Over The Hills And Far Away

It was an enjoyable story that provided some insight into North America's history and Native American culture. The narrative was brief, which limited character development, and there were no choices to make throughout the game. The visuals were nice. Overall, it was a solid visual novel.

Short but (bitter)sweet VN. About 3 hours long, with a unique and rarely used setting of early 19th century america. Worth it for the price.

No choices, too long, cliche.

I love that this is set in the war or 1812, and it's somewhat educational. It is simply a visual novel, but it's very well made, the art is great and so is the soundtrack. I'll have to actually finish this one sometime soon.

*edit* Read / see all the things and you earn 100% completion rate. *Hit Staples button*

Do me a favor, do it, do it.

This is a lovely kinetic visual novel about a rogue redcoat making an unlikely friend in a young, Shawnee girl in the Michigan area during the War of 1812. It's a heartfelt slice of American historical fiction, and shows the cruelty of war for all involved, but particularly for Native Americans.

I wanted to love this game, I really did. But the glaring flaws with the story, alongside with the inconsistencies in plot and development only leave me wishing that the person who wrote this spent more time learning proper plot structure, than letting the musical work and art of others go to waste. The half baked and poorly delivered plot build up, to the main characters friend psychotic break and unrealistic development only destroyed whatever feeling I was meant to feel, when the forced death scene came around (I'll go into that plot thread later into the review)
Not even that was my major problem, but it was the fact that from a narrative standpoint, our character goes from someone we'd best believe and understand as an underdog, a man that overcomes all odds and turns a new leaf taking a deep plunge into a character arc that completes the story and leaves you with a bittersweet taste in your mouth.
Instead I get to see a coward, lead a 12 yearold girl to her death all so he can kill someone who was completely justified in wanting to end his life. (even this is debatable since the story doesn't add up and only exists to justify his obsession. This is itself is a gaping plothole.)
Am I really supposed to think, that this thief and murderer (Main character) Is supposed to be seen as a hero when he lets this young girl sacrifice herself over his own fuckup?
This alone also gets worsened, when you realise that her tribe is long dead and gone. Considering the betrayal that sent many a man to his death on the battle that caused the redcoats to desert. ON TOP of the fact that she herself explicitly stated that many were shot and wounded during her capture, making it unlikely and impossible for her tribe to have survived the raids and coercion into the war.
Even the main villain suffers from consistency issues, since he was supposed to be obsessed and abusive. The problem with this was, he was in part going above and beyond with his orders, and sending his men off into a death march into the woods with dwindling food and water reserves. Considering the redcoats desertion, and the broken morale. Even a bluecoat would've deserted. So it completely rocks off the hold and progress, that this man would've made to find and kill his own treatorous friend. Since his scouts and infantry would've left him out in the cold with a gunshot in his chest.
I can't even begin to get started with the confusing dream sequences that seemed to hint that the main character was developing feelings for this 12 yearold girl, only for the writer to realise this was looking really bad, then tip toe and dance away from the dream developments. Alongside the hinted at banter between the two that was only an inch closer to turning romantic, from platonic.
I'm sure that if he thought about this plot a lot more, we would've had this awesome two worlds collide, and interactions that would've left an impact. With a wounded soldier having to repent for past sins, while leaving impactful words on a girl seeing the world torn apart from the evils of man, and the destruction of her manipulated tribe.
But I received none of that, only a half cocked forced plot development. (Her death) and the forced revenge story from the main character (If you start at the beginning and pay attention, he's retelling a story of his partner leaving with half the loot, as he turns away from a life of crime and boards a ship that gets raided by the redcoats. This is the main development that forces him into the army.)
Her death, left me feeling sour for all the wrong reasons. I should've left crying, not asking why at every corner for how bad the developments were to that point, and how forced it was. I can't recommend this visual novel.

War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. A deserter with criminal history. A young and fearless Shawnee girl. Two people who have nothing in common ; yet, a life changing encounter.

Pros :

• Great writing and original context
  
• Experience the war of 1812 involving the United States and the British Empire and among others the cruelty of it
  
• Native American culture and language
  
• Beautiful artwork
  
• Fantastic immersive soundtrack
  
• A touch of humour
  
• Steam trading cards and achievements
  

Cons :

• A bit overpriced
  
• Only 2-3 hours long
  
• No choices to make
  
[*]There is only reading : if you don't like it, this game isn't for you

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1199789005

Despite my taste for reading, I've never been particularly drown to Visual Novels for a long time - probably because I didn't consider them exactly as games. Until one day I discovered The Huntsman : Winter's Curse : an excellent compromise between RPG and Visual Novel. It made me realize what a great adventure it can be : instead of staring at black on white books, you get to experience a story through not only text, but also pictures, musics, sounds, animations, sometimes even choices (note that it's not the case here); and that's what Over The Hills And Far Away has to offer : a marvelous and emotional tale to delight your mind, your eyes, your ears and your hearth.

