i]choose-your-own-adventure[/i] style game, [i]made by just one guy[/i], built up [i]entirely[/i] out of live action footage, [b]all filmed by that said guy[/b], where he basically took a two month camping trip to film everything; doing all his own stunts, whether that be eating bird eggs or [i]climbing up a cliff without a safety harness.[/i] The sheer dedication to the project [b]alone[/b] has earned my recommendation; and [i]thankfully[/i], the game has plenty more to offer on top of that!
Now, if you’ve ever played a Telltale game or a Dark Pictures game before, [i]you should feel right at home here.[/i] [b]Wordless Forest[/b] more or less plays out like a [b]movie[/b], where you’re watching your character do things on screen, only every couple of minutes you’ll be prompted to pick [b]one[/b] out of [b]two options. [i]You hear a noise in the dark. Do you get out of your sleeping bag and go see what it is? Or do you just stay where you are and hope it goes away?[/i] [/b] hmmmmm [i]decisions decisions.[/i] The storytelling here is [i]pretty darn good.[/i] You learn so much about your character, what he’s good at, how he sees the world and nature around him, [i]all without a line of dialogue.[/i] And the little bits of remembrance and PTSD flashbacks scattered throughout showing how he even got here are sold [i]very well.[/i] Obviously, if you’re familiar with these types of games, [i]you know there’s really only two ways to play them.[/i] You COULD try to make the right choices and see the story through; or you could… [i]y’know,[/i] [b]make your character into the biggest idiot ever and turn every move into a living nightmare.[/b] And [b]Wordless Forest[/b] is pretty satisfying in [i]both regards.[/i] First playthrough, I was all [b]serious stuff; no nonsense, [i]just business.[/i] [/b] But then [i]the second time around[/i], I was like “….y’know, I want to see what happens if I fall off this cliff”. “[i]what happens if I intentionally mess up the coordinates and go miles the opposite direction[/i]”, “[b]what happens if I eat this old sandwich covered in flies[/b]” (I’ll tell you what happened; [i]I barfed it up a minute later[/i]). It’s not as entertaining as something like [b]an all fail run of Heavy Rain[/b], but it’s still a lot of fun; which I think is the real mark of a good [i]choose your own adventure[/i] game. You’re having a good time regardless of if you even care what’s going on or not. [i]Hold on, let me eat my sandwich real quick.[/i]
If there’s [i]anything[/i] that you should take away from [b]Wordless Forest[/b], [i]it should probably be[/i] [b]holy heck Dogus Cagrici [i]you are a mad man[/i] [/b]; as just watching the staggering amount of dangerous and [i]quite frankly[/i] [b]disgusting[/b] things this guy does for the sake of [i]our[/i] entertainment is [i]weirdly respectable.[/i] Bro really just caught a fish and [i]no hesitation[/i] [b]took a big bite out of it [i]raw.[/i] [/b] You know, one of those movie star celebrity bros [i]probably would’ve had a stunt double or made it CGI or [b]whatever kinda computer crap[/b] [/i], but nah, our man was just like [b]finally some good frickin’ food.[/b] Maybe I’m trying to make this sound too funny, but I really am impressed at how much work Mr. Cagrici here did to film everything; how many miles he had to hike, all the cliffs he climbed, and [i]especially[/i] [b]the absolute agony that is [i]the river scene.[/i] [/b] But I think it all paid off very well; [b]Wordless Forest looks [i]incredible.[/i] [/b] The scenery is nicely varied; going through the woods one moment, sneaking through a cave the next, before viewing a sunset on top of a mountain. The camera work is (usually) [i]excellent[/i], especially with the overhead shots and longtakes; and the first person bodycam footage during the action is [i]crazy cool.[/i] Our main character may not have a name or anything to say, but [i]he still feels very believable[/i]; and you gotta love some of the running jokes [i]like how impossibly hard it is to start a fire[/i] “the old fashioned way” [b]by rubbing sticks.[/b] Plus, this world [i]just feels so real and alive...[/i] [b]because it is[/b]; which sounds like a dumb thing to compliment, but [i]look at the other games I mentioned.[/i] As much as I like the [b]Dark Pictures Anthology[/b] and similar titles, they keep trying to do the same thing of being [b]practically photo-realistic[/b], and time after time [b]they just end up with Polar Express with RTX on.[/b] They look insanely real, [i]sure[/i]; but there’s still something [i]that just feels… [b]off.[/b] [/i] It’s the little things of nature, like the leaves and grass rustling after each footstep, or the way the branches bend when you push them out of the way, or the bugs buzzing all around doing their thing [i]unscripted[/i], that I think big budget [b]Triple A[/b] could never fully replicate, and that something like [b]Wordless Forest [i]does so effortlessly. [/i] [/b]Amazing production; [i]hope there were no lasting injuries.[/i]
I started this review by saying I had a couple of issues, [i]did I not?[/i]...[b]let’s talk about those now.[/b] One of the biggest, most obvious problems with [b]Wordless Forest[/b] is that [i]it’s really short for an interactive movie game.[/i] I beat it first try [b]good ending[/b] (I think) [i]in only about [b]fifty minutes.[/b] [/i] That leads to my next problem; [i]despite playing again[/i] and basically picking the [b]opposite[/b] of what I did last time, [b]I somehow got the same ending again[/b]. Now, granted, I [i]did[/i] see new paths and did get to do some things I didn’t see before; but considering I went the [b]complete other way[/b] in some of the most pivotal moments ([b]follow the trail of sticks VS follow the trail of pawprints[/b]), [i]I’m really surprised it somehow just circled around again.[/i] A good number of choices didn’t really seem to matter in the long run. I used that [b]noise in the dark[/b] example earlier, and the funny thing about that one is that [i]no matter what you pick there[/i], both sides will eventually switch to the same exact morning scene. (and besides, [i]the noise was just coming from random acorns falling off a tree. [b]so lame![/b] [/i]). This might be an instant turn off to some people, but I should probably point out that [b]Wordless Forest[/b] uses (very [i]very [b]very little[/b] [/i]) Al generated material; and while the director/actor/developer/[i]everything[/i] has said that all of the footage is 100% real and that he only used Al a couple of times to make some photographic props, [i]it still makes me wonder[/i]...[b]why?[/b] like, you couldn’t take a video of a [b]real[/b] dog playing with a squeaky toy? [i]or even find a stock video?[/i] Some of the editing can feel kind of choppy, with a couple of the [i]really[/i] quick cuts making me feel a little sick. (nothing I can’t handle; I just don’t like fast motion and shaky cam), but now I feel like I’m getting nitpicky. [i]Most of it is good[/i], and [b]maybe I just have skill issues.[/b]
Maybe it’s too short, maybe some of the choices really don’t lead anywhere, [i]maybe the ending routes can be a little too obscure[/i], but at the end of the day, [b]I don’t care. Wordless Forest[/b] is one of the most unique games I’ve played all year, and [i]it’s definitely worth the price of ten bucks.[/i] The stories, both in the game itself [i]and[/i] the behind the scenes of how it was made, [i]are really compelling[/i]; the gimmick of having no dialogue was done [i]surprisingly well[/i]; and [i]honestly[/i] it’s just a very beautiful game to look at. [b]Almost makes me want to get off the computer and try going outside for once...[/b] nah, maybe tomorrow.
