Liva’s Story is a short yet wonderful prelude to Gerda: A Flame in Winter that expands on an already incredible narrator story.
WWII is not a topic that one can use lightly; war is not glorious, and it is not a time to be celebrated. War is a tragedy, not just for the soldiers fighting in it but also for the regular people who are affected by it. Gerda: A Flame in Winter handled the topic of the war brilliantly and gave us a chance to experience what life was like for the average person during WWII. However, while the main game focuses on Gerda’s story, in the game’s newest DLC, Liva’s Story, we get a chance to see what it was like for members of the Danish Resistance.
Gerda: A Flame in Winter and its DLC, Liva’s Story, are both developed by Bird Island (formerly PortaPlay), a rather interesting company that offers an array of other services such as Interactive Entertainment and E-learning, as well as indie game development. Most of their titles are rather simple, with their only other major title being Broken Lines, a top-down strategy that is coincidentally also set in WWII. While you may not know Bird Island, you will most likely be familiar with the game’s publisher, DON’T NOD, who have been the publishers for games such as Life is Strange and Vampyr.
As mentioned earlier, in Gerda: A Flame in Winter, we play as the titular Gerda, a regular civilian whose village has come under the control of the Nazis. While in Gerda’s Story, we play as a regular person who is just simply trying to survive in WWII Denmark. In Liva’s Story, we play as the titular Liva, a member of the resistance group fighting against the Occupation, aka the Nazis. However, after Liva and her fellow comrades get betrayed, she must take on the role of leadership and reform their resistance party to fight against the fascist scum.
Liva’s Story is set sometime before the events of the main game. This also helps to better explain some of the backstory and history of the game’s story while also fleshing out some of the characters and giving you an alternative perspective of some of the game’s characters. This also means that despite being a prelude to Gerda’s Story, you don’t necessarily need to play the game in chronological order.
The Liva’s Story DLC, as expected, shares a lot of the mechanics from the main game, such as the dialogue options. Much like in Gerda’s Story, dialogue options can easily change the outcome of certain situations and are often presented in a way that doesn’t really give you much insight into the outcome of the dialogue choices, well besides Liva’s icon, whose emotions change depending on your choice. Similar to Gerda’s Story, you are meant to replay the DLC multiple times if you want to see all the possible outcomes of your choices. If you were unhappy with one of the choices you made, you can just see where it leads you and try again.
Despite you not knowing where your choices may lead you, no matter what you choose, the story still needs to go on. However, not all choices are ambiguous, and you will need to make some tough choices that will impact your relationship with others. In Liva’s Story, you will have to form relationships with other members of the resistance; maintaining a good relationship with each respective character will also dictate how much that character will trust you and how much they will listen to you or your commands.
One of the biggest differences between Gerda’s Story and Liva’s Story is that instead of earning Compassion, Insight, and Wit points, you instead earn Care, Duty and Fury points. These points are also no longer earned at the end of every level and are instead earned after certain dialogue choices.
Much like the points earned in Gerda’s Story, the points you earn in Liva’s Story will also bar you from certain dialogue choices. Also, remember the dialogue choices that require dice rolls; those have returned in the DLC, and depending on how many points you have in Care, Duty, and Fury will also dictate your success rate or what options you can choose from.
Another major difference between Gerda’s Story and Liva’s Story is the urgency. In Liva’s Story, you are no longer a simple nurse trying to survive; you are instead a resistance member who is actively trying to defeat the Nazis. This means that in Gerda’s Story, the stakes are raised, and you definitely feel the pressure. There is also a lot more pressure put on the choices you make as even the most insignificant action, such as pocketing a bottle of warm beer, has consequences later on.
Liva’s Story is also used to better explain the history of WWII and better elaborate on certain facts as the player character is much more versed in politics and will have more experience with dealing with Nazis. Both Gerda’s Story and Liva’s Story are excellent examples of a game that actually shows what it was like during WWII and doesn’t attempt to glamorize the resistance or make them seem as these cool and collected badass people that are masters of espionage because they weren’t. They were people fighting the fascist regime that was oppressing them.
Much like the main game, Liva’s Story is still presented in that gorgeously simplistic art style that is reminiscent of games from the old PS1 and PS2 eras. However, unlike the games from that era, Liva’s Story utilizes the low poly nature of the models and combines them with some truly beautiful lighting that makes the game seem like a painting at times.
That’s not to say that the art style doesn’t come with its own set of weaknesses, as low poly models don’t exactly emote easily. That’s why the game gives each character highly expressive body language that helps convey the emotions that their faces cannot.
As previously mentioned, the stakes in Liva’s Story are much higher in Gerda’s, and the one way that this is conveyed is in its sound design, and oh boy, is the sound design simply lovely. Each of the levels in Liva’s Story is given its own distinct atmosphere that also informs you of what will be happening in each of these levels.
A good example of this can be found in the first two levels of the DLC. In the first level, we are running away from Nazi planes. This is also the level where Liva and her team get betrayed. The level is mostly silent, showing that we have a moment of peace, but silence also means something bigger and more dangerous is on its way.
Contrast this with when we eventually stay at the Inn, which is packed with Nazis, meaning while everything is loud and lively, it sounds muffled and distant because our heroes are trying to avoid the eyes of the enemy. This use of atmosphere isn’t just found within the DLC but is just as present as it is in Gerda’s Story.
Liva’s Story is also written just as beautifully. Each character we are introduced to has their own unique traits and personalities, with their own motives and desires, as well as their own strengths and weaknesses. Each character feels alive, and this makes it easier for players to empathize with them and get attached to them, even if they eventually betray us. The narrative doesn’t leave many loose ends, and what loose ends it does leave get resolved in Gerda’s Story, making the whole narrative incredibly well-rounded.
Overall, the Liva’s Story DLC is a seamless addition to the already incredible narrative of Gerda: A Flame in Winter. While it doesn’t change much or add anything revolutionary to the game or its narrative, it doesn’t need to and merely just adds a bit more context to the main game’s story. If you are a fan of narrative-heavy games or just a fan of Gerda: A Flame in Winter, then Liva’s Story is an excellent addition to the game, one that you will greatly appreciate. Gerda: A Flame in Winter and the Liva’s Story DLC are both currently available on Steam.
