Through The Woods We Go

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I watched as the woman I was playing as rushed to the shore of the lake, her son was on the boat drifting further and further away. Some strange figure rowed calmly as she jumped in and the chase ensued. As I arrived at what appeared to be a village straight out of a Norse fairy tale, I realized I had been transported to a completely different world. As I made my way through this eerily silent area and into what seemed like a village, I couldn’t help but wonder how my character, the mother of the boy who was taken had let something so terrible happen. Still, she was driven and would let nothing stop her, even the horrors that awaited her on the island from getting in her way. I would soon discover what evil lay dormant, waiting for my character in the darkness in Through The Woods.

(The entrance to the island village)

For awhile I thought that there was nothing on the island, or at least nothing that could hurt me. As I left the tranquil village behind me I quickly made my way through the woods. Over the course of my journey, the sun slowly began to set. As darkness loomed over the woodlands I looked up to see an unexpected sight, the moon was practically destroyed. I wasn’t sure what was going on, or where in Hell everything on the island slowly began as the island was enveloped in the darkness of the night.

(That's not what the moon looks like)

After a little while I approached a strange looking sigil stone, it had markings and drawings illuminated with some strange light from inside of it. I wasn’t sure to think about it, but I pressed on nonetheless. Not analyzing the warning signs on it would end up biting me in the ass shortly afterwards. After I overlooked the warning sigil, I approached a small area with a rock separating it into two sides. Not knowing any better I sprinted to the right and stopped in my tracks. I looked up as I stood face to face with a terrifying creature that I would later discover was a troll. Without any hesitation the troll let a huge roar as I turned tail and ran. Unfortunately, the troll was rather large so I ended up having no chance of running away. Before I knew it, the character I was playing as was picked up and her flashlight went flying. Her muffled screams and the roar of the monster were the last thing I heard before the loading screen appeared. I spawned directly next to the sign which upon further inspection actually had a drawing of my killer on it.

(The troll was on the sigil stone the whole time)

After eventually getting past the troll, I discovered several clues about the island and some clues to where my character’s son might be. The lore in Through The Woods was actually pretty interesting and at some points it helped with dealing with certain enemies in the game. For example, there was an enemy that gets blinded by light, which I only knew about because there was a diary entry about it. This enemy looked kind of like a satyr, but it was definitely not one. It chased me around for awhile as I continuously shined my flashlight in its face as I screamed for my life. I eventually got away from it thankfully, but there were worse creatures I had yet to encounter.

(It's that boy)

I also realized as I went on who it was that had taken my character’s son. It was some guy from a folk tale named Erik. According to the clues I found on him he was someone who took children from families and ritually sacrificed them. The chance of finding her son wasn’t exactly looking good for the mother at that point. However, I eventually came across him in a cabin. He told me that I couldn’t take him and that he had chosen to go. I was uncertain if he knew about his imminent demise but he was pretty set on his fate. Just as he said that Erik barged in. He and my character had the most awkward fight scene I’ve ever scene. It looked more like they were slow dancing with each other at a middle school dance since they each had their hands on the other’s shoulders than an actual fight.

(Erik barging in on my family reunion)

I’ll leave my adventure at that since Through The Woods gets even crazier after the encounter with Erik. I was looking forward to this game since the beginning of the summer and I was not disappointed. I personally find settings in Scandinavian regions to be incredibly cool and since it’s a horror game it’s right up my alley. One of my favorite parts had to be the complexity, the variety, and the relevance of all the monsters you encounter as you play. It gave the game a constant freshness, you weren’t always going up against the same enemy since there was so much variety in the types of enemies. I had an excellent time playing it and would recommend it to anyone who likes horror games, or a good story.