The Wild at Heart

The Wild at Heart borrows several of its mechanics from Nintendo IP, there's no question about that. This could have presented a bit of a problem had it not been for the exquisite visual style and presentation, not to mention Moonlight Kids' excellent execution of those mechanics. With a story that's equal parts amusing, intriguing, and emotional, alongside genuinely stunning 2D visuals, you'll be sucked into this world in no time. Minor frustrations with combat and loading times aside, this is an adventure you'll be glad you embarked on.

The Wild at Heart is a fun, whimsical and challenging little action adventure game, largely thanks to its nicely-crafted puzzles, but it could have been a better adventure if it wasn't trying to cram in so much.

The Wild at Heart isn’t a game that rewrites gaming history, but it combines laid-back gameplay and clever puzzles with an emotional story set in a beautifully stylized world, which will make it grow on you. Although not everything is perfect, it gives you the freedom to explore at your own pace… and that’s precisely where its captivating power lies.

I am going to continue to explore to my own heart's content, and I look forward to finding every last treasure, missing cat, deep lore page, and mysterious secret. I wish there had been a little more care put into how the difficulty was handled, but even so, this was a really pleasant time. Hopefully this isn't the last we see of Wake and Kirby, as I expect that there is a lot of room for them to continue to grow into young adults, and there is room to perfect what is otherwise an enjoyable experience.

I enjoyed my time with The Wild at Heart. Though it is a relatively short single-player adventure clocking in between 12-20 hours (depending on how much of a completionist or trophy hunter you are), it is an entertaining experience all the way through. There are a couple of enemies and gameplay elements that when encountered the first time will likely cause a ‘death’ – which can be a little frustrating. However, once enemy patterns are learned and your collection of Spritelings is high you can instead focus your energy on the smart puzzles, endearing characters, excellent presentation and slightly tragic yet wholesome story.

The Wild at Heart tells a sweet story about magic, childhood, and friendship. With its enchanting music and gorgeous environments to explore, it's a beautiful adventure that will keep you captivated until the end. Having the spritelings to solve puzzles and fight for you is a really fun gameplay mechanic and adds lots of interesting dynamics to the puzzles. The Wild at Heart has plenty of secrets to discover and it's a real joy to try to uncover them all.

Part Pikmin with a splash of Metroid, The Wild at Heart takes these concepts but never utilises them to their full extent. That said, it is fun in short bursts when you need to unwind. With a touching plot and beautiful hand-drawn visuals, this is an impressive first outing for developers Moonlight Kids.

Just as it's wrong to say that a platformer with a platform-jumping character is just a Super Mario clone, it's wrong to say that The Wild at Heart is just a clone of Pikmin. Enjoy the adventure without constantly comparing the two. Everything is so well done that I'd love to see Nintendo entrust Moonlight Kids with a new Pikmin game.

Rarely is a game fun, beautiful and thought-provoking while being entertaining. The Wild at Heart does cover some heavy emotional threads while weaving them into a bright, bold and funny tapestry. New items and systems are introduced slowly and regularly, the puzzles are fun and there is always something to do. There are quests and objectives off the beaten path, secrets to find and weird characters to help. The Wild at Heart is a game I can recommend to just about anyone.

Sometimes all you need to get excited about a title are a few evocative words, commonly referred to as an “elevator pitch”...