The Wanderer: Frankenstein’s Creature
- October 30, 2019
- ARTE France
- 2h median play time
Get on Steam"The Wanderer: Frankenstein's Creature" is a narrative adventure game that lets you explore the world through the perspective of Frankenstein's creature. The game offers a unique take on the classic novel, allowing players to make choices that shape the creature's understanding and interaction with the world. Through rich, hand-painted visuals and a haunting soundtrack, players will delve into themes of acceptance, hostility, and persecution.
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Reviews
- The game features stunning hand-painted visuals and an enchanting soundtrack that beautifully complement the narrative.
- It offers a unique and emotional retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, allowing players to explore the creature's perspective and make impactful choices.
- The experience is immersive and poignant, with a strong emphasis on themes of isolation and longing, making it a memorable artistic journey.
- The gameplay is minimal and often feels clunky, with slow pacing and awkward interactions that can detract from the overall experience.
- Some players found the puzzles to be overly simplistic and the mini-games to be poorly integrated, leading to a lack of engagement.
- The game is relatively short, which may leave some players feeling that it doesn't provide enough content for its price.
- story50 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game offers a haunting and artistic interpretation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," allowing players to experience the story through the eyes of the creature, which many reviewers found to be a poignant and thought-provoking perspective. While the visuals and music are praised for their beauty, some players noted issues with gameplay mechanics and translation quality that detracted from the overall experience. Overall, it is regarded as a unique homage to the original story, though its simplified narrative may not engage all players equally.
“This walking simulator game is a haunting, artistic interpretation of Mary Shelley's gothic story, seen through the eyes of Victor Frankenstein's monster.”
“A gorgeous, thought-provoking story-based game about Frankenstein's creature.”
“Absolutely gorgeous game and a wonderful take on the story of Frankenstein's creature.”
“The weakest aspect is the story, because it is simplified and relies on you being familiar with its concepts to become invested, and I also didn't like the pointless meta-ending.”
“The game is very short, the puzzle flow is obtuse/incomprehensible at times, and even though I tried, I just could not bring myself to connect with the story the way it was presented.”
“It's been years since I've read Mary Shelley's work, yet I recognized the scenes within this game, and I found that this version didn't necessarily add anything to the story.”
- music44 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its emotional depth and ability to enhance the narrative and visual experience, creating a haunting and beautiful ambiance. Many reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature, describing it as mesmerizing and integral to the game's atmosphere, although some note issues with recycled tracks and transitions. Overall, the combination of music and art is seen as a powerful and immersive element that significantly contributes to the game's emotional impact.
“The musical score lends a lovely ambiance to the world, and the musical mini-game is a nice addition, especially as instruments used in hopes of connection with others.”
“The music is amazing, so full of emotion.”
“Beautiful art, mesmerizing music, an unforgettable experience.”
“Most of the time the music is recycled, and it's not done smoothly, like the transition or use of a particular music and the situation in the game.”
“The wanderer is basically a Newgrounds art game with a small budget for some visuals and music.”
“I can appreciate what the developers were trying to accomplish here, especially with the quality of the artwork (animation + soundtrack), but I still would not recommend the game, especially when not on sale.”
- graphics19 mentions
- 63 % positive mentions
- 21 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning painterly visuals and beautiful watercolor artwork, which create an immersive and emotionally resonant experience. The combination of the art style and music is often highlighted as the game's strongest feature, enhancing the narrative's depth and emotional impact. However, some users noted issues with translation that could detract from the overall experience.
“The aesthetic of this game is by far its strongest feature with stunning painterly visuals and moving and immersive sound design.”
“The artwork is absolutely gorgeous.”
“An absolutely beautiful game, both aesthetically, musically, and narratively.”
“The wanderer is basically a Newgrounds art game with a small budget for some visuals and music.”
“I can appreciate what the developers were trying to accomplish here, especially with the quality of the artwork (animation + soundtrack), but I still would not recommend the game, especially when not on sale.”
“Not for the gameplay but the beauty of the artwork.”
- gameplay15 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The gameplay is minimal and primarily consists of walking through beautifully crafted scenes with sporadic interactions, such as dialogue and simple mini-games. While it effectively supports the game's narrative and artistic elements, many players find the pacing slow and the mechanics underwhelming, leading to a short overall experience that may not justify its price. Despite its shortcomings, the blend of storytelling and gameplay has been appreciated by some, though it lacks the depth to encourage replayability.
“The gameplay isn't as expansive, but it serves the need of the beautiful narrative, art, and music that is expertly woven together.”
“The gameplay is minimal but has sporadic instances of interaction beyond moving through a scene, such as dialogue, choices, and mini-games.”
“The artwork is stunning, the narrative is heart-wrenching, and the gameplay is delightful.”
“Don't expect complex gameplay; this is an isometric walking simulator.”
“Very little gameplay; you basically just walk from one narration hotspot to another with a handful of very basic minigames and puzzles in between.”
“I would have preferred a more polished and complete game, or a truly engaging walking simulator without half-baked attempts at gameplay.”
- emotional14 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its emotional depth, offering a poignant and heart-wrenching experience that resonates with players, particularly through its themes of loneliness and rejection. With stunning visuals and a touching narrative, it effectively immerses players in the struggles of its monstrous protagonist, evoking sympathy and a deeper understanding of the source material. Despite some translation issues, the overall emotional journey is described as beautiful and impactful.
“Reading the book is one thing, but actually experiencing the constant rejection by humanity made me feel even more sympathy for the creature and his suffering.”
“But this game is the one that truly made me feel the gut-wrenching loneliness of the poor creature, so tiny and alone in a big, big world that it wanted so genuinely and so desperately to love - but which rejects it.”
“The artwork is stunning, the narrative is heart-wrenching, and the gameplay is delightful.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game offers strong replayability due to its multiple endings and the impact of player choices, encouraging players to explore different outcomes. However, its linear structure and relatively short playtime of about 2.5 hours may limit overall replay value, leading some to feel that the price is a bit high for the experience.
“The replay value is strong as you can't help but wonder what would have happened had you made different choices.”
“It is quite linear overall and will take around 2.5 hours to complete one playthrough, though there is some replayability due to the different endings.”
“This hampers the game's replayability value for me, which makes the current price tag feel a little steep.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, with users highlighting the impactful sound effects, immersive art, and compelling music that enhance the overall experience. Many consider it a standout interpretation of the Frankenstein story, contributing to a rich and engaging environment.
“Atmospheric sound effects.”
“I absolutely enjoyed everything about it: the story, the art, the atmosphere, the music... the best interpretation of Frankenstein I've seen.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is noted as a standout feature, providing a refreshing contrast to its otherwise melodramatic tone. Reviewers appreciate the polished execution of comedic elements, which enhance the overall experience without undermining the game's seriousness.
“It's a pretty hilarious transition in this overly melodramatic game, but to me, this example underscores the level of polish throughout this game.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game exhibits notable stability issues, including bugs and awkward controls that can hinder the experience, though these problems are generally not game-breaking. Additionally, the presence of overly simplistic mini-games detracts from the overall gameplay.
“On paper there's a lot to recommend this game (an artsy, gothy, literate point-and-click!), but in practice it's buggy, awkward, and slow to control, peppered with insultingly simple mini-games that would be better off entirely without.”
“It's a bit buggy sometimes, and the movement is wonky, but mostly not game-breaking.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game is perceived as intrusive, with ads disrupting the interactive storytelling experience and making it difficult for players to navigate and engage with the game effectively.
