Year Walk is a game that will encourage you too look back at pagan history and rituals, it brings up something that seemed to have been common sense in the old days but is completely forgotten now.

After briefly reading articles I could find online on year walking it struck me how well they have combined the elements of all the "Watchers" and year walking and how they blend them well together sculpting it into a light horror/puzzle game.

So, what is Year Walk(the ritual)?
Year walking is ritual which could be viewed upon as a habit back in the days. The ritual can only be done on certain days of the year, these are very specific but it's written that the effect is stronger on new years eve. To start the ritual you have to stay inside for a day, no talking, no light, no food and then when night-time comes you venture out into the woods. What follows I don't know much about, although almost all my sources have a hing in common, there are 'beings' out in the woods which you as a year walker will come across. Further in common is at the end of the walk you must wander around a church and then a vision will appear, gaze into the future. How the vision is interpreted seems to be very varying.

What people might question is how the church got involved in something the seem so distant and far off pagan, the answer to that is based from after reading a text stating the ancient Nordic/Swedish beliefs inevitably fused, the Swedish trolls lived along with the beliefs of the church. As a personal guess I'd say that the church originally wasn't involved but as our beliefs converted so did the ritual.

Now that we've settled what Year Walking is, what about the game?
You play the game as Daniel Svensson in the fictitious woods of Vedtorp. The forest is a 2D side scroller in which you can forward and backward at specific spots, in the map you can access it is portrayed as islands in which you travel across. Move around and solve the puzzles in following order; Huldra, Brook horse, Mylings, Night Raven and the Church Grim. All of which can be found in Swedish folklore. Solve their puzzles to finish Daniel's story.

Once you've finished Daniel's story you'll get access to the good stuff, Theodor Almsten's journal.
Reading Theo's journal and connecting it with Daniel's is fun I've never been able to find again, how Theo is grasping year walkings connections with the universe and how it falls together is really intersting and keeps me hooked to this day after finishing the game for at least the 50th time.

When they finally connect you'll be able to get the true ending completing the story.

What makes this game as phenomenal as it is is how the game starts of being something you played and thought "oh that's cool I guess" to realizing how this is something that isn't just a game, something that's been practiced for hundreds of years. I cannot tell you wether year walking will get you anywhere, that is up to you to find out.

Pros: Good graphics that suits the game, fantastic sound effects along with music that can’t be found anywhere else and amazing story writing that’ll push you forward and keep you hungry for more.
Cons: The game is short and I could imagine some struggling with enjoying a second run of the game.

Summary: You could hardly find a more worthwhile 5.99€

Thanks
//HEL