Where the Heart Leads

 PlayStation 4
User Score
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No user score yet- Awaiting 2 more ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
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  1. BobsYourUncle
    Dec 30, 2022
    9
    Has a very slow start but develops into a vast and branching narrative the likes of which I have never experienced before. You become invested in Whit and his families’ journey through their lives, shaping it in ways that seem to be monumental. That is the absolute greatest thing about this game is you live with your choices and they keep coming back to inform your next decisions; they areHas a very slow start but develops into a vast and branching narrative the likes of which I have never experienced before. You become invested in Whit and his families’ journey through their lives, shaping it in ways that seem to be monumental. That is the absolute greatest thing about this game is you live with your choices and they keep coming back to inform your next decisions; they are not one-off’s like most choice-based narrative games. It’s all one continuous stream of pivotal moments, not self-contained episodes.

    I think it falls flat in some respects, in particular the music department. It becomes very repetitive with these ethereal, undulating, heartbeat-like rhythms that start to wear thin over many hours making choices and wandering its various mini-worlds.

    The art style left a lot to be desired. It worked for its purpose, but wasn’t great to look at; I wasn’t a fan of its muddy colors and I found the bloom to be excessive and irritating to the eye. I think its low detail presentation was a tactful strategy that allowed them to go all in on a truly branching narrative.

    Also I thought the writing was decent but never really rose to the level that I thought would rival a great novel. It was serviceable, but a bit choppy at points. Sadly the epilogue was exhausting with the amount of long pages of character summary to sift through. I enjoyed reading the conclusion of each character and my effect upon their life, but I wish it could have been shown with vignettes like it was for some of the characters it deemed worthy. How it all connects though through your choices is brilliant.

    It tells a grounded story in a slightly surreal atmosphere (that feels a bit tacked on), but serves to allow Whit to reflect on his life by revisiting important junctures. In telling this grounded story it allowed me to reflect on my life and my future in a way I had never attempted before. What choice would I make if I was in Whit’s shoes? But that’s what made it so compelling: I very likely will be forced to make choices along these lines, which made them personally more difficult to contemplate than dealing with something otherworldly.

    Even with all its faults, how your choices effect its large cast of characters, your choice of residence, what career or lack of career you will pursue, who you will back and who you will turn your back upon, is the best choice-based gameplay I have ever experienced just for the sheer weightiness of your choices and their far-reaching effects. It will stick with me for a long time and I’d like to think it’s prepared me in some small way for those same choices ahead in my life.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

83
#83 Best PS4 Game of 2021
82
#82 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 24
  3. Negative: 2 out of 24
  1. Gamepressure
    Sep 11, 2021
    90
    It teaches us that just because we aren’t saving the world from invasion or conquering some magical kingdom, our choices, no matter how trivial or mundane we think they may be in the moment, are actually quite powerful as they can truly shape the life we are given.
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  2. Shindig
    Aug 27, 2021
    50
    At times, Where the Heart Leads crafts an interesting narrative on the complexities of family relationships, and how the decisions one makes can have consequences. I enjoyed the plots between Whit and his immediate family members, and the possibilities his decisions can create that might benefit everyone—but much like real life, the game also reinforces the concept that you can’t please everyone, and the story plays out as such. But being inundated with other characters that I felt I had to talk to, and text that felt needlessly drawn out, evolved the dialogue-heavy game from a customised narrative into a bit of a chore. Where the Heart Leads is a game with its pros and cons, so it’s hard for me to veer my review of this game from middling.
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  3. Edge Magazine
    Aug 14, 2021
    40
    Gratifying though it is to see your decisions produce such tangible results, Where The Heart Leads is consistently let down by its storytelling. [Issue#362, p.120]
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