
And the only reason to do side quests like bounty hunts or finding lost cats is to earn more currency, and the amount gained is basically what you can earn by traveling around for about fifteen minutes or so.Įven Spritelings dying in the field isn’t a that big an issue, since the plants containing the seeds that grow them are nearby as well. Heck, most of them are even right next to your camps or nearby fast travel points. The game uses two types of currencies (one for purchasing items, and one for creating new Spritelings and increasing the amount that follow you), but items containing them are plentiful and respawn on a regular basis. There are some large items you need to grab with the Spritelings in order to gain access to shops, upgrades, and more, but purchasing items afterwards is astonishingly easy. Actually, most of The Wild at Heart’s side content arguably isn’t worth it. The only other reason to stay out at night that I could find are a few treasure chests that are only accessible then, but I decided they weren’t worth it, even if they did contain an ingredient needed for upgrades.

Seriously, please, we need to justify this feature.” The only reason I even saw them again during the previously-mentioned encounter is because of a huge rock which needed to be moved that basically said “Hey, are you willing to grind your until you can have seventy Spritelings follow you? If not, just show up at night with some of the Lunalings in tow instead, because they’re stronger when it’s night and can lift this thing quicker. It sounds intimidating at first, making you fear the idea of venturing out too far, but because the levels aren’t that big, it’s easy to just get back to one of your camps once sunset begins and the ominous music plays, sleep until the next morning, then immediately pick up where you left off. Case in point, the creatures that attack you at night. Whatever the case, there are way too many parts of it that felt pointless for various reasons. Getting straight to the point, while I liked The Wild at Heart overall, it seemed to suffer from what feels like either over-ambition, an overabundance of mechanics, a constant need to try and balance all aspects of possible difficulty out, something else or all of the above. And exploration is the name of the game, as you set out across several stunning bits of nature…but beware, for if you stay out when night falls, the Never’s minions will stalk you, hunt you, kill your Spritelings and deal serious damage to you…or don’t beware, because after a tense introduction in the beginning, I never encountered these enemies again for a good seven hours or so. In a way, it’s the classic metroidvania formula of picking up new skills that allow you to access and explore new places. You can discover more types of them as you progress, each with their own immunity, skills and specific obstacles that they can destroy.

These little critters can be flung at enemies to attack them, can smash known barriers, carry objects both big and small, and more. Luckily, the Spritelings are more than willing to help them. So Wake and Kirby eventually head out in search of three mystical artifacts in order to help the Greenshields.
#Way of the wild at heart free
Soon, they find themselves in a world known as the Deep Woods, home to the Greenshields, offbeat citizens such as a quirky collector of junk with a tea kettle on his head, a crazy cat lady, a man who only communicates with paper planes, and several adorable little creatures known as the Spritelings…oh, and a dark malevolent force known as the Never that threatens to erase the memories of everyone in the Deep Woods and eventually free itself even further, consuming everything. The Wild at Heart follows a pair of kids known as Wake and Kirby, who are preparing to run away from home and head out into the woods, channeling that classic fantasy many of us have had as youngsters. It’s an intriguing adventure with a colorful coating and a darker core with its own unique world, but is it also one for the ages or just a flop? Today’s example of such modern tales is The Wild at Heart, a Pikmin-esque fantasy action-adventure game from developers Moonlight Kids.

Regardless, generations grew up on these films and so we now have a ton of tales that evoke such adventures. Maybe we love to bring them up because their darkness makes them more interesting and deep, that they were mature and weren’t afraid to pull punches with their stories, contrasting with the more light-hearted action they showcase. We do like to talk about how classic childhood adventures are dark and traumatic, don’t we? Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, The Witches, Cloak and Dagger (if you want an example of one such adventure that was deliberately dark)…the list goes on.
