Gerda: A Flame in Winter Reviews

Gerda: A Flame in Winter is ranked in the 86th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8 / 10.0
Sep 1, 2022

Gerda: A Flame in Winter tells an intimate tale of love and sacrifice, and forces you to make difficult decisions you often struggle to make.

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7.5 / 10.0
Jun 13, 2023

Gerda: A Flame in Winter - Liva's Story examines the harsh realities of conflict from WWII with some fantastic writing and tough decisions.

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Sep 1, 2022

It will never not be uncomfortable to see genocide and any kind of game mechanics on screen at the same time. But Gerda avoids this as best it can, offering us a game that puts history at the forefront, understanding that nothing else is more important. It’s an uncomfortable journey, but one that shows what RPG-lites are capable of.

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9 / 10
Sep 1, 2022

Buoyed by consistently strong writing, Gerda: A Flame in Winter handles its compelling narrative with aplomb.

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Unscored
Sep 1, 2022
Gerda: A Flame in Winter | Review in 3 Minutes video thumbnail
84%
Sep 1, 2022

Deep characters lure you into a razor-sharp tale of difficult decisions and hidden intrigue from a frightening, divisive time in history.

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8.5 / 10.0
Sep 2, 2022

Gerda: A Flame in Winter is a must play if you're a fan of well-thought out choices matter RPG games like Disco Elysium. Not only will you get a nail-biting story with high stakes, you'll come out knowing a plethora of historical details and challenges of the Danish people during WW2. You will come to love or hate the cast of characters, depending on what pathway you choose, but there are endless possibilities because of the games re-playability. Persevere if your first playthrough is not everything that you imagined, because Gerda: A Flame in Winter gets better and better the more you play.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 20, 2022

Gerda: A Flame in Winter is an interactive novel featuring well-written dialogue and varied pathways, coupled with simple RPG elements. Much like a good book, this is one game that's hard to put down.

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8.5 / 10.0
Sep 25, 2022

Gerda is an excellent adventure set in WWII, that depicts an eye-opening perspective on the conflict and the nazi occupations.

Review in Italian | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Jun 3, 2023

Gerda: A Flame in Winter offers an intricately woven and nuanced story of bravery, compassion and what it takes to be kind in a hostile environment.

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70 / 100
Sep 6, 2022

Gerda: A Flame in Winter offers a somewhat optimistic glimpse at the lives of ordinary folks caught in the war. It will push players to decide where their loyalties lie, though the drama of conversation is often lost for the sake of an RPG point system.

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Loved
Sep 1, 2022

Overall I thoroughly recommend Gerda: A Flame in Winter as a bold branching adventure game which is keen to tell the story of a relatively unknown part of the Second World War, in a mature and thoughtful manner. The in-game glossary helps to explain a lot of the historical backstory, as well as educate players in an elegant fashion. I’m looking forward to seeing what stories PortaPlay might decide to tackle next.

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3 / 5.0
Sep 2, 2022

Gerda: A Flame in Winter is a brilliantly done RPG. In the art department, it is insanely good, but the sound design could be done in a way that immerses the players a lot more than it does in its current state. The RPG system is nothing new, but it is very nuanced and immersive. Many aspects of the story, like the internal conflicts, make it interesting. It is predictable, sure, but it is really good, and isn’t that all that matters?

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75 / 100
Sep 1, 2022

Gerda: A Flame in Winter is a great experience that simply isn’t usually told. The game isn’t particularly long, at about 5-6 hours, but it is intended to be played more than once to see the alternate possibilities. It also shows a side of the War that isn’t shown very often because it isn’t glitzy and glamorous. But real civilians lived through World War 2, and their stories should also be told.

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8.5 / 10.0
Sep 1, 2022

Besides offering a story that's very rich in details about the nazi occupation in Denmark territory, Gerda: A Flame in Winter puts us in situations in which we have to leave logica aside and follow our intuition, making the immersion guaranteed. The game's visual presentation is adequate to its proposal and has a unique charm, and, while a little rare, the sound work, when it is used, manages to transport us to the World War II period. Unfortunately, while it has a dub in the key moments and good controls, the lack of a Portuguese interface may weaken the experience to someone who hasn't mastered one of the available languages.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Sep 1, 2022

Though it lacks some polishment and refinement in the audiovisual aspect and has an underdeveloped level design, Gerda: A Flame in Winter (Switch) offers a good narrative and metanarrative proposal and a satisfactory result when it comes to historical fiction script. It's a shame it doesn't manage to be more immersive, but, due to its strong points, it's a recommendable title for historical fiction adventure fans.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Sep 2, 2022

Gerda: A Flame in Winter might be a bit of a slow burn, but hopefully it’ll light a fire in you to not repeat the same mistakes of the past.

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4.5 / 5.0
Sep 5, 2022

Gerda: A Flame in Winter is a masterful work of art in both the gaming and storytelling spheres; both aspects enhanced by the other, their impact reduced should they be somehow disconnected from each other. Every moment I spent with it was simultaneously energizing and exhausting, as I was emotionally drained on Gerda’s behalf after each level but couldn’t stop myself from continuing the story, desperate to know what happened next. If you’ve ever wondered what you would do as a civilian in WWII, Gerda: A Flame in Winter gives you the ability to see through the Danish resistance’s eyes.

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Sep 7, 2022

In a medium preoccupied with guns and bombs and violent, power-fantasy notions of heroism, Gerda: A Flame in Winter treads a quieter path through its World War II setting, and is perhaps all the more powerful for it.

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90%
Feb 24, 2023

The biggest strengths of Gerda: A Flame in Winter are its chilling atmosphere, strong characters and the World War 2 setting. The game lets you see both sides of the conflict through the neutral eyes its main heroine.

Review in Slovak | Read full review