I would definitely recommend Over The Hills And Far Away if you like Visual Novels, reading or great stories, especially if you can get it on sale. A longer story would have been nice, mostly because I'd like to know more about the Shawnee folklore. Also the last part feels a bit rushed and I was expecting more for this price. The journey would have been even better if we had the opportunity to make choices (maybe even alternative endings ?). However, this visual novel remains enjoyable all the way through - a fantastic story to remember.

This is a lovely kinetic visual novel about a rogue redcoat making an unlikely friend in a young, Shawnee girl in the Michigan area during the War of 1812. It's a heartfelt slice of American historical fiction, and shows the cruelty of war for all involved, but particularly for Native Americans.

Pros:
- Great writing
- Use of Shawnee language, culture, and folklore
- Emotionally charged ending
- Decent artwork
- A fair amount of humor

Cons:
- Too short (3 hours)

I definitely recommend it. It teaches the reader a little about the Shawnee people and elicits a sad realization of just how cruel white men were to Native Americans in those times.

Short, bittersweet, and savory.

Even though I've seen the ending from miles away, that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the journey itself. I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of it, although the only complain I might have is that the second half is kinda rushed and the end is a bit abrupt, though the build up until that point is kinda nice. Anyway, I thought it was interesting to see a VN set in the middle of Civil War and being no American myself, I have a little to no knowledge about the historical bit, only from what I've seen on the TV shows or any other works. Would definitely looking forward to see what WarGirl Games got in store for us in the future!

What I like about this game is the developer tend to stay away from cliche setting we often see in any other visual novels; highschool teens drama, instead it happens during the War of 1812 (a conflict between United States & British Empire), where the story focus on a British deserter & a young Indian girl.

While the story may be slow & lack of engaging dialogue for some players, the interaction between a rude & harsh soldier and a young but cunning Indian girl is well portrayed by how awkward but entertaining it can be. CG artworks are beautiful, but since the game is short, not so many places can be covered, which I find it disappointing. Among them, there is a villain character from different faction, which is well-portrayed based on his malice & grudge, enough to make me feel like punching him in the face.

For a short kinetic novel like this, I suggest you to buy this during sale.

Also, be prepared for whats coming, for you may not like where the story is leading.

'Over The Hills And Far Away' is a so called visual novel. It's the first I played and it was an amazing experience. Although there is no voice acting, only graphics, sound effects and music, and you have to read the story yourself, I felt extremely hooked to this game. The atmosphere totally grabbed me all through the story. This game is a piece of art and you won't forget Mai, the little injun girl, easily, once you completed the story. If you're English is good enough, please give this game a try. You won't regret it, promise!

Pros:
- brilliant soundtrack
- beautiful art
- powerful atmosphere
- very touching, funny and emotional story

Cons:
- makes a grown man cry

Very well executed VN about a time not talked about much. Hopefully we will see more of these from this developer.

I see many reviewers saying this is set during the American War for Independence - that's not correct. The story is set during the War of 1812, sometimes called the Second War of Independence. Aubrey says "this is the 1800s" as part of his dialog. Also, he refers to Chief Tecumseh being killed. Tecumseh was killed at the Battle of the Thames in October 1813.

Highly recommended VN.

Hard to review honestly. I enjoyed it more or less, but I can't say I'd encourage anyone else to play it.

I liked Mai, a lot, and since she's the focus for most of the game, it makes it only just playable enough. It'd be nice if it had more depth concerning her language and culture.
The main character though is frankly annoying to play as. Racist, self pitying and all around terrible. It was hard just go get through certain parts of it.

The game presents a few other characters but they're not worth mentioning really as they aren't presented in a way that really encourages the viewer to give a shit about them. Maybe if Aubrey actually told Mai about himself like he wanted to...

Good music, dialogue and art though. Nothing particularly amazing however and there's only a few actual fully illustrated scenes, the majority of the game just a portrait of Mai making cute facial expressions.

Personally, as someone who absolutely has no knowledge of the War of 1812, and someone who doesn't care about American history, I feel as though a lot of this was lost on me besides Aubrey whining about how war is hell.

There are a couple of things I should mention:

* Yes, this game is short. You can probably get through it in about an hour or two.
* It's literally Point A to Point B.
* There's next to no interaction, aside from advancing the text.

