I'm new to VNs, the only ones I had tried before where Long Live the Queen and Doki Doki Literature Club, but neither of those are traditional VNs (especially Doki Doki...), so Heart of the Woods was my first traditional VN experience and it has left an incredibly great impression on me. It's well written, had great artwork, it's full of charm, has powerful and cathartic moments, and a wonderful cast of characters that I ain't gonna forget. It's a slow burn of a story, which worked very well in its favor as it made all the incoming plot developments feel all the more impactful. It also has a healthy dose of fanservice for gay girls like myself, so that's a big plus. Only real negatives i can think of are a few hiccups with musical transitions and the implentation of choices. While 95% of the story is set in stone, there are 3 choices sprinkled across the second half of the game and they determine which one of three endings you get, with the issue being that the first of these choices determines whether you unlock the "real" ending, but honestly there was little to no correlation between said choice and the ability to have that ending. It's not a major issue but I do recommend you just look up a spoiler free guide to just know which choices lead to the real ending (which is fantastic if I may add). Oh before I forget, the soundtrack is fantastic! Definitely a worthy pickup as an addon and extra support for the devs. All in all, I absolutely loved this story and I heartily recommend it.
