Weeping Willow Review – By Lexi From Gabbing About

Written by Lexi (Gabbing About)

This was my first time ever playing a kinetic visual novel and going into it, I had a rough idea of what to expect but couldn’t fully understand the charm and quaintness of such a tale. I have spent numerous hours playing ‘casual’ games as a teenager. We didn’t have the internet at home so I would buy games such as Diner Dash or the numerous hidden object games that littered discount shops, install them on my laptop and waste hours of my life staring at tiny figures that rushed around a restaurant, or delving into atmospheric gothic retellings of Jekyll and Hyde.
So when the opportunity to review a visual novel game on Xbox came up, I jumped at the chance to relive my teenage years. I figured my love of simple games in combination with my absolute passion for reading and writing (sorry to my darling JP who has tripped over a book more than once) would lend itself perfectly to this. It turns out I was right. I set aside a couple of hours on a grey Saturday morning, a cosy blanket wrapped around my legs as I curled up on the sofa to lose myself in a story.

Onto the game itself…

TechnoCat Games’ first foray into the gaming world came to fruition on the 3rd May 2023, when Weeping Willow was launched on Xbox, PlayStation and Steam. Weeping Willow is a cute, kinetic visual novel that implements twists and turns to create a detective-like story, brought to life through a small cast of characters who frequent a house on the outskirts of a town plagued by a mysterious illness.

The protagonist is Sofia, a woman born with cat ears in a world which is indicated to be intolerant towards those who are different. Marrying for love (and into fortune), we meet Sofia as a distraught wife whose husband, Otto Von Wolf, has vanished without a trace. The Imperial Investigator is involved, first dismissive of the situation before slowly becoming Sofia’s ally as the story progresses. Whilst lamenting the loss of her husband, Sofia is astounded when a Nun from the local Scarlet Rose Order appears, bringing along her missing spouse.
But is he?

Sofia is adamant that the man that appears is not her husband at all! Convinced that this imposter is posing as Otto Von Wolf to gain her fortune, Sofia fears for her life and hurries to uncover the nefarious ruse before she takes her final breath. The story introduces us to a series of characters who both help and hinder Sofia before a shocking twist at the end reveals the truth.

How does it play?

A kinetic visual novel often plays one of two ways – tapping the A button to advance through the story, reading line by line to advance through the story. Alternatively, the player can be faced with a series of options where they can influence the story and obtain different endings. Weeping Willow falls into the first, where the most strenuous action taken as a player is mashing the A button until your carpal tunnel complains at you. As a quick reader, it took me just over an hour to complete the game.

The story takes place within one house, so the backgrounds primarily switched between one of two rooms. The characters were drawn in an anime style, with big eyes and soft features, and the cast was small enough to make it easy to identify them through name and through their appearance. The visual aspect of this game was beautiful in its simplicity.

Plus, the cat is bloody adorable.

The story itself can’t hold a candle to those written by legendary detective authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie. However, the story was overall enjoyable, the simple writing matching the simple nature of the game. Whilst I did have some issues with the story and the portrayal of certain characters which I will touch on shortly, I was intrigued, I paid attention and despite what other reviewers have said, I appreciated the ending. The biggest issue with the story itself is that it ends abruptly, leaving you sat there expecting a post-credits scene like you’re fangirling at the end of a Marvel film.

There are two key aspects to a visual novel – the visual, which I’ve already said is fantastic, and the novel. I’ve already touched on the writing so onto the editing. For a game that needs to pride itself on words, I feel like I could have made a drinking game out of the mistakes. For example, habit was ‘habbit’, alright was ‘allright’, and my personal favourite Freudian slip of the game was the hilarious ‘she’s creaming’ in place of ‘she’s screaming.’
As for the other parts of the game, there is no voice acting and minimal background noise (except for knocking and occasionally the crackling of the fire) which leaves the audio of the game to be propped up by the music. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the music is designed well, a soft melodic tune underpinning most of the story which then transforms into an intense piece of music as dictated by events. The menu is a bit difficult to navigate as it’s not entirely clear what is selected, and the settings are so basic that you can’t even change the text size. As for achievements, I had gained 270G in the first ten minutes alone.

Now onto the biggest problem of the game

It’s the protagonist, Sofia. Or rather, how she’s written. Cute, adorable, and apparently completely incapable as a person. I recognise that the setting of this game is clearly some sort of fantasy land and, judging from the house and the interactions of the characters, harkens back to a time where women were wives and mothers only.
Saying that, it really rankled me that Sofia’s method of dealing with a supposed imposter was to become hysterical, use the greatest tool in her arsenal (the dreaded silent treatment) and drink tinctures. She spent half her time imploring the Imperial Investigator to help her, relying on the protection of a guard stationed outside her house. The ‘saviour’ of the story was yet another man. We have incredible stories of both fictional and real-life woman who, despite the limitations of their time, were perfectly capable of defending themselves and their beliefs so I refuse to accept that Sofia was restricted by what was ‘proper’.
Yes, Sofia, your husband is missing.
Yes, Sofia, this man has appeared claiming to be your husband and you fear for your life.
No, Sofia, getting drunk and whining is not the solution.
On top of this, the most bothersome thing about this twisting tale of intrigue was the sudden, overt sexualisation of Sofia. At one point, she is spied on whilst in the bathroom, dressed in a tiny towel that barely covers any of her body and a commentary that reads like the start of a terrible porno. This scene came out of nowhere and felt incredibly cheap. It’s not referred to again throughout the rest of the story so feels as if it was shoehorned in just to get the cute cat-eared woman mostly naked.

What’s the outcome?

This game is cute, it’s adorable and it’s beautiful. Whilst the story is simple, it’s clearly well thought out and I enjoyed it. On the negative side, the protagonist is one-dimensional, and her sudden sexualisation was uncomfortable and detracted from the overall game. There are a few finishing touches that would have catapulted this game higher – adjustable text size, clearer menu navigation and proofreading – but this game is a solid attempt at a visual novel and a good way to pass an hour or two.