Game Review: The Wild at Heart (Xbox Series X)

The Wild at Heart is an adventure video game that was developed by Moonlight Kids, it released in 2021. You play as a young boy named Wake who spends a lot of time by himself, lost in his imagination. Wake’s been gathering supplies to enact ‘The Plan’; to build a treehouse deep in the woods behind his home. However, he quickly gets turned around and an exciting new adventure unravels before him.

Wake Joins forces with his friend and neighbour, Kirby. The pair descend into the woods and encounter magical creatures, quirky characters, and a sinister darkness lurking in the shadows. You’ll traverse woods, caves, coastline, and more to unearth centuries of lore, various puzzles to solve, and secrets to shine a light on. It isn’t long before you encounter the adorable Spritelings. These cute creatures will quickly become your companions. They can be commanded to help you overcome the puzzles and enemies you’ll encounter. The Spritelings have a couple of variations with each one having a different speciality that you will need to utilize in order to progress. Also, Wake is equipped with a handy vacuum that can be used to solve puzzles, uncover hidden items and recover lost Spritelings.

You must not venture out at night time. There is an evil presence in the woods that would love nothing more than to gobble you and your Spritelings up. Items can be obtained and crafted at your campsite where you can sleep until morning. Also, this is where you can spawn as many Spritelings as you require.

Throughout your adventure, you encounter a number of colourful characters. Some of which will provide you with a side quest or two. At times, Wake or Kirby have dreams that hint towards the greater meaning for their desire to escape.

If Luigi’s Mansion & Pikmin had a baby, it would be called The Wild at Heart. Seriously, it’s like they took both of those classic Nintendo titles and slapped them together. This is by no means a criticism. As someone who plays exclusively on Xbox, it’s an absolute delight to play something so reminiscent to those loved games. The vacuum or Gustbuster functions exactly like Luigi’s Poltergust 3000. Then there’s the Spritelings who function just like Pikmin. You can throw them to pick up objects or attack enemies. I’m actually not sure how the developers got away with it to be honest.

Anyway, I loved this game. Not only for the reason stated above but for much more than that. Firstly, the visual style is stunning. It’s almost like a hand drawn children’s storybook come to life. Secondly, the gameplay is just so much fun. There’s a nice variety to the different areas of the whimsical world that force you think and utilise the Spritelings in different ways. However, it’s not particularly challenging which is great. The Wild at Heart is mostly a really calm and chilled experience. Well, other than when it gets dark which does add some wonderful tension to proceedings.

Some may find that the resource gathering can quickly lose appeal. Also, the crafting is kind of pointless if I’m being honest. If you’re hoping to be challenged then definitely look elsewhere.

The soundtrack is just delightful as well. It suits the game so much and hits at all the right moments. However, the story itself is another very strong aspect. You get a sense of why Wake or Kirby may be on this adventure. I mean, what kid doesn’t love exploring and they clearly have an amazing imagination. Still, you slowly get a sense that there is some more serious things going on in their lives. I won’t spoil anything but its some pretty powerful stuff that will draw an emotional response from most people. There’s a lot of clever metaphors at play here, it’s just so well done.

Man, what a fantastic video game this is. Be sure to check it out, it’s even on Game Pass! The Wild at Heart deserves more than simply being a hidden gem.