The Wild at Heart (2021)

I think I first learned about The Wild at Heart in March of this year (2021). If it had been circulating on any game sites, I seemed to have missed any news about it before then. The art style and dual character nature of the game immediately reminded me of Knights & Bikes, a game I backed a few years back. Needless to say, it looked pretty and fun and I threw it on my list of most anticipated games.

I didn't have to wait long to get my hands on The Wild at Heart. Thanks to my decision to buy my first Xbox ever, and thanks to Game Pass, The Wild at Heart made it's way to my new console on day one. I was playing Mass Effect: Legendary Edition followed by Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart back to back in late May and early June, so I didn't get a chance to play The Wild at Heart at the time. So I did wait a bit before finally playing The Wild at Heart.

This game did not disappoint. It is beautiful, has a very simple but heartfelt story abut loss, grief and acceptance told through a fantastical tale that is probably best described as 2D Pikman with hand drawn art. The mechanics of hte game are very much borrowed from Pikman, with most actions conducted by giving commands to a group of forest spritelings. There are five different spriteling types, each with their own unique abilities. Some can cause plants to grow, others can make ice clones of their selves, while still others can set things on fire or break through certain substances or surfaces. Solving puzzles in the game is based on bringing the right spritelings to specific destinations.

The game has a day and night cycle, with increased hazards and difficulties to be found at night (the dark is bad!). A lot of the basic mechanics in the game can be found in other games (although the argument has been made that [The Wild at Heart] Out-Nintendos Nintendo), but The Wild at Heart mixes them effectively to create a fun action-puzzle hybrid.

The game also has a wonderful, sometimes heart wrenching story that starts with a young boy running away from home due to a difficult home environment. The game explores themes of death, loss, grief, anger and family (both blood and found) in effective ways. These sometimes difficult themes are balanced with a story of a magical forest in decline, and the efforts of two small children to save that forest and its inhabitants. Through the course of saving the forest, they also find ways to explore and come to terms their own emotional and familial challenges. While not everything is or can be neatly solved, the game provides enough hope to the young protagonists in a way that feels both real and encouraging.

I highly recommend picking up The Wild at Heart and giving it a chance. If you are a fan of adorable graphics, or heartwarming stories or even Pikman, this is a game you shouldn't miss. And if you have Game Pass, why haven't you already started?