Recent reviews by elmkit

WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition (WQ, WQ:AE) is an amazing wildlife simulator game with an interesting core gameplay loop and basically infinite replay value. The amount of care put into WolfQuest over many years clearly shows, and this iteration of the game is the series at its absolute best. If you're interested in making varied, unique stories with your wolves, the beautiful ecology of Yellowstone, or just a challenging game, WolfQuest could be the next thing you sink 100+ hours into.

I started playing WolfQuest like many others did, in the early 2010's with the 2.7 (or "Classic") version. I have ~54 hours in that version at the time of writing, and enjoyed every minute. As an animal lover and nature appreciator, WolfQuest was an easy choice of a game to play with my friends after school or during summer break, but even as friend groups passed and I got older, I still enjoyed playing. My fervor for not only the Classic version but also the Anniversary Edition is so strong that I even took a selfie with a WQ poster at the Minnesota Zoo!

WolfQuest: AE improves on every single aspect that its earlier versions introduced. For one, WolfQuest: AE is a finished game, going beyond just loafing at the Rendevous Site- now, that is only around halfway through one year in your wolf's ~8 year life. The loop of hunting, marking territory, and going back to your pups is still intact, but is now even more interesting and engaging, with everything from the graphics to the NPC AI to the music being improved.

The two new quests added after loafing at the Rendezvous Site are perhaps the most emotional, as your pups grow into adults. The first time I finally got to the Young Hunters quest and heard the music for it, I cried like a baby. But I noticed that my enthusiasm over so many days of playing waned around certain points; as other reviews mentioned, the game can get tedious and repetitive at times. Personally, I find my excitement troughs heading into a new year with the quest Raise Pups, as well as during nearly the entirety of the quest Growing Pups. These troughs are short-lived, however, and are only a blip in the overall Saga.

Speaking of, the most interesting thing about WQ:AE is the Saga- that is, living out your wolf's life year by year and eventually playing as your own descendants; watching the landscape change, watching your pack grow and shrink, etc- it adds a layer of story to the game that was not there previously. The replay value of WQ:AE comes from not only living out the lives of your wolf and their lineage, but also from the various maps available (base game and DLC alike), all of which are beautiful and varied. Different maps host different landmarks, different packs, and different distributions of animals, making each Saga within them unique.

I cannot recommend this game enough for those who played the older versions; WQ:AE is the fulfillment of those promises, now completely realized and ready for you to enjoy. For others who are new, WolfQuest is an educational simulator, with both the ruthlessness and beauty of life in Yellowstone. If you can get behind the rote routine (hunt, mark territory, feed pups, repeat) of a simulated wild wolf, you can make something meaningful out of WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition.

i am just a funky little cowboy