Winter Ember Review

Stealth games are right up my alley. I love skulking around in the shadows, picking my moment to deftly move past enemies or loot items out of sight of trouble. I’m the kind of player to restart if I get so much as spotted rather than fight my way out and try not to kill anyone, even stealthily. So when Winter Ember dropped in our inbox, I was pretty excited to check it out. With a style that reminds me of Thief and the incredible Dishonored, it certainly has some big boots to fill. Unfortunately Winter Ember seems determined to trip over its own feet every time it gets going.

Played from a high-angled, almost isometric camera, we control protagonist Arthur Artorias as he seeks vengeance for his family’s murder. The initial anime-style opening cutscene set the story up nicely, with some lovely visuals and decent acting. It was a bit of a shame then when we’re set loose into the game to find some nice, if uninspiringly generic visuals. Sadly this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the ways Winter Ember was disappointing.

As I say, Winter Ember is predominately a stealth title. This involves skulking around in the shadows, hiding from enemies, looting unsuspecting people and homes, and trying to just stay away from folk in general. Controlling Arthur is simple enough, and yet somehow incredibly fiddly at the same time. Among the moves at our disposal are the ability to jump ledges and get into cover, but both of these are far too awkward to use consistently.

The jump can only be used on very specific boxes annoyingly, meaning a small wall is insurmountable for him even if it would create a better path forward. Cover is equally hit and miss; it seems to be based on where the camera is facing rather than Arthur, and the symbol indicating where we can and can’t hunker down only shows up when we’re actually a certain distance away from the wall. Get too close and we’re unable to snap to the cover at all. This is in addition to it not working on some walls/areas that it looks like it would make sense for it to do so, leading to moments where I’d end up in the enemy’s sightlines.

Looting and snuffing out light sources is equally fiddly, especially when a light source is on top of a lootable chest. The amount of times I flicked a lamp on and off instead of opening a chest began to border on the ridiculous. Doors can either be locked, open, or require lock-picking or a key, but it’s not clear which is which easily causing further annoyance.

Combat follows this trend. We’re given plenty of tools to fight with should we get caught, including light and heavy attacks, a parry, dodge, and throwables. The problem arises when we’re actually put into a fight. Anything other than the light attack is all but useless; the heavy attack is meant to break their guard, but it takes three hits to do so and their guard meter fills up faster than we can deplete it. The parry on the other hand is incredibly useful – when we can hit it right. The timing window is super small and when faced with more than one enemy its all but impossible to pull off.

All of this is to day then that I’m been somewhat underwhelmed so far with Winter Ember. A shame, as there are sparks of good ideas here; the line of sight shadows that mean we can’t easily see ahead of Arthur (which worked wonderfully in Mark of the Ninja); the crafting system that allows us to make all sorts of arrow combinations (though it has to be said the menu system is also woefully awkward to use); the way there are always multiple entry points to a room or area – sure, we could lockpick our way in, but there’s also likely to be an open window tucked around the back, or a secret rope hook that we can fire an arrow to and climb up and in. There are also plentiful side quests that offer up good rewards for seeing them through as well as some…unusual happenings.

But again, every time I feel like Winter Ember starts to turn a corner, Arthur will get stuck on a bit of scenery, or fail to get into cover properly leading to being forced to use the awkward combat system. The story is engaging enough to keep me playing – though the performances outside of the cutscenes are less than great – and there’s enough here for those able to look past the issues I’ve highlighted to enjoy.

Conclusion

Some great ideas are hobbled by awkward execution in Winter Ember. For every bright spark there are a handful of quirks and issues that are just too prevalent to overlook. It’s just a shame that the parts don’t form a cohesive whole, and instead we’re left with a game that is stuck in the shadows of the greats.