Most choices unlock new Memories which can be viewed in a menu that can be accessed at any time. I’m not sure how varied a single playthrough can be (though the trophy list implies some stuff I never got to see), but I cannot wait to dive back in and find out, once my heart can take it. There was a point where I had to put the controller down and have a big cry. It’s the kind of ending you’ve probably seen elsewhere, but Armature pulls it off spectacularly, giving a fitting conclusion to all these captivating characters, in line with the choices I made. The ending is fantastic, at least the iteration of it I witnessed. Each choice is tough, scary, and juicy, and pretty much everyone impacts the ending in some way. There are dozens upon dozens of choices to make throughout Where the Heart Leads. As a result, every time Whit has to side with one party over another, or make a decision about his own life, the choice is always difficult. Each character is complicated, be they Whit himself or the guy who runs the tyre shop (oh Rubber Matt), and apart from a few exceptions, I grew to care about all of them. Whit and his loved ones struggle with work, relationships, rent, growing up, growing old, and all manner of things that make me anxious about my real life. Outside of the psychedelic presentation, the game’s story is gloriously mundane. It’s a visual delight, especially when you get a chance to build something big. Whit is both a builder and an artist, and constructing various monuments is a large part of the game, expressed by holding down Square (on a PlayStation controller) to watch materials appear out of nowhere and fall perfectly into place. When you interact with them, they never move, but instead explode into mirror-like confetti and reappear in another pose. Everything that you can interact with – so, every character and certain interactive objects – is covered in mirror-like reflective textures, so they easily stand out. Controlling a teenage Whit, you can fully walk around these detailed environments.

For example, the first explorable area encompasses the adjacent farms where Whit and Rene grew up. Using this dreamlike framing device allows Where the Heart Leads to tell grounded stories in a surreal manner. As he attempts to climb back up, he finds himself reliving moments from his life and examining his relationships with basically everyone he has ever known. At the start of the game, Whit falls into a mysterious sinkhole that’s suddenly appeared next to their house. You play as Whitney “Whit” Anderson, who lives with his wife Rene and their kids: a perfectly ordinary Midwestern American nuclear family.

Where the heart leads pc