PEGBRJE: An American Werewolf in LA and The Witches Tea Party
Short and punchy vs Long and plot-ty. Take your pick!
An American Werewolf in LA is an arcade beat ’em up made by PlayMedusa, an indie studio and one of the remaining bastions of creating physical games out of the Canary Islands. Serving as a ‘spiritual successor’ to the cult classic film ‘An American Werewolf in London’, players follow David Landis as he attempts to run to LA to become a professional surfer. Unfortunately for him, both he and his girlfriend Clementine are teenagers and they are both quite impulsive, so she jumps in his convertible to join him — hang on, where’s the unfortunate part? Turns out Clementine’s dad is the sheriff of their tiny town, and David is a werewolf. Cue the music, because that’s a setup for some good ol’ beatdowns.
In traditional arcade fashion, players will be controlling David through simplistic controls centred around a joystick and two buttons in order to defeat the waves of enemies that will continually spawn until time runs out. David can run back and forth while pressing upwards to jump — holding upwards makes the jump larger — so that he can get in to position to punch the lights out of everyone who approaches. The other button involved is a guard, which allows for our werewolf friend to take reduced damage from oncoming attacks while pressing a direction with the guard will give a quick dash. There is also the added mechanic of regeneration, which requires players to input absolutely nothing before kicking in after a short delay; this creates the risk vs reward gameplay that is synonymous with retro arcade titles. Since the point is to recreate classic feelings and limitations, mechanics need to be implemented in ways that remain within these constraints. Players want to heal after taking damage, but remaining still will cause the enemies to make their way over to beat up David, while also allowing them to amass in numbers. Deciding when and where to heal is crucial to surviving the 2 minutes.
An American Werewolf in LA is a short romp through the United States, covering 5 locations as players go beating up the local law enforcement and werewolf haters to make it to LA. If you’re looking for that sweet arcade recreation experience steeped in the style and aesthetic of a cult classic film then this is definitely something worth checking out. It even has local co-operative so that you and a buddy can beat up people together, just like the arcade machines intended it. If you’re a bit more hesitant on the arcade titles, this might not tickle your fancy right away, but it will definitely be something worth checking out if you have a friend. The soundtrack alone makes it worth just putting on in the background.
The Witches Tea Party is a narrative thriller made by RabbitonGames, a solo indie dev out of the United Kingdom with a penchant for puzzles and plot. In this particular tale, players will follow a young witch named Charlotte as she visits the other witches of Earth for a tea party, only for disaster to strike at every turn. It’s up to Charlotte — for some reason, the youngest always needs to do the work — to solve the mysteries while learning about the other witches and the plots that exist underneath.
In an interesting twist, The Witches Tea Party is part visual novel, part adventure title as players control Charlotte as not only for her dialogue, but also for where she goes and when. During conversations, decisions can appear that can alter the flow of the game depending on where the dialogue occurs and if it flags certain states; for example, Charlotte accusing herself in Chapter 1, which I just had to do, is an immediate bad. This ‘murder mystery’ is on the lighter side to allow for greater focus on the plot and characters, but having a ‘who donit’ sequence of events at the end that can alter the game is a nice touch. The more investigative aspects of a visual novel, normally done through decision-based menus, is instead done in the mansion itself with free movement. Players can run around as Charlotte and company while she accepts quests from other members of the mansion and attempts to fulfill them. This can involve finding items and delivering them, cooking food in the kitchen and even a bit of potion brewing to really get in to the witchy spirit. Items collected can also be combined with others if possible, giving some ‘point and click’ adventure style gameplay as this new item will usually assist in whatever quest Charlotte is on.
Exploration is also how players can interact and learn about the characters of the title, which help to flesh out the world that is being crafted. Charlotte herself is exactly what one might expect from a rambunctious teenager, especially when surrounded by individuals that look her age, but are in fact possibly centuries older. Vanessa is a companion that players will find themselves teaming up with constantly as she is Charlotte’s first ‘friend’ and helps out with the mysteries and exploration a bunch. While timid, she is one of the more outgoing of the cast that fits within the ‘age range’ of Charlotte, for Mirabel and Stephanie barely say a word to any others while being on opposite ends of the personality spectrum. That leaves Renee, who appears nearly immortal yet behaves much like how a terrifying child would appear, but with more of a tendency for cruel pranks. I highlight these members as I saw them as the core of the experience as Charlotte gravitates to them as possible friends to make, for much of her feelings and plot are centred on the loneliness that comes with living amongst humans while pretending to be one, only to arrive at a party and find herself still feeling like the odd one out. Many of the choices players make can change how her relationships with each of these witches— and the elders — can be changed, so tread lightly and try not to ask them all for their ages. Even if each character has multiple pieces of information to unlock, I can confidently state that their age isn’t one of them.
Now the experiences I highlighted above are just the start, for The Witches Tea Party is not a short title; it features 4 Chapters to maneuver through, each with their own conflict to resolve and side quests to achieve. The chapters can vary in length depending on choices and personal playstyle preference, with each taking me roughly an hour to complete. There’s also multiple endings to acquire that all depend on choices made, so you can find out just how many ways this tea party can go awry. If you love soft aesthetics mixed with a fantastical plot that allows you to go out and explore the setting, then this might be exactly for you. Do keep in mind that it is still a heavy narrative title, so don’t be expecting any sort of cool magical violence. At least, not from Charlotte, anyway.
