The Yawhgis a little indie RPG that came out in 2013 with a striking art style, soundtrack, and story. The story takes place in a town within a fantasy medieval world, and something devastating called the “Yawhg” is coming. The player decides what to do in the limited amount of time they have until the Yawhg comes. The game is rather short, giving the player just six weeks to make RPG choices until the Yawhg arrives. The game can be longer, though, as it ismultiplayer friendlyand up to four people can play as different characters.
The game is around nine years old now, and indie games have gotten more popular with titles likeHadesandUndertalepushing the envelope of what indie games can achieve.The Yawhgis worth a revisit, and deserves more attention for being a memorable choose your own adventure title. While it is beautiful on its own, it certainly had fans wanting more.
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What Makes The Yawhg So Great On Its Own
There are three areas thatThe Yawhgexcelled in, and that is its story, presentation, andreplayability. Up to four players can choose characters and make a decision for what the character does every week by picking certain locations and actions around the town. These decisions impact a character’s stats, the ending they get, and sometimes the fate of the location itself. In total, there are between one and two hundred encounters in the game. With each replay, a player can see about 20 encounters per character.
The story has a great flavor, with plenty ofcomedy along with a sense of impending doom. As the weeks go by, the music slowly becomes direr and direr. The Yawhg itself is not very much explained, which is a strength in terms of the story, as it gives a strong sense of mystery and magical influence. It appears to be a storm, but it certainly seems to be more than just that. Despite the creeping storm, though, there is much laughter in the story. Players can spend weeks getting wasted and singing badly at a bar, beat up criminals in the night, or both.
What makes the presentation of the story so well-done is both the art and the music. The art was made by Emily Carroll, a comics author known for the horror webcomicHis Face All Red,and her illustrations for another 2013 video game calledGone Home. As for the haunting soundtrack, it was created by Ryan Roth, the sound designer forStarseed Pilgrim. The mixture of Carroll’s vibrant but dark art and Roth’s atmospheric music really bring out the already strong story ofThe Yawhg.
Why The Yawhg Deserves To Be Bigger
The Yawhgis a game that does not just deserve bigger recognition, but also a larger size in terms of content. Among many positive reviews, a lot of fans mentioned that they hope for more to come, be that as a bigger game or a sequel. Nine years later, there is no word of any continuation or other projects that will be likeThe Yawhg, which is a loss for the indie gaming world.
Some players found the game, in how short it was, to be morelike a demo for a project that could be much bigger. After all, six weeks only gives the player so many choices for a single playthrough. AYawhggame with more weeks, more endings, more lore, and more characters would be amazing. Fans want to learn more about the true nature of the Yawhg and the town they dwell within. No matter how many replays a fan does, the game will not expand far enough to satiate the hunger for more. Replays are often bogged down with a lot of encounter repeats as well.
The multiplayer aspect of the game is quite fun, as players get to see more encounters, but it is purely a local co-op experience. This can be severely limiting to gamers that are more isolated, soonline multiplayercould be another way this game can expand. Having four players influence the town is far more interesting than just one person.
It is unknown whether this game will ever get expanded upon, but the least it deserves is more attention. Choose your own adventure games are never going to go out of style, but in the realm of indie RPGs,The Yawhgis like a small rich dessert that leaves players begging for more.
