History VisualNovel / HeartOfTheWoods

''Heart of the Woods'' is a UsefulNotes/RenPy-based [[YuriGenre Yuri]] VisualNovel made by Creator/StudioElan released on February 15th 2019. The game is currently available for PC through [[https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods Itch.io]] and [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/ Steam,]] with a version for the Nintendo Switch released on July 8th, 2021. [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vnstudioelan/heart-of-the-woods-voice-acting-and-merchandise A successful Kickstarter campaign was held in October of the same year to fund a patch to add voice acting to the game.]] A spinoff game titled, "[[https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/i-told-you-so I Told You So]]" features four episodes, one of which takes place before the game, and three of which take place after the good ending.

* TheLostWoods: The woods around Eysenfeld are easy to get lost in, but if you have the area you want to go to in mind, you'll almost always get there. Also returning back home never takes more than fifteen minutes.

''Heart of the Woods'' is a UsefulNotes/RenPy-based [[YuriGenre Yuri]] VisualNovel made by Creator/StudioElan released on February 15th 2019. The game is currently available for PC through [[https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods Itch.io]] and [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/ Steam,]] with a version for the Nintendo Switch released on July 8th, 2021. [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vnstudioelan/heart-of-the-woods-voice-acting-and-merchandise A successful Kickstarter campaign was held in October of the same year to fund a patch to add voice acting to the game.]] A spinoff game titled, "[[https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/i-told-you-so I Told You So]]" features three episodes, one of which takes place before the game, and two of which take place after the good ending.

* ComicalOverreacting: Not long after they arrive at the cabin, Maddie hears Tara scream bloody murder and runs into the living room, only to discover that’s just her reaction to realizing there’s no phone signal or wi-fi. The kicker is [[NotSoAboveItAll Maddie is actually is pretty horrified to realize this too.]]

* CuteMute: Abigail can't talk to living people so she just talks through hand motions and pointing at things. Madison gets Abigail's name by bringing over a book of baby names and asking Abigail to point at her name.

** When she first gets a good look at Abigail, one of the first things Maddie notices is how [[spoiler: her eyes reminds her of Morgan's.]]

* GuideDangIt: Getting the true ending. There are only three decisions in the game, but they don't quite work the same way as in other visual novels. The choices you make for the first two decisions have barely any noticeable impact on their own, but, when paired together[[labelnote:Example(spoilers)]]For example, "I should let her mourn" and "She'll pay for this" has the same effect as "I need to be strong for her" and "There's nothing we can do"-unlocking the choice necessary for the good ending[[/labelnote]] determine which options are available to you in the third decision, and that choice will determine your ending. Not only is the third choice seemingly innocuous, since it's just Morgan responding to Madison, but the distinctions between the choices aren't immediately obvious[[labelnote:The choices(MAJOR SPOILERS)]]If you choose "I'll keep Tara safe," or "One way or another, it ends tonight," you will get the "Freedom" ending Geladura will die and Madison and Abigail will disappear- these two choices may be the only ones available. If you choose "I'll make it up to you," you will get the "Sacrifice" ending, in which Morgan will sacrifice herself to defeat Evelyn. If you choose "You're right," all the protagonists live[[/labelnote]]. See the flowchart of your choices [[https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1811776293 here]].

* TheLostWoods: The woods around Eysenfeld are easy to get lost in, but if you have the area you want to go to in mind you'll almost always get there. Also returning back home never takes more than fifteen minutes.

** For all of Chapter 1 and much of Chapter 2, Madison is the POV character. The player gets to see her desire to take control of her life again after giving so much of it to ''Taranormal'', of her frustration at the idea of spending so much time and money on a wild goose chase(and at Morgan for inviting them to Eysenfeld), and feeling hurt when Tara freezes her out. That said, she also realizes that she isn't being fair to Tara or Morgan, especially when Tara is taking on all the costs of the trip while still paying Madison for her time in Eysenfeld.

* {{Transgender}}: Tara came out and transitioned in high school. Most of her friends abandoned her as a result, and Madison was the only one who stuck around.

* BittersweetEnding: Two of the {{Multiple Endings}} fall into this category, as does one of the unused endings, since [[spoiler:Evelyn is defeated, but at the cost of one or more characters' lives]].

