Review: WitchSpring R Can Be Both Delightful and Deep

The WitchSpring games always surprise me. The blend of character training, a relaxed pace, and shockingly deep lore tend to enthrall me. WitchSpring R, a major remake of the original game, fleshes out the original game even further while ensuring this version of the game looks and plays even more smoothly than the original.

Pieberry is a young woman and a witch. She doesn’t remember much about herself or her past! She knows she loves pies and berries, hence the name she gave herself. She also knows she’s pretty much stuck in the forest where she lives, due to a golem and all. However, there’s more to her, and the world around her, than she realizes. And since humans have been on a crusade against witches ever since, she’ll soon find herself leaving her safe space and going to the Springs around Vavelia, reviving them and learning who she is.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, WitchSpring R ends up being quite a dramatic and dark game. The witch hunts are no joke. Bad things happen to good people. There are times we see characters we care about broken. But at the same time, it’s also a very touching story! There are happy moments scattered throughout, and the nature of it means plenty of times it does feel downright cozy.  Pieberry herself is a fun, though perhaps a bit too naive, character. This version of the game and story stands out due to the extra attention given to supporting cast members. However, while I do appreciate the larger plot beats and lore surrounding witches and the world, there are some moments that feel a little… dumb. Like situations might be too obvious or ridiculous, spoilers aside. 

Like all other WitchSpring entries, WitchSpring R involves building up Pieberry’s magical repertoire via getting new spells, acquiring pets to help in and out of battles, taking part in turn-based fights, crafting, and training the witch. The general gameplay loop doesn’t change all that much between the original game and remaster. While the original version of this game also involved a time-limit, it takes a queue from other games and the Atelier series for a more relaxed approach that allows Pieberry to complete her objectives at your leisure. 

These are all introduced in a gradual way, to help you ease into the new responsibilities. So much so that it might feel a little overbearing or like your hand is being held too tightly. Even though you can right away see certain areas and opportunities to explore, Kiwiwalks determines when you get to encounter new items, gain access to new areas, and learn how to train or use certain features. While in a way, it makes sense since they show up when the story demands Pieberry need them. However, I wish it got through these elements a bit quicker so we could really let loose.

Which is funny, because WitchSpring R is good at respecting your time in other ways. Anti-grinding features such as easily avoidable enemies, frequently replenished material sources, and the game outright telling you that you won’t get EXP for redoing enemy encounters keeps you from wasting time going through certain routines. I honestly felt like I was strong enough to handle anything even when I raced through it for the sake of the review. I’d say in general the pacing is fine, once the tutorials are all done. It’s just the introduction and certain moments later on that get a bit bogged down, especially when it feels like there’s limited freedom when it comes to what you can do “next.” 

I honestly wouldn’t have minded more excuses to fight. The battle system and mechanics surrounding it are quite fun. When training Pieberry through scheduled classes, you determine her specializations. So you could make her a physical bruiser or lean heavy into magic. Having pets act as additional party members and traversal methods makes them feel more important, especially since you can bond with them with food to make them more powerful. The battle system clearly telegraphs the turn order, to allow you to plot things out and keep situations from getting overwhelming. Using magic first can strengthen and affect physical attacks after. Not to mention you can trigger bonus hits. Also, the magic system really lets you customize Pieberry’s spells via choosing the elements like the type of slab and magic circle to determine the effects, MP cost, critical hit chances, boosts, and power. If you want to go overboard making her a major powerhouse, you can! But also, the nature of it means you could take a more relaxed approach and still see her succeed.

But what makes WitchSpring R feel so much more worthwhile is how it differs from that original mobile release. The graphics, the character designs, the story, the overworld… it all is so much grander than it was before. It’s such a substantial series of changes that it feels like a new, fresh game that just so happened to pull from the ideas and concepts in the original. The systems and mechanics feel much stronger, even though you can see the inspirations and roots from that first release.

While I played it on the Switch and loved it there, I did experience one odd issue with Pieberry herself in the first few hours. This happened during the first Pudding Cave dungeon, after I unlocked the teleportation function there. After going through the tutorial and using it to teleport out to restock potions, I headed back in and teleported to the newly unlocked point. Even though it seemed to have worked and the game took me to the new area, I didn’t see her character model. Quitting, reloading, and retrying fixed it, and I didn’t encounter the problem again. So it is possible by the time you read this review, a patch rectified whatever that issue was and you won’t have to deal with it.

WitchSpring R feels like it is the comfort food of JRPGs. It isn’t too taxing. There are some typical JRPG story elements. Its turn-based battle system is sound. The story starts a bit slow, due to a tutorial holding your hand through every gameplay element. However, there’s some fun stuff happening with the lore and Pieberry’s story can be entertaining.

WitchSpring R is available on the Switch, PS5, and PC. An Xbox One version is in development.