![]() On the surface, this seems like a good motivation to be thorough in exploring new areas, defeating and looting enemies, and combing the map hoping to find more items to effectively level up my character. These items can be found locked in chests or containers, held by enemies, or even just sitting on top of counters in tucked-away corners of buildings. ![]() Each item you happen to find basically becomes a point you can spend to make yourself stronger: Abilities are granted in exchange for Nimp Relics, while Perks are granted for trading in Golden Aces of Spades. However, the implementation of both Abilities and Perks are tied to items found in the overworld. Character progression really only takes place in three distinct ways: the active Abilities that you unlock to use in combat, passive Perks that provide bonuses to attributes such as how high you can jump or improve the effectiveness of using medkits, and upgrading and equipping gear you manage to find or craft for your weapon and armor. To describe how this character-to-character transition never quite gelled with me from a gameplay perspective, I have to discuss how each individual character progresses during the course of each part of the story. Later characters can even recruit previous ones if they managed to survive their sections of the story, forming a sort of party of misfits trying to piece together their part in why they were all individually branded in the first place and their role in the larger story. It's an inventive premise that wasn't quite like any other game that I've played. Unfortunately, the way that this is otherwise implemented into the gameplay itself is endlessly frustrating. This goes on throughout the game's five major stories, progressing from the pigman, to a tribal protector, to a werewolf, and finally another cultist. Interestingly, the brand persists, and there is even some suggestion that the memories of the previous branded character persist from body to body. However, once Jane's story of revenge against the Stillwaters concludes, the game immediately places the player into the body of another character - this time a pigman named Cl'erns Qui'g. For the first few hours past this introductory cutscene, the brand is largely ignored and its significance remains a bit of mystery. ![]() To set the stage of how the story is presented, Jane's story begins with her dreaming about herself being cattle-branded by a cult-like group of masked figures, but she wakes up to find out that this brand has actually appeared on her neck in the waking world. While Jane's story initially plays this pretty straight - dealing with a normal person simply trying to survive in a setting full of, well, weird circumstances - the progression of the narrative immediately started to hook me beyond this base description. ![]() However, as Jane's story progresses, it quickly becomes apparent that this version of the wild west is no stranger to all sorts of supernatural shenanigans from flesh-eating monsters to vengeful ghosts and bipedal pigmen. A gang of outlaws named the Stillwaters end up kidnapping Jane's husband, initiating a pretty typical scenario for a revenge plot. Weird West opens up with a bandit raid at the homestead of a former bounty hunter named Jane Bell. The art style was appropriately grimy and smeared, the lowly drawl of the voiced narration fit the spooky nature of the game perfectly while managing to avoid coming across as hokey, and the unorthodox nature of featuring multiple protagonists in the same setting allowed for a decidedly unique flavor of storytelling. This makes it all the more frustrating that Weird West was, unfortunately, one of the most tedious experiences I've played in several years. Despite my initial preconceptions, I quickly found myself genuinely enthusiastic about pretty much everything comprising the setting, story, and tone of Weird West.
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