-> ''"Without sound, ''\\

** Maddie is a big fan of Film/TwoThousandAndOneASpaceOdyssey and has watched it multiple times.

** Maddie is a big fan of Film/TwoThousandAndOneASpaceOddysey and has watched it multiple times.

** Maddie is a big fan of Film/2001ASpaceOdyssey and has watched it multiple times.

* ShoutOut: In Chapter 1, Maddie says that Morgan’s stories make their paranormal show look like Franchise/ScoobyDoo.

''Heart of the Woods'' is a UsefulNotes/RenPy-based [[YuriGenre Yuri]] VisualNovel made by Creator/StudioElan released on February 15th 2019. The game is currently available for PC through [[https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods Itch.io]] and [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/ Steam,]] with a version for the Nintendo Switch announced on June 19, 2019. [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vnstudioelan/heart-of-the-woods-voice-acting-and-merchandise A successful Kickstarter campaign was held in October of the same year to fund a patch to add voice acting to the game.]] A spinoff game titled, "[[https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/i-told-you-so I Told You So]]" features three episodes, one of which takes place before the game, and two of which take place after the good ending.

''Heart of the Woods'' is a UsefulNotes/RenPy-based [[YuriGenre Yuri]] VisualNovel made by Studio Élan released on February 15th 2019. The game is currently available for PC through [[https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods Itch.io]] and [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/ Steam,]] with a version for the Nintendo Switch announced on June 19, 2019. [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vnstudioelan/heart-of-the-woods-voice-acting-and-merchandise A successful Kickstarter campaign was held in October of the same year to fund a patch to add voice acting to the game.]] A spinoff game titled, "[[https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/i-told-you-so I Told You So]]" features three episodes, one of which takes place before the game, and two of which take place after the good ending.

** Bad Ending 1: [[spoiler:Madison and Tara welcome Abigail to their home. Madison feels guilty about Morgan's death, but Abigail reassures her that Tara doesn't hate her. Madison tries to bridge the gap between her and Tara, and Tara is receptive.]].
** Bad Ending 2: [[spoiler:Tara returns home, informs Madison's loved ones of her disappearance and quits Taranormal. Years later, she and Morgan get married.]]
** Good Ending: [[spoiler:The four friends go to the beach together.]]

** Morgan is The Hanged Man. This can be a reference to how Morgan hopes to eventually cut ties with her past and leave Eysenfeld behind, or [[spoiler: her sacrificing herself to defeat Evelyn in one of the bad endings.]]

''Heart of the Woods'' is a [[YuriGenre Yuri]] VisualNovel made by Studio Élan released on February 15th 2019. The game is currently available for PC through [[https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods Itch.io]] and [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/ Steam,]] with a version for the Nintendo Switch announced on June 19, 2019. [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vnstudioelan/heart-of-the-woods-voice-acting-and-merchandise A successful Kickstarter campaign was held in October of the same year to fund a patch to add voice acting to the game.]] A spinoff game titled, "[[https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/i-told-you-so I Told You So]]" features three episodes, one of which takes place before the game, and two of which take place after the good ending.

** Ending 1: [[spoiler:If you choose "I'll make it up to you," Geladura returns to her true Fairy Queen form, and Maddie and Abigail are given normal, living human bodies, but Morgan sacrifices herself to kill Evelyn, resulting in Tara being completely emotionally devastated and depressed on the train ride home. She's also jealous of Maddie and Abigail's happiness, and hates herself for feeling this way. Maddie blames herself for this due to hesitating to kill Evelyn earlier, and thinks Tara hates her now, but Abigail assures her that she doesn't. As a result, there ends up being another rift between Tara and Madison, but Madison holds out hope that their relationship will mend in time.]]
** Ending 2: [[spoiler:If you choose, "I'll keep Tara safe," or "One way or another, this ends tonight," Geladura sacrifices herself to kill Evelyn. Because of this, Maddie is now stuck as the Fairy's Queen thanks to the agreement they made earlier, and her, Abigail and the Fairies vanish from sight without even getting to say goodbye to Tara and Morgan. Tara goes into a grieving spiral and eventually informs her fan base and Maddie's family of her "Death", with the latter breaking off contact with her, while Morgan blames herself for all of this. Tara also quits ''Taranormal'' and moves on to other projects. Eventually they move out of Maddie's house due to painful memories, and the epilogue has Morgan getting accepted by Tara's family and the two of them getting married while Morgan internally thanks Maddie, Abigail and Geladura for making this possible.]]

* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:Geladura vs. Evelyn. On the route to the bad ending in which Geladura dies, she still has enough strength to kill Evelyn with a single spell before she expires. On the good ending route, she takes down Evelyn with just as little effort]].

* GuideDangIt: Getting the true ending. There are only three decisions in the game, but they don't quite work the same way as in other visual novels. The choices you make for the first two decisions have barely any noticeable impact on their own, but, when paired together[[labelnote:Example(spoilers)]]For example, "I should let her mourn" and "She'll pay for this" has the same effect as "I need to be strong for her" and "There's nothing we can do"-unlocking the choice necessary for the good ending[[/labelnote]] determine which options are available to you in the third decision, and that choice will determine your ending. Not only is the third choice seemingly innocuous, since it's just Morgan responding to Madison, but the distinctions between the choices aren't immediately obvious[[labelnote:The choices(MAJOR SPOILERS)]]If you choose "I'll keep Tara safe," or "One way or another, it ends tonight," Geladura will die and Madison and Abigail will disappear- these two choices may be the only ones available. If you choose "I'll make it up to you," Morgan will sacrifice herself to defeat Evelyn. If you choose "You're right," all the protagonists live[[/labelnote]]. See the flowchart of your choices [[https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1811776293 here]].

* KindheartedCatLover: All four of the main characters. Madison and Tara have a cat named BT, Morgan has a cat named Geladura, and while Abigail doesn't have any pets, she has an affinity for animals and hits it off well with BT [[spoiler:in the ending in which Morgan dies]]. Contrast Evelyn, a JerkAss who hates Geladura.

* MultipleEndings: There are three different endings (two bad endings and one GoldenEnding) based on what choices the player makes.

** In Chapter 6, these lines of dialogue reveal that [[spoiler:the player got one of the bad endings]].

* BoyMeetsGhoul: The main couple is Madison, a living woman, and Abigail, a CuteGhostGirl.

* RealityEnsues:
** As a result of trying to videotape the forest spirit during a snowstorm (which results in poor visibility and Tara's hands shaking due to the cold), Tara and Madison only have a few seconds of usable footage. Madison anticipates that she and Tara will be subject to intense scrutiny and people will accuse them of doctoring the footage, but still believes that they'll become famous. [[spoiler:Then the footage ends up becoming corrupted, likely due to Evelyn's interference.]]
** Abigail, having died 200 years ago, doesn't have any documentation. In the good ending, [[spoiler:Tara has to forge it for her before they leave Eysenfeld.]]
** Abigail didn't have time to get dressed before her death, so [[JacobMarleyApparel she wears a simple gown]]. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:her clothes aren't nearly warm enough for winter, so Madison has to loan Abigail some clothes when Madison is returned to life.]] Since Madison is a bit taller than Abigail, her clothes don't fit Abigail all that well.

* {{Transgender}}: Tara came out and transitioned in high school.

'''''Heart of the Woods''''' is a [[YuriGenre Yuri]] VisualNovel made by Studio Élan released on February 15th 2019. The game is currently available for PC through [[https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods Itch.io]] and [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/ Steam,]] with a version for the Nintendo Switch announced on June 19, 2019. [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vnstudioelan/heart-of-the-woods-voice-acting-and-merchandise A successful Kickstarter campaign was held in October of the same year to fund a patch to add voice acting to the game.]] A spinoff game titled, "[[https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/i-told-you-so I Told You So]]" features three episodes, one of which takes place before the game, and two of which take place after the good ending.

** Abigail didn't have time to get dressed before her death, so [[JacobMarleyApparel she wears a simple gown]]. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:her clothes aren't nearly warm enough for winter, so Madison has to loan Abigail some clothes when Madison is returned to life.]]