Hela: Of Mice and Magic explores a vast world of nature with friends (or stand-ins) (original) (raw)
This upcoming indie adventure from developer Windup is a tale of magic, nature, and friendly mice.
When a kindly witch falls ill, the land that she's enchanted needs a helping paw. Hela: Of Mice and Magic, from developer Windup Games, is a story about exploring the vast wonders of nature as a diminutive mouse. The world is much bigger when you're such a tiny creature, but the manner in which the game allows players to explore it is worth checking out. As part of a loaded Summer Game Fest weekend, I recently visited some of the developers to check it out.
Hela: Of Mice and Magic puts players in the role of a benevolent witch's mouse familiar. When the witch falls ill, her mice must help fill the void and help those who live in the local Scandanavian wilderness. As a mouse in a 3D adventure, it can take some time to get around in such a vast open world, but players will have a few tools to aid them. The first big tool is the mouse's backpack, which is an amphibious bag of holding named Froggy. Froggy can hold supplies, but also use his tongue as a grappling hook to allow for a variety of uses. The grappling hook can be used for traversal and puzzle-solving and will prove to be one of the player's most reliable mechanics. Other traversal mechanics include a double jump to reach higher areas, as well as the ability to teleport to other players.
Source: Knights Peak
On that note, it's important to point out that Hela is built for four characters. That doesn't necessarily mean it's made for four players. It's possible to dive in with three other friends, but if friends aren't available, the game has a unique mechanic called Shades that helps make up for the lack of living helpers. Shades are duplicates that can be used to interact with the world and assist with puzzles, especially those that require more than one pair of hands. Shades are also helpful in other ways, like acting as reliable teleport points. They can echo previous actions or be left alone to be used as an anchor point.
Hela's gameplay loop largely involves completing tasks in the witch's spellbook. Some of them, such as the one I saw during my time with the development team, involve collecting ingredients for a Tailwind spell. Some of the required resources can be found in the world, which players can find through a combination of exploration and mechanics like the mouse's sniff ability. Other key items may be guarded by hostile wildlife. There's no combat or violence in Hela. If an angry animal attacks, the witch will intervene and teleport the player to a safe spot. The easiest way to get around dangerous creatures is to try and befriend them. One example involves using the grappling hook to hitch a ride on a magpie and tame it in order to make it a valuable fast travel resource.
After collecting ingredients, players can return to the witch's hut and get to work on casting magic through its giant cauldron. The spellbook will lay out intricate steps that players must work together to complete. For instance, one player can read off the steps from the spellbook, another can add resources from the base of the cauldron, while another uses their grappling hook to grab the ladle and swing around to stir. After the ritual is complete, the Tailwind potion can be used as a handy way to propel rafts or activate a zipline out in the world.
Windup's story isn't one of fairy tale magic, but rather of nature magic. After all, nature is its own magic. While the witch's illness presents a dire situation, Hela: Of Mice and Magic is a wholesome adventure at heart, one that can be played alone, locally with friends via drop-in and drop-out split-screen co-op, or online. There's no release date for Hela: Of Mice and Magic, but it's expected to arrive later this year on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
This preview is based on an early PC build played by the developers at an offsite location during Summer Game Fest. The final product is subject to change.
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Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?