That said, however, this visual novel tells a beautiful and moving story. The bond between
the two main characters grows in spite of their bickering moments and acts of silliness, but
their friendship is deep and genuine. Beautiful visuals and music compliment the story, which
may bring tears to your eyes in the end. Recommended highly.

Over the Hills and far away is a story set in the year of 1812 of a british soldier who comes across a young native american girl named mai and their interactions.

This game is in the format of a visual novel, however the player does not get to pick options, and only has one ending.

Story 8/10 - The story was based more on the interactions between the main character Aubery and the native girl named mai. The story was very Sweet and sad, but was very short with only one ending.

Artwork 10/10 - The artwork throughout the game was very beautiful and vibrant. If your interested, the developers provided a bonus section in the game with scenes, trial artwork, and backgrounds.

Sound and music 10/10 - The music was enjoyable throughout the game along with the sound effects

Overall - I thought the game was great, however i would like to see an updated version with options and multiple endings, or even a second chapter. All in all, i think this game was a great play and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys visual Novels or short games they can run through quickly.

The way the story of this kinetic novel unfolds itself reminds me a bit of Planetarian. Great deal of the story is spent characters just chatting and building their relationship. In the very end of the story, there is a climax, which may (if you grew fond of the characters) leave you with tears in your eyes. Despite the emotional ending, I found the game a bit of…. boring. It is not a bad kinetic novel, but I just could not get interested in characters and I did not care very much what happened to them. The music and visual are however really well done and I especially enjoyed the soundtrack.
If someone were to ask me shoud they play the game, I would recommend it only if they like short, bittersweet stories, and do not mind a bit of amateurish writing. As such, I cannot recommend it for everybody.

Good visual novel, with a interesting story during the War of 1812 between American and English, telling about a english deserter. The artworks are pretty good and the music is beautiful, you finish the game in 6 hours I think for a native English speakers.

So for the no native English speaker like me (I'm french) I warn you, it's not a easy English, there are many words of argot and words we don't used to be see. For me I taked 10 hours to finish the game (many Alt+tab with Google Translate ^^). So If you want try, be motivated !

Relatively interesting and a gripping story with great characters that had depth. Unfortunately, I was able to beat this game in a little over two hours. Becuase of this aspect, there is no way to alter the game's abrupt and disappointing ending. This is the game's biggest drawback by far.

I could only recommend this game if caught on sale, like I did. Otherwise you're looking at $5/hour (if you're a quick reader) for what is essentially a short novel with pleasing artwork and a decent soundtrack.

I loved this kinetic VN. Not only the story and its characters were good and interesting, the art style, BG, BGM were also amazing. This game might seem a bit expensive, but at least to me, I think it’s worth paying the full price since it has a lot of positive points.

I hope to see more works from these developers soon!

8/10.

A good story/ game. It took me 4hrs, but i'm AFK a lot.
There are no choices to make, just click Auto, sit back & enjoy the story.
The art was nice, although there weren't very many different scenes.
The BGM was also good, fitting at times.
The Store page summarizes the plot, so read that.

A nice way to spend a few hrs on Sunday afternoon. 7/10

It is a very nice and touching visual novel, but there was just something that didn't connect with me to make it more emotional. Perhaps there wasn't enough time to become engrossed with the characters, which are written mostly well, but I felt I could have been more attached to the main duo. The plot with the villain is a little predictable, but still intense, and the overall narrative and message is a cruel (but brilliant) one. The music and art style is charming and both compliment each other perfectly.

Generally though, a nice and touching little visual novel.

The story is really... well. I can't find the word. Cute? Romantic? Yes, but not in a sexual-love or boyfriend-girlfriend love kind of way. Just. Romantic. No feelings attached.
I enjoyed every minute I spent in this, and I find it fully worth the price of 9 bucks I paid for it.

The setting is also something really new and fresh, and I found the story fit well into it. The Characters felt natural and not fake and flat. But I have to also disclaim that I am basing my experience with that on 'norma' novels, as I am not the most vivid player of VNs. But yeah.

Do I recommend this game?
Yep, I do. Fully.

I really enjoy the story to the point I didn't want to take screen shots of the last CGs to ruin it for other people (even with spoiler tag). Do feel for 13$ it is a bit on the short side of a story no real character development. For a VN if your looking for choices there is none it's a linear story but at the end I had mix feelings. It's a type of title would want to give a in between. I enjoy the music and writing I just don't feel there was enough of it. Would reccomend it to anyone if on a sale.

Since I wrote this review they did change the price of the game to $8.99 so would definatly reccomend to anyone who likes VN