Analysis of We Are the Guardians

Fight for a better world with We are the Caretakers

There are games that, beyond the pleasure they can offer, leave a memory or a unique experience. From a feeling that develops as you progress, to a morality that gives meaning to everything you have done. Others like We are the Caretakers go further and want to reflect a concern for wildlife where we should all be involved. More specifically, the study work heart shaped games he wants to open our eyes to the dirty smuggling of ivory tusks, furs and other objects that poachers obtain illegally. Do you want to fight this heinous movement?

Move quickly through the savannah

We are the Caretakers is a real-time strategy game combined with turn-based combat. Our goal will be to protect a sacred species called Raun from being poached. To do this, there will be no choice but to explore our vast territories in search of clues and enemies to put an end to their misdeeds. A story that little by little will develop through various acts that they classify as you were.

The whole game has a strong environmental character. With an aesthetic they call afrofuturist, we will have to face this neglect of Mother Earth with our warrior squads. We’ll be able to Move the groups through each scenario, completing the objectives that each mission gives us. Whether it’s finding the heads of poachers, clues that let us know where an animal is or deactivating energy sources to protect our territories.

Stop, you are under arrest!

By exploring the different areas of a map, we can find accessories, coins and other objects that improve our state. But you can also find enemies. When this happens, We’re going to start an easy-to-understand turn-based combat, but with some depth.

The enemies of We are the Guardians they have two health bars. You can attack your strength or your will in a manner very similar to that seen in Rogue Lords, a title that I also had the pleasure of analyzing. This will force us to have a balanced team, with characters more related to stamina damage, others that have a greater impact on willpower, and of course, others that manage other disciplines such as healing or support with amplifiers.

Once we lower one of the two life bars, the fight will still be active. At this moment of maximum weakness, we must consider whether to arrest him in order to bring him to justice, execute him or confiscate all his property. Each of these actions generates a certain reputation (positive or negative, depending on our choice) which will have an impact on the story in the long term. Will we be a feared and threatening tribe, or on the contrary will we earn the respect of the people by our fair and benevolent treatment? The personality we acquire in We are the Caretakers will be shaped by ourselves with our actions. And while in the end the mechanics don’t differ much depending on our morality, it’s always appreciated to take different stances.

Morality and ethics, before the judge

Once the exploration and combat phase is over, touches the direction of our base. It must be said that when I tried the game, the menus of these management screens were not yet well implemented. It’s obvious that We are the Caretakers is a PC-born proposition. In fact, it’s been in Early Access on Steam for a long time. It should be noted that the portability to consoles has not been developed properly, which affects agility and control.

If we managed to familiarize ourselves with this pantallas marabunta, we will be able to manage our teams and start trials if we arrest poachers in the previous phase. Without going too far into the class system, it’s nice that there are different roles for our soldiers and that they can evolve in their role as they gain experience. And be careful, because in these fast trials we can also perform bribes and “scams” which can affect our reputation. In our hands will be the decision to be a good or a bad person.

What’s wrong with this animal?

Taken together, it might seem like We are the Caretakers can be an enjoyable proposition, despite its flaws. But unfortunately, he fails to catch. Part of the blame lies in a rather poor visual section, with very crude animations in combat (and it’s in turn) or very small characters in moments of exploration. That’s not to mention the interface issues I mentioned earlier.

The textures are also conspicuous by their absence. To give a quick example, in our team we can equip a Raun, and seeing it up close in a confrontation against other enemies is quite an experience… And so with anything a little closer than normal . I don’t know if they haven’t finished polishing the game yet, but It could use another layer of textures and physics.

Another aspect that may be controversial is the excess of inclusive language that the game wants to offer. It seems very good to me that they deal with such important issues as the care of nature, or that there are no senseless deaths and that everything goes through the hands of a court. It’s a message you don’t always see in this video game world except in rare cases. But Introducing a neutral language like “les guerreres détenides”, “une juez” or even applying it to fictitious animals like “une Raun” seems excessive to me. It’s hard to read like that, and we don’t know if it’s a translation problem or if it’s done on purpose by the studio.

Conclusion of We Are the Guardians

Heart Shaped Games wanted to develop an idea that goes beyond the video game itself to make us think about climate change and respect for nature. With a theme they call afrofuturist, the proposal mixes elements of our team management with exploration and turn-based combat. The result could be interesting, but it leaks from several sides.

To begin with, visually, it is not up to par. There are texture bugs, poor combat physics, and modeling repetitions. Add to that a poor interface when porting from PC to consoles, and the experience ends up being bittersweet. And be careful, because not everyone will agree with the inclusive language they want to pour out all the time, because it’s sometimes hard to read. Hopefully the studio manages to fix all the flaws I mentioned. If so, surely more than one will be trapped by its history and its mechanics.