Fans of cozy games, adorable critters, and the Redwall series rejoice! After many years of wishfully dreaming, NEARstudios (consisting of former Bioware and Bethesda developers) has brought us Hawthorn. While still very early in development, this little cozy town of critterfolk looks like something right out of a dream, absolutely making this game a dream come true for many. Gaining a start on Kickstarter, Hawthorn has absolutely crushed it's goals. Though the main campaign itself has ended, pledges are still open to try and hit some of the amazing stretch goals they have in place. One of the main goals they have in place, is the ability to cast some phenomenal and familiar voice talent many may be familiar with:

Kirsty Gillmore, as the voice casting and director.
Doug Cockle, the voice of Geralt in the Witcher games.
Erika Ishii, the voices of Rook, from Dragon Age: Veilguard and Valkyrie from Apex Legends.

With loads of talent at the ready, it's absolutely worth giving their Kickstarter a look, and considering supporting this amazingly ambitious project!

Welcome to Windermere! There's so much to do while you get ready for the festival!

 I was absolutely thrilled to be able to jump into this proof-of-concept demo. While limited in scope, it shows a lot of the thought and creativity the team behind Hawthorn brings to the table, as well as the immense amount of heart. A cast of avians, mice, otters and more greet you as you prepare for a festival and feast for the village of Windermere. Navigate through the beautiful village, bathed in a warm cozy light and get the potential aid of others to help you accomplish your tasks. Aide? What aide would one need, you might be asking? Well, selection when it comes to your species MATTERS.

Even as a proof-of-concept, the scenery alone is absolutely breathtaking. I spent plenty of time merely flying around, soaking it all in.

Fan of the skies? You might be able to said on the updraft, but you lack the hands to use tool and gather. You will need the assistance of mice and others to do it for you, be that a co-op partner, or an NPC. This is one of the core pieces I found in my time in Windermere: Teamwork. Working together to build warmth and community. While this is not the end all goal of the game itself (as there will be combat incorporated in further into development) it plays a huge role and it's what I find to be the overreaching tone of the entire experience.  

There is so much charm and character packed inside the village of Windermere. Everywhere you look there are beautiful little details that make it absolutely stunning.

Ultimately, this was a wonderful chance to dip a toe into one of the most anticipated games on my list. Much has yet to be incorporated, as thing like weather, as well as other things like home interiors. At this point, they have not yet been implemented, but they will be as things progress. Getting to enjoy this little "Slice of Life" section of the game really shows some of the fostered friendships you should have with characters throughout the game. It's pleasant and fun to have different animals swing by just to check in, or feed you a bit of gossip. While some systems still require a fair bit of tweaking, I found that being able to glimpse into the things to come is vastly exciting, and has me ready for more.

Please consider supporting the developers by visiting their Kickstarter HERE. Hawthorn is currently not in early access, and the game has no current release date. All images show are proof-of-concept, and are not representative of the final product.