The Wanderer Frankenstein's Creature (PC) Review | The new light of a dark classic

Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus di Mary Shelley it was a revolutionary novel and still continues to be, not so much for having implemented a completely new style of writing and themes that would have influenced the entire 800 ', but also and above all because it places in front of the reader the horrors and the insurmountable limits of science generated by the insatiable human curiosity. 

After the enormous success and in the course of the nearly two hundred years since the publication of the novel, there have been numerous iterations of the Gothic story between films of great or dubious taste, musical re-adaptations and, why not, even some video games.

The Wanderer Frankenstein’s Creatures seem different from all these incarnations though, and tries to put us more in touch with the (perhaps) inexorable Destiny of the horrid Creature generated by the experiments of the daring Victor Frankenstein. They will have succeeded the boys of La Belle Games to tell us some new chapter of this centuries-old story?

"There is something in my soul, although I cannot understand what"

Imagine that you were never born, that you have no knowledge of this world or of your person. So imagine being catapulted into a world and an existence completely alien to you, frightening, in a body whose senses are not yet fully developed.

This is the opening of The Wanderer Frankenstein's Creature, in which we will command the Creature a few moments after his birth. We will be surrounded by the most absolute white, as we will initially be born blind, and we will have to grope following our primal instincts.

Continuing with patience and calmly we will slowly learn to run and see better, and from here on the whole story of the Creature will be in our hands. The aim of the game will in fact be to continue through about twenty levels, all characterized by relatively diversified mechanics and themes, but which above all will give us the opportunity to shape the Creature in our image and likeness.

The story will in fact follow for the most part the events of the book, with the Creature that will find itself first surrounded by Nature, then by Humans and by Knowledge, and finally will seek shelter in Religion and Solitude. However, our choices will be significant in determining some path and Destiny our Creature will follow, often with very diversified results but not exciting enough to encourage numerous playthroughs.

"The fallen angel who becomes a malevolent demon"

Choice in Frankenstein is a central game theme and mechanics: controlling the Creature like any other graphic point and click adventure, we will have to guide it through various interactive elements of the scenario, such as puddles of water, spoiled food, marble statues and innocent animals. Depending on our choices, we will increase the rank of Harmony or Horror, which will then influence the game endings.

There will be multiple mini-games, riddles and side activities which will serve not only to break a little the rhythm of the continuous wandering, but also to condition even more the undertakings and the choices of the Creature: for example if we are not able to cut firewood or catch a rabbit in a level, we could condemn an ​​entire family to a death from starvation during the winter.

Unfortunately, however, these situations, as varied and fun as they are, they are only a small part of the experience, which will mostly consist of clicking on the next objective to move the story forward. Considering the target, the budget and the underlying objective of the title, it is natural that the most playful part of the experience is also the least present in the work as a whole.

Furthermore, at the end of each level, there will almost always be an extremely binary choice but also very strong on an emotional level. At this juncture The Wanderer Frankenstein's Creature stands out for its writing and the sentimental charge it inserts in its cutscenes made with the game engine, and towards the end of the title it will be really hard not to be shaken by the terrible events that we will have made happen to our Creature.

"Only someone as horrible and miserable as me will be able to love me"

The adventure of the Creature will end after a couple of hours of play, but as already mentioned and despite the aura of replayability due to the various multiple choices we won't have much incentive to replay the entire title without the ability to skip cutscenes or speed up dialogue. 

This is also mainly due to numerous bugs present in the game: missing texts, collisions not calculated with the game models, music that silences and above all loading screens and transitions that do not happen, blocking the player at the end of a level with no possibility of any to continue.

On the other hand, when the game works properly, it will be really hard not to be enchanted by beautiful pre-rendered backdrops in watercolor style on which the characters will move, especially thanks to the incredible music very emotional and hardly tiring.

In summary

The Wanderer Frankenstein's Creature is undoubtedly an excellent re-interpretation in a videogame key of the great classic of Mary Shelley's literature. The ability to influence the choices and the pace of the adventure, together with various minigames and side activities and a sublime artistic sector, make the narrative experience very captivating for all fans of this genre of games, but the absence of a strong playful component and numerous technical problems can discourage less patient players who prefer a focus more on mere entertainment.