|| REVIEW || Woven (PC)
Developed By : Alterego Games Published By : StickyLock Studios
Category : Indie, Adventure, Puzzle Release Date : November 15, 2019
Before even diving into this review, let's be honest with ourselves. Looking at the above image for Woven and taking into account the game's title, there's most likely one thing that jumps to the front of everyone's minds. At least it did for me, the moment I saw this game it was hard not to think of the Yoshi's Wooly/Crafted World games, especially since I had played one earlier this year. Naturally I knew the game wouldn't be delivering the same style experience, but my interest came more from how immersed the game would or wouldn't be in it's craft.
The game begins with you taking control of a broken elephant stuffed animal, Stuffy, wandering through a wide open land. Eventually you come across a small firefly named Glitch who is lost in the same land. Together you set out to explore and learn more about where you are, who each other are, and why you ended up in such a place.
The world around is a basically a giant puzzle, and you're the key to solving it all. There are a number of puzzles and obstacles to get in your way, and you'll need to find the things within the world itself to get around everything. You'll find various machines set up that require you manipulating small mechanical arms to play a tune, and once these are solved you'll acquire a new body type of a different animal.
These animal bodies will be what helps you navigate this new world. At different crafting stations, you are able to swap out individual pieces of Stuffy's body, which is helpful because each limb provides its own useful skill in the world. For example his original elephant legs will be heavy and capable of using a stomp for various reasons, while the rabbit legs you get later on will help you jump in certain places.
Other than changing pieces of Stuffy's body, you can also control the colors of those pieces. Scattered all over are various fabric colors that you can use Glitch to scan and copy for your own future use. For the most part, these can be used to just add your own flavor to your character, but occasionally there will be a need for them. For instance, a character may block your path until you color yourself to match their pattern.
Woven is definitely a very casual approach to a video game. There is no combat, and as far as I could tell no real way of even taking any damage. Instead your experience is entirely focused on exploration, puzzles, and a narrative that is relayed to you in rhyme. It's a very casual game, so it can easily be one that you see through right to the end in one serious gaming session, or it's very easy to dip in and out of for shorter sessions.
My one complaint about the game, isn't really a complaint at all even, it was more of an oddity. Stuffy's movement relies entirely on point-and-click style where you place your cursor somewhere off in the distance, and Stuffy struts his way over there in the shortest route possible. The odd thing about this is, to my recollection, this was the first game I have ever played that used this style of movement with an over-the-shoulder camera. It was very weird at first, but I soon came to enjoy this because I could set my destination marker far off the distance, then manually spin the camera while Stuffy embarked on the short journey.
If you're looking for an in-depth and complete game experience, Woven may not be for you. If you like the more casual approach, and especially if you have young ones that would either want to watch or play themselves, then this title should be a welcome fit for your library with it's cute visuals and sweet story.
The world around is a basically a giant puzzle, and you're the key to solving it all. There are a number of puzzles and obstacles to get in your way, and you'll need to find the things within the world itself to get around everything. You'll find various machines set up that require you manipulating small mechanical arms to play a tune, and once these are solved you'll acquire a new body type of a different animal.
These animal bodies will be what helps you navigate this new world. At different crafting stations, you are able to swap out individual pieces of Stuffy's body, which is helpful because each limb provides its own useful skill in the world. For example his original elephant legs will be heavy and capable of using a stomp for various reasons, while the rabbit legs you get later on will help you jump in certain places.
Other than changing pieces of Stuffy's body, you can also control the colors of those pieces. Scattered all over are various fabric colors that you can use Glitch to scan and copy for your own future use. For the most part, these can be used to just add your own flavor to your character, but occasionally there will be a need for them. For instance, a character may block your path until you color yourself to match their pattern.
Woven is definitely a very casual approach to a video game. There is no combat, and as far as I could tell no real way of even taking any damage. Instead your experience is entirely focused on exploration, puzzles, and a narrative that is relayed to you in rhyme. It's a very casual game, so it can easily be one that you see through right to the end in one serious gaming session, or it's very easy to dip in and out of for shorter sessions.
My one complaint about the game, isn't really a complaint at all even, it was more of an oddity. Stuffy's movement relies entirely on point-and-click style where you place your cursor somewhere off in the distance, and Stuffy struts his way over there in the shortest route possible. The odd thing about this is, to my recollection, this was the first game I have ever played that used this style of movement with an over-the-shoulder camera. It was very weird at first, but I soon came to enjoy this because I could set my destination marker far off the distance, then manually spin the camera while Stuffy embarked on the short journey.
If you're looking for an in-depth and complete game experience, Woven may not be for you. If you like the more casual approach, and especially if you have young ones that would either want to watch or play themselves, then this title should be a welcome fit for your library with it's cute visuals and sweet story.
Game Rating : 6.5 / 10
Pick up the game HERE on Steam
This game was played on PC (Steam)
This title is also available on :
Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Thank you AlterEgo Games for supplying the review code
