Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Purgatory Review: Art Imitating Life

Different Tales’ Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest was your standard but well-told coming-of-age WoD story tackling issues related to environmentalism and Ecofascism. In our review, I hoped the Polish studio would follow it up with a sequel and tie the loose ends together. They listened and are gearing up to release Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Purgatory, the sequel to Heart of the Forest. I’ve been living it up as an Afghani werewolf the past few days and am here for the real talk. Presenting Gameffine’s Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Purgatory review.

War Never Changes

Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Purgatory doesn’t waste any time and gets down to the nitty gritty as soon as you start the game. In contrast to Heart of the Forest, Purgatory begins on a dreadful note. In place of Maia’s search for a sense of belonging, Purgatory puts the player in the furry shoes of Samira Rahmani, an Afghan refugee fleeing the wartorn country to Poland with her little brother Kazim. Right from the get-go Purgatory establishes its mature tone and unflinching political nature. The sequel follows in the footsteps of its predecessor in tackling real-world issues by using the WoD mythos as a primer and it succeeds for the most part. As you might have guessed, the main theme this time is Poland’s refugee crisis. Through Samira, the game explores the struggles of this tortured minority while still being a Werewolf story at its core — a storytelling style that is not easy to pull off. due to the unapologetic political nature of the game, certain moments and dialogues in the narrative feel out of place. However, for the most part, the narrative is compelling enough to warrant several playthroughs thanks to the branching paths and a better-written main character.

As for the Werewolf part of the story, I felt it’s way more fleshed out than Heart of the Forest. The Garou part of the narrative is split into three parts; Samira’s identity crisis, the classic tale of a power struggle, and a riveting murder mystery. The player’s choices make the narrative branch out in different directions to make up for a highly replayable experience. This sense of player agency is evident in the game’s second chapter, where the story branches out into two separate paths similar to The Witcher 2. Purgatory delves deeper into Garou politics than the first game and ties up its loose ends. The reactive elements like relationship status with various NPCs make a return and affect the story more than ever. One of my biggest complaints from the first game was that there weren’t enough Werewolf sections. That is no longer the case, as Purgatory features plenty of Garou on Garou action.

Fury of Gaia

Gameplaywise, Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Purgatory retains much of what made Heart of the Forest work. It’s still a choice-driven visual novel with some light RPG elements. It’s not The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante, but it does the job just fine. Rage, Willpower, and Health return as the major elements of resource management in the game, with Harano being a new addition. The higher your Rage, the less predictable Samira becomes and gives in to her primal feelings, which leads to ‘interesting’ outcomes. Willpower is the exact opposite – helping Samira keep her eye on the goal, as well as thinking rationally. Harano is the Werewolf mythos’ depression meter. The higher it goes, the less determined Samira becomes to battle the forces of the Wyrm. Yes, sad furry puppers are a thing in WoD. Dialogue choices give the player a chance to spend or gain these resources.

Complementing these are Personality Assessment skills. There have been some changes to these this time around with more skills to choose from. Moreover, players can pick their auspices, and tribe, all contributing towards determining what kind of Garou Samira is among the larger Werewolf society of Poland. Furthermore, at key points, players are given the option to pick which Werewolf form they want to transform into, which leads to the particular scenario playing out differently based on player choice.

There’s a new mechanic called Gifts, empowering Samira with one-time use buffs and special abilities to give her an edge against powerful foes. I did find this a welcome addition, even though this system could have seen more use. Much like the previous game, I found the last act to be a bit rushed and the final fight, a disappointment. However, since the game has multiple endings, it could just be the issue with the particular ending I got. Best keep an eye out for this.

Nightmarish Visuals

As far as the audio-visual department is concerned, they’re great. Similar to most visual novels, there is no voice acting but that is perfectly fine with me. Each scene of the game is enriched with gorgeous surreal imagery that is hard to take your eyes off. The sequel has doubled down on the number of background art and they are no longer as repetitive as Heart of the Forest. A fitting display of rage and madness. While Purgatory is around the same length as its predecessor, i.e., around 2-3 hours, the choice-driven narrative as well as the improved branching paths make the game highly replayable. Plus, there are plenty of achievements for achievement hunters to obtain.

Real Talk

Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Purgatory is a noticeable improvement over Heart of the Forest in every way imaginable. It’s got a more fleshed-out main character in the form of Samira, there are more RPG mechanics and the developers have doubled down on the choice-driven narrative. Just know that this isn’t a Werewolf power fantasy like Earthblood and isn’t made for players wary of political video games. If you’re someone who liked Heart of the Forest, then Purgatory is right up your alley.

FINAL RATING: 80/100

Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Purgatory Review: Art Imitating Life

Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Purgatory is a choice-driven RPG thriller set in the World of Darkness universe.

Price: $14.99

Price Currency: USD

Operating System: Windows

Application Category: Game

Editor's Rating:
8