What a horrible night to be a witch
Set amidst the backdrop of a 17th century village, Hunter’s Moon is a first person historical narrative adventure, read walking simulator, from Twin Swans. In it players take control of Lilith Thorne, a young woman who just might be a witch, at least according to people in her town. The historical context is important here as people back in the day were absolutely crazy about witches. In England alone during the 17th century over 500 people, mostly women, were killed for witchcraft. The simple accusation was often enough to ruin a person’s life. It’s an interesting time period to play in and Hunter’s Moon does a great job capturing the fear and paranoia felt by the accused and accusers, mostly.
The main hook of Hunter’s Moon is eavesdropping. As Lilith players sneak around the village and listen to the conversations of people inside their houses. These conversations are the bulk of the Hunter’s Moon experience. Thankfully they are wonderfully acted and play out like shadow puppet theater. Each house with a light on features one or more characters that appear in silhouette in the window. As players listen to their conversations, they can choose to knock on the door at any time. Unfortunately for Lilith, no one is going to open the door for a supposed witch. While most villagers will simply tell her to go away or pretend they didn’t hear anything, there are a few that feature a bit more interaction. These interactions range from simple fetch quests, in which the completion of said quest will grant players an item they need for later in the game, to almost getting caught by the Witchfinder General, and his accomplices, the local village magistrate and an associate hunter.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: PlayStation
Price I’d Pay: $15
Most of the time though, it is simple conversation you overhear. These conversations bring the story to life and offer insight into the lives of the villagers. One of them wants to get married, one of them wants to get drunk, one of them wants to get punished by his mistress. It’s a testament to the quality of the script and performance of the voice actors that this mechanic rarely felt boring. Most houses also turn out their lights after the conversation has finished so it’s relatively easy to keep track of where you’ve been and who you still need to listen to.
The only characters you meet outside of their house are the hunters, whom you do not want to actually meet, and the mummers. The few encounters with the mummers were a definite highlight for me as they were wonderfully weird and unlike anything else in the game. One of them is singing a song when you find her and it’s really quite lovely. The hunters though present the constant danger throughout the playtime. Mostly just over the next ridge or a few yards away in the forest, their bright red torches are an ominous sight. So too is their dialogue which is constantly bordering on a kind of maniacal fanaticism. There’s a moment towards the end of the narrative where they also break out into song. Hearing their voices come from the speaker on the Dual Sense was a nice touch and really heightened the tension in those final minutes.
The sound design as a whole deserves special mention. Playing this through a surround sound system really showcases the care and design that went into the overall experience. The acting is top notch and the songs, few and far between, are very good. The art direction as well is quite nice with the whole experience featuring a stop motion quality to the animations. Everything looks great. The different locations you find along the way have a good amount of detail and some of the more stealth heavy sections of Hunter’s Moon really hit that feeling of claustrophobia.
The only real downside to the experience is that there just isn’t much to it. I finished my playthrough in under two hours, a bit short for its $20 price tag. Alicia Contestabile, writer/director at Twin Swans, started the story for Hunter’s Moon as a screenplay and it shows. You walk from house to house, listening to conversations. Occasionally you need to run from the hunters, occasionally you need to get things for the villagers. That’s it. It’s all well done and worth a shot, especially if you’re a big time history buff with an interest in witches. There’s a ton of atmosphere and charm on display and the entire package really is gorgeous. I had a good time with it and played through it in two sittings. The ending felt a bit abrupt though and I wanted just a little bit more.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.