Playing the game in WWII seems like a safe and uninspiring choice, it’s a McDonald’s of sorts in historical locations. While the ingredients are as beloved and timeless as ever, we find plenty of casualties and shots inspired by duty and honor, and we’ve played so many times between 1939 and 1945 that it’s starting to lose some of its impact. Thankfully, that’s not the case with Gerda: A Flame in Winter, a new title from Copenhagen studio PortalPlay and the first external game published by Don’t Nod, the original creators of the Life is Strange series. Set in World War II, this narrative adventure shows great courage in trying to bring more color to the conflict that is often (and in some cases rightly) seen in black and white.
One of the first adjectives I would use to describe the protagonist, the young nurse Gerda, would be brave. Living in Tinglev, Denmark near the German border, he has to escape many horrors of war and even has a strained civil relationship with the German occupation. Everything changes when her husband Anders is arrested for being a member of a local resistance group. Gerda, who has pledged loyalty to him, must do whatever it takes to free her husband by writing history that will be full of important and burdensome decisions.
After playing the game I spoke to the developers and they told me that one of the main inspirations were Eastern European games like Stalker and Pathologic. That seems surprising at first. Gerda: A Flame in Winter doesn’t have that madness and ambition for expansion like that kind of title, and it’s fortunately much more polished, with a few minor flaws, than I saw when I tried it. However, after playing this 6-7 hour adventure in its entirety, I feel inspired in several ways.
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First of all, the developers have put a lot of effort into bringing a local flavor to the game, and I’m not just referring to the so-called sønderjyske kaffebord, which consists of a whopping 21 different cakes! Some radios play Danish songs and sights such as the church, train station and inns are faithfully reproduced. The overall style is inspired by Nordic impressionist paintings and looks great once you get used to it. Atmospheric lighting inspired by the famous Skagen painters along with some somber piano tracks give a hopeful tone to a rather melancholic adventure.
Gerda: A Flame in Winter features an interesting cast of characters. The game takes place in February 1945, just before the end of the war after 5 years of adversity, so there is a lot to learn in relation to previous deals like Liva, resistance fighter, or Mr. Vestergaard, controversial industrial entrepreneur. This isn’t just a text filler in the game journal. With scarce food and staples, everything in Gerda serves as a resource. Also the information that allows you to pressure the characters and thus discover new dialogue options.
Of course, there are also physical items like band-aids, clothing, radio parts, food stamps, and more to discover as you explore. This can be used to ease the pain of a struggling shelter, but be careful because altruism comes at a price, and it might be more useful to use them later to bribe officials. Even your skill points (Compassion, Sanity, and Cunning) aren’t permanent stats, but rather resources to draw on as Gerda mentally exhausts herself to survive. It’s great gameplay that reflects the harsh realities of the crew and the game really stands out in its overall design.
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Because of these resource management elements, the game has been placed in the RPG-Lite, a genre also alluded to in the high perspective choice seen in classic CRPGs like Fallout. This is reflected in various skill tests that you must perform in crucial dialogues or risky actions. Part of the odds of success is based on luck and part on the relationships you have with nationalities (Germany and Denmark), factions (Occupation and Resistance) as well as characters that have relevant variables that are clearly stated. .
In a way, this is the only real mechanic in the game, as the studio decided not to include any puzzles, quick events, or action sequences of any kind. Instead, the core mechanics (skill checks and dialogue selection) are intelligently expanded to cover different genres such as stealth or action. For example, during a particularly exciting sequence early in the game I had to sneak through a dark building and each failed skill check would add up to a detection meter. I really appreciate this design as it gives you excitement without turning Gerda into an action hero or a Sherlock Holmes remaster.
A minor complaint would be that the RPG mechanics behind it are a bit abrupt at times. At times it feels like you’re playing a spreadsheet, with the numbers constantly going up and down depending on the dialog choices you make. I personally think it’s too much, but I understand what they’re trying to do: that every single small decision counts.
And to be honest, it often is. If you’re fed up with games that don’t react to your decisions, you’ll love Gerda: A Flame in Winter. You choose where you go, who you help, and all of this will affect what happens next, and the studio does a great job trying to piece it all together for an exciting finale. At one point I wore a small pin with the Nazi insignia for easy access to the local Gestapo headquarters, only to be scolded later as this story had spread throughout the small town. After that I packed some chocolate (for the poor and hungry of course) and ended up insulting my friend when she offered me another piece and found the box empty.
Small details like this make the world feel alive. And, of course, major decisions are often extremely difficult. Are you stealing penicillin for a homeless Jewish boy, or bribing a soldier who could help you free your husband? Whatever you do, there is no right answer and it is impossible to save or help everyone, reflecting the brutal reality of the game world.
If you’ve made it this far, it probably comes as no surprise to say that I loved Gerda: A Flame in Winter. Very much. It’s one of those titles where you feel like every element (be it world design, gameplay, or graphics) is bespoke, rather than just appealing to a specific demographic.
That means it’s not a perfect game. A few more moments of clandestine exploration, or more dialogue not necessarily related to the war or the disputes between the Danes and Germans, would have provided some of the quieter moments that I feel are necessary for the happier parts of The Walking Dead . And significantly, this would have added a few more hours to a game that seems a bit short considering what’s going on. Also, there were some areas of the presentation that I didn’t really like, like some UI elements and character portraits that didn’t match the overall art style. These are minor blemishes, but overall it’s an excellent title and I’d highly recommend it for anyone interested in narrative adventure or WWII.
