Witch Spring 3 Re:Fine Review

The Witch Spring series traces its origins as a series of RPG mobile games by Korean game developers, Kiwi Walks. As someone who has minimal experience playing RPGs, this game was definitely something relatively new and different for me! Let’s get into what I thought about Witch Spring 3 Re:Fine. 

The Story

This instalment builds upon the narrative foundations created from previous games, however, you don’t necessarily have to play them to understand the plot! Young marionette witch Eirudy lives in the depths of Misty Forest, away from human civilisations who are known for hunting her kind. She has the power to bring unique dolls to life to aid her in battle. When she stumbles across a human named Adrian, she realises that not all humans hold hostility towards witches. Gradually, Eirudy and Adrian form a trusting alliance that eventually blossoms into a close friendship. Together they must fight against the corruption created by the Lord of Shubeth to reunite humans and witches across the continent.

At first, the story felt pretty typical of fantasy media. However, as it progressed I became increasingly engrossed in the plot, characters and world-building. Some of the translation work to English did seem rushed, with a few typos scattered around, but this didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the story. Researching the previous instalments meant I was pleasantly surprised by the end of this story. Altogether, I was pretty impressed with the execution of the story-telling here!

The Gameplay

The top-down, turn-based style of the combat was very new to me. Strategy is key in this game, with various attacks and buffs to use. You can use magic spells, sword-fighting, and summon dolls with different abilities. Some dolls can be summoned for traversal, making locations easier to get to, alongside quick-travel magic circles. There are a nice range of enemies to fight to gain Vitality which can then be used to awaken and enhance your dolls. You obtain different materials from each enemy you defeat which can be used for crafting tools for stat enhancements. Enemies regenerate regularly for you to combat and farm from them whenever you need to. When completing quests and challenges, Eirudy is able to train to boost her stats in sword-fighting, magic, defence and more. Training doesn’t take too much time and can be sped up allowing you to level up stats more quickly.

Luckily, to complete the main story, not a lot of grinding is needed which was a blessing for me. Unfortunately, some of the vital fights from the main story feel a tad flat for me as the enemies weren’t as challenging as I’d hoped. Maybe I had trained a bit too well! However, for those who enjoy rigorously levelling up through combat and material-gathering, this game is certainly worth a shot. 

The Creative Approach

The sprite work and art style have developed positively throughout the series whilst the character designs were pretty solid and very cute. The voice acting (which I had set to Japanese) was very well done, capturing character personalities fantastically. Eirudy’s mysterious and introverted nature definitely persevered through her voice work.

Last but not least, the light-hearted soundtrack took me back to my simpler gaming years as a child. However, more dramatic tracks caught me completely off-guard. For instance, an electric guitar popping up randomly in an epicly medieval arrangement was strange but I could excuse it for the intensity of the battles.  

Final Thoughts

Witch Spring 3 has a lot about it to enjoy, even for those who aren’t well-acquainted with RPGs. It was an impressive experience for a mobile to console port with plenty of depth and character development. Whilst minor improvements, such as further attention to detail, would have given it a better finish, it still provides satisfying gameplay and a compelling narrative. 

Gaming Exploits Rating: 7.5/10

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