We Were Here Together – Review

Video Game Review by: Fwooshe

I drift into consciousness after a restless night. Outside, blustery winds blow across an expanse of snow. I blink my eyes open. The cabin is cozy enough, but the fireplace can only provide so much warmth in this frigid world. I’ve slept in my expedition gear.

I hear something clatter in the main room and head out to investigate. I find my partner standing by the kitchen stove, holding an armful of… steering wheels?

“I’ve found something interesting-“ before he can elaborate, a voice crackles over the radio from the communication room. Someone is calling for help!

My partner and I look at one another… puzzled…

This game has:

• puzzles
• atmospheric music
• haunted castle
• snow
• teamwork
• walkie talkies
• elevators

We Were Here Together is a co-operative puzzle adventure game for two people. As the third game in the We Were Here series, it follows the same format as the previous two games; you and your partner must work together to solve puzzles… and hopefully survive.  

The game is divided into ten chapters, each of which contains a handful of puzzles to complete. It plays like a linear series of escape rooms. As you make your way through the game, the story behind Castle Rock is divulged via cut scenes and disembodied dialogue. At some point you may wonder if, by entering this mysterious castle, you’ve gotten into more than what you bargained for…

There is a nice variety of puzzle mechanics throughout We Were Here Together so that every puzzle feels different from the last one. There are linear logic-based puzzles, mechanical puzzles with several moving parts, and an assortment in between. The one unifying feature is that all puzzles are designed to be solved collaboratively. Each player will have access to some of the information and components needed to solve the puzzle. You must communicate via walkie talkies (i.e., the in-game voice chat) to put it all together.

Can you and your partner cooperate your way to victory? Or will you try to throw each other from the castle window in exasperation?

Our Thoughts on We Were Here Together

I played the first two games of this series (We Were Here and We Were Here Too) with my good friend and puzzle game connoisseur, ZigZag. We made it through that experience without strangling each other and had some fun and laughs along the way! So, by the time We Were Here Together dropped on Steam we considered ourselves experts at pulling levers, navigating highly unsafe elevators, and describing convoluted runes to each other.

We Were Here Together is my favourite in the series so far! It has some of the most robust and well-designed puzzles of the three games, and more opportunity to explore and interact with the environment. I appreciate the variety in puzzle styles; different puzzles play to different strengths. It kept things interesting and gave each of us our time to shine.

While We Were Here Together has some of the best puzzles in the series, it also has some of the most frustrating. A handful of them were quite abstract and we spent a lot of time just trying to figure out the objective. Sometimes it was unclear whether we were making progress and we ended up trial & error-ing our way through the whole puzzle without understanding it. Most puzzles were quite challenging and provided a delicious sense of satisfaction upon completion. A few were so cumbersome that we were just relieved when it was over.

I absolutely love the music in this game! I spent a lot of time listening to the main theme while waiting for ZigZag’s potato computer to load the game and I never got tired of it. It is beautiful and soothing… not at all telling of the grueling brain workout that follows!

There is a story in We Were Here Together though it isn’t a driving force. It’s more of an ambient element. The cutscenes and dialogue do contribute to the spooky atmosphere, so it gets points for that. I largely ignored the story because I was so focused on the puzzles themselves. As a result, I was confused by the absurd final scene. Juxtapose the dramatic finale with the very last puzzle being the easiest one in the entire game, and I found the ending to be simultaneously jarring and anti-climatic.

Overall We Were Here Together delivers an enjoyable and challenging co-operative puzzle experience. We look forward to playing the fourth and final game (We Were Here Forever) soon!

Tips for We Were Here Together

• Play for the puzzles, not the story
• Pick a partner who has a good sense of humour and a decent amount of patience
• The game saves after every chapter, so take breaks if you need them and you can pick it up again later from the last save point

Potential Caveats

• All puzzles demand teamwork and verbal communication
• Some puzzles are very frustrating
• A few puzzles are timed and stressful
• Not colourblind friendly