When you first see the visuals and scenes from NEARstudios’ upcoming cooperative sandbox RPG sim Hawthorn, it’s immediately apparent how much care has been taken to instill the experience with the feeling of being nestled into the wondrous, cozy nature sanctuary the game takes place in. In it, you’ll take on the role of a woodland creature (an owl, mouse, or otter) who is an integral part of this little community of anthropomorphic animals and fairy creatures. You can play the game solo or cooperatively, with everyone able to work together on recipes, building plans, and more to provide for your hearths.
In the proof-of-concept demo available for Steam Next Fest, you’ll use your species’ special skills, along with help and advice from the rest of the delightfully individualized townsfolk, to put on an Evening Feast that the whole group needs to work together to prepare for. Throughout the couple of hours I spent with the playtest, I was pleasantly surprised by how functional the main gameplay system worked. Collective gathering and building, which had all of the NPC animals helping harvest and build whatever furniture or cooking dishes I put on “work order” for the town, made the experience in this survival sim uniquely pleasant by allowing me to continue exploring and playing without having to solely focus on completing a blueprint or recipe I’d placed in the world to finish. My buddies would immediately get on searching out necessary crafting materials or ingredients once I decided on what I wanted to make.
For the feast, you’ll have to set up a table, chairs, and figure out what three food dishes you want to prepare. To do this, you’ll have to chat up the locals, each of which has their own specific personality to dig into. Conversations range from the casual to the deep, with the vast opportunity for story and lore exploration filling me with anticipation for what this writing team can do with this world filled with potential. There’s an old English countryside vibe to it all, including with how each character talks. Now, sure, those chats are portrayed only with animal-specific caws, chitters, and squeaks, but that just makes it all feel so delightfully organic. You’re just as animalistic as everyone else in town, each with their own jobs to do and skills to maximize.
You can also ask each of these fellow animals to help you with jobs. For example, only animals with paws can carry around axes, knives, and tools that require holding. While a flying animal, like an owl, can quickly travel around the lands. You can also target specific items, like twigs, crops, and more for your temporary companion to bring back to your collective town storage. There’s also a fishing system, and as an otter, I had the joy of swimming around after fish and nabbing them out of the water with my mouth. Truly wish more games had this feature.
Hawthorn has a crowdfunding campaign that hopes to help this independent team of developers from Bethesda, BioWare, and Naughty Dog bring the game to new heights, and this demo is only a taste to show the beginning of what Hawthorn started out as. There will soon be a current build available to backers, and we’re excited beyond measure with what possibilities this world that’s being crafted holds.
