The Wolf of Derevnya

I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it, but I’m generally glad about playing a VN with a unique artstyle, UI, and writing that merges history and pop culture in its own way. The illustrations lack variety, but they look nice. The moody music lacks variety, but the game is short enough that it doesn’t get annoying. The UI has some annoying designs, such as a combination of requiring you to press something to speed up the unwrapping of letters, while also sometimes this can skip a page, while also this may block the text log, so you can’t see what you’ve just skipped… But it’s not a big problem. What I mainly struggle with is that the opening section is lengthy and with multiple ways to express yourself, only to then make you feel as if the writer has run out of steam, making the remaining two thirds of the game very brief and padded out with predictable structure. But that’s not at all what’s happening - in reality, the game keeps track of many different choices, and leads to interactive branches and options that it would be just unfair to expect a project of this small of a scope to treat them all with novel-worthy level of detail. Judging by the achievements, I’ve done a prett…

I like this game. yeah, I did not get the true ending and didn't get the rarest achievement. but I do like it. the way the art that is presented in the game helps sell this setting being a Medieval Russia that would not have the best of tools to make gorgeous art. I also like the other characters that are in this game as well. I will eventually get around to getting the other achievements maybe in October, I don't know.

It has an interesting story, good characters, and great art style. My only complaint is that in my first playthrough I figured out who the wolf was, but the game didn’t give me an option to accuse them, and the main character acted like it was a surprise (and it wasn’t that hard to figure it out). But I enjoyed it anyway.

A good but very short visual novel with branching endings. Beautiful prose, appropriately grim visuals, various endings, and a fascinating plot. Would recommend to people looking for a brief, well-written trip. The branching endings also go beyond merely "pick choice A and then choice B for this ending," with you having to curry (invisible) favor with characters and pay attention to smaller actions to get to certain events. That being said, as someone who's played similar games, The Wolf of Derevnya feels...very short and relatively linear. If you're used to games where a mere 3-6 choices lock you into an ending, this game may feel fresh and rich, with a lot of replay value. The other reviews for this game certainly suggest that. But there are a lot of other games for around the same price that deliver not only a longer experience but have more replayability. That's not to say the game is bad. Short but enriching games are fun. And if this game is your first or second jump into the prose-heavy-all-your-choices-matter visual novel genre, or if you just don't want to play VNs that take over 5 hours to finish, then The Wolf of Derevnya is excellent. But if you're looking for som…

Very interesting story, and high replay value. Excited to see what results I can get when I try different routes! Just finished my first playthrough and uh, I didn't do too well lol. A lesson for next time! I can recommend this game, if you're into Choose Your Own Adventure. There's clearly a lot of heart in this game. Very atmospheric as well.

Excellent writing, an interesting and gruesome werewolf murder mystery. I liked how the choices seemed to have more of an impact than in most visual novels, although I did notice a few consistency errors where things were mentioned which I hadn't done, or hadn't encountered yet. I wasn't overly fond of the art, but it matches the vibe of the story well. The sound design is subtle, but works well.