A visual novel based on Goethe’s works of Werther makes for an interesting art-infused experience.
My family and I really enjoyed the Van Gogh Immersive Exhibit. It allowed us experience the artist’s work in an interactive way, surrounded by art, sound, lights, and a sense of awe. It’s a guided event, in that we follow Van Gogh’s creations as they work and weave through each other.
It’s terrific to see (I’d highly recommend it!) and while we don’t have that exposition in our homes yet, Mad Cream Games’ Painting Werther is slightly down the same path.
The interactive novel is a take on Goethe’s 18th century work The Sorrows of Young Werther, and loosely follows the exploits of a romantic as he enters a new town and falls into a sort of love triangle with a young woman and her beau. The plot unfolds as interactive art, with pieces seemingly ripped from across my $80 art history book in college. Neither Goethe nor the fictional Werther were the painters, but rather Mad Cream Games takes some of the most well known (and often public domain) pieces of art and utilizes them to explain the feelings and intentions of the lead as his story unfolds.
It’s an interesting avenue — there’s not the usual selection of text choices that we need to make, instead asking us to paint with a brush on a canvas or chip away at a marble block or sketch lines or tear pages. It’s part point and click adventure game and part hidden picture. Early on we need to illustrate an image, and to do so we first need to sketch geometric shapes on a blank canvas, followed by lines to unite the forms, followed by levels of ink and paint, until we have the final art. Once we’re complete, the piece comes to life with subtle, clean animations.
As someone who graduated doing this stuff, it’s actually a neat way to show the process, to the point where I feel like something like this could be used to augment an art history class in high school and get students aware of how different creative endeavors actually work together. Although one playthrough of Painting Werther might be enough once we unravel Werther’s story, it’s certainly a piece that I wouldn’t mind passing on to friends and family and kids to make their way through as well.
This review is based on a Steam code sent to SideQuesting by the publisher. It first appeared on the March 16, 2023 episode of The SideQuest. Images and video courtesy Mad Cream Games.
No Comments