Where The Water Tastes Like Wine is set during the United States' Great Depression, a period of economic collapse in the 1930s. As such, the game focuses on stories about characters struggling to survive and dealing with the loss of their jobs and their homes. There is this sort of overall bleak sense of hopelessness, but you still have many stories that showcase the strength and determination of people to overcome adversity and find a way forward. What may be interesting to note, for those unfamiliar with US history, is a period called the Great Migration, in which many African Americans left the South to find better opportunities in Northern cities, considering the prevalence racism and segregation and the fact that African Americans often had the last pick of jobs, were the first to be laid off, and had limited access to government aid.

Where The Water Tastes Like Wine evokes Great Depression-era works of literature by Steinbeck, Faulkner, and Greene. It also seems to be inspired by the works and wanderlust of the later Beat Generation, like Kerouac and Ginsberg. Especially Ginsberg, considering it seems like Cassady is supposed to BE Ginsberg. Cassady, with his love story about fellow writer Silas (who settles down with a woman for a "normal" life), mirrors Ginsberg's unrequited feelings for Kerouac. Both Cassady and Ginsberg travel the country as a means to heal from heartbreak. Travel played a significant role in the writing of the Beat Generation, because it really symbolized freedom from societal expectations, and also because it allowed them to gain a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. You can really feel this in the game, I think.

I would say the game is a combination of Keroauc's "On The Road" (themes of freedom, self-discovery, and celebrates spontaneity, travel, and experiences on the open road across America -- energetic and optimistic) and Greene's "Journey Without Maps" (encounters with local people, the harshness of the environment, and characters' internal struggles -- cynical and dark).

This game also features a healthy dose of American and Native folklore, daring to be fantastical but in a way that is completely believable and well-integrated into everyday stories. All of this, combined with an era-appropriate soundtrack, form an extremely well-rounded portrayal of this period in time. Oh, and the art ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ rules! Very important to mention that; it's actually the initial reason I bought the game.

I fully recommend this game, it's legitimately one of my favorites, but there are reasons folks would strongly dislike it. Namely, long, slow treks across the map. I was just vibing with the soundtrack, generally played this in the morning with coffee, thought it was perfection, but I can see folks getting bored or frustrated. Also, for those that care, there is one achievement that is literally impossible to obtain (it's symbolic, or whatever). Personally, I think it was a bad move on the devs' part, but it is what it is.

The idea of this game is great. The storytelling ascept and all is what got me to buy it in the first place. Though I feel like the developer didn't know what the correct format for it was and it would have been better off as an novel game. Cus the game exploration right now, is not it for me. The walking is long, tedious and you can't go faster, its not enjoyable to walk through the map cus its not even beautifully detailed and its ridiculously big. I had an hard time understanding the other positive reviews, cus I really tried loving it for the sale price (1,99) but I think my short attention span also adds to my dislike of it. Sometimes you come across NPC's with stories, but its only 3 sentences and you'll have to find the correct ones you chose to proceed. If you don't find the correct ones you just got to keep searching, which gets boring really quickly. I feel like this game would have had more potential if made differently.

Got any stories to tell?