Where the Heart Leads | PS4 Review

Most, if not all, of us have pondered the meaning of life. Is it becoming so successful that you know longer have to worry about anything? How about having the family you’ve always dreamed about? Or is it leaving an impact on the world? With Armature’s Where the Heart Leads, you shape the life of a man named Whit Anderson. This is a powerful game that absolutely had me invested in the events surrounding this man’s livelihood, and his journey will stick with me for a while.

Life Is Complicated

The game starts off with a bang. A sinkhole suddenly opens up on the Anderson family farm, and their beloved dog Casey falls down into it. Whit’s family is distraught, and he vows to save the precious pooch. He and his wife Rene jerry-rig an elevator (actually just a bathtub on a pulley), and he lowers himself into the depths of the hole. He successfully saves Casey but ends up plummeting to the bottom. After waking up from his fall, he discovers that he can relive his past and see his future.

As you navigate through Whit’s life from adolescence to old age, you are placed in the driver’s seat of his journey. You’ll be prompted to choose between multiple options at certain points and each decision feels crucial, and had me wondering if I had messed up any of the character’s lives. Do you rat your brother out for having a hidden man cave when you’re both teens, or do you hide his secret? What about when your wife confronts you about whether to stay home with the kids or to get a job when you’re trying to keep your young family afloat?

Be careful, because the butterfly effect is used to a large degree, meaning even the smallest decisions can have major consequences. The amount of variations lends this title a high replay value, and I ended my first playthrough hungry to see how my story would change by selecting different routes.

Stop and Smell the Roses

The visual style is charming and beautiful. I felt like I was playing through a storybook come to life, and the locations are distinct and have a personality all of their own. Your family has the same amount of detail that the environment does, and they’re easy to distinguish from the rest of the citizens in your small town of Carthage. The same can’t be said for the other individuals you come across, though. They’re opaque humanoid shapes that you have to walk directly up to to discern who they actually are. This is mostly alleviated by the fact that they mostly stay in one place and you’ll quickly memorize where they are. Still, it would have been nice to see some detail added to the rest of the lives you’re affecting.

Gameplay is simple and kept to a minimum. It mostly revolves around maneuvering Whit through Carthage and speaking to others. You simply press X when prompted to talk to whoever you need to chat with. There are some light environmental puzzles, but these just center on either constructing buildings and sculptures or clearing up obstacles. Holding the square button for a few seconds solves these. It was always a treat to see each creation or mess being built or destroyed, and I would often be so distracted by the projects coming to life that I’d hold the button a tad too long (luckily, this doesn’t affect gameplay).

Bumps in the Road

While I was largely enchanted by the visuals, story, and gameplay, there are a couple of hiccups. One issue I encountered was being sabotaged by the camera. When tasked with speaking with someone, I would often find myself staring at a copse of trees or the backside of a building instead of Whit and the other individual. The camera can be shifted, but it was a small annoyance that pulled me out of the story. Another issue, which was patched at launch, is the size of the speech bubbles. There isn’t any voice acting, so the dialogue is delivered via the aforementioned bubbles. The default setting is extremely tiny and I highly encourage you to change the size of them in the options before starting the game.

Journey’s End

Where the Heart Leads is a thought-provoking, engaging experience. I adored living vicariously through Whit and choosing how his life would progress. The visuals are charming, the gameplay mechanics are simple and streamlined, and the story is well-written. I just wish the camera hadn’t randomly blocked my view at certain moments, and the small text size could be an issue if a player isn’t aware of the option to change it. Otherwise, I highly recommend playing this title if you love a great, narrative-driven experience that will stay with you long after wrapping it up.

To hear me talk more about Where the Heart Leads, be sure to listen to Episode 355 of The Gaming Outsider Podcast.

This review is based on a PlayStation copy of Where the Heart Leads provided by Stride PR for coverage purposes.