The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty Review
Release Date: April 22nd, 2024 (PC), March 13, 2025 (Nintendo Switch)
Developers: ZerocreationGame
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch
Price: $9.99 (PC), $11.99 (Nintendo Switch)
A sense of adventure can be presented in myriad ways to get the viewer, player, or reader immersed in whatever a visionary's intent is. That adventure, or journey through point A to Z, can have its ups and downs emotionally and narratively, for better or for worse, but that sense of adventure isn't just about where we're going and how we get there, but who we're alongside.
The emotional trek that The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty takes you through is one that evokes just about every emotion human nature can feel, and it does so with panache and smart implementation as the story unfolds hour by hour and chapter by chapter.
The story begins with players in the shoes of a man named Liang, a bandit who's been doing shady jobs for years to make ends meet. He's a man that has had a tumultuous upbringing and past, which has made him cold and fierce, so naturally some of the least appealing jobs that require little to no morale go to him, pushing a corrupt society into further power while innocents end up hurt in his wake. His current job is to traffic a few lambs to a city that's days away - lambs in this case being a metaphor and terminology used for younger people - and does so with the help of a business partner, Tongue, who he's known for years.
At first, you genuinely hate them both. As you progress, those first few hours you start to question your own morale as you willingly move forward in the game helping these seemingly no-good scum transport innocent children to a city to deliver to a Lord just for a pretty penny to make ends meet. Tongue is a straight up dick - a narcissist who clearly has never held any compassion or admiration for anyone but himself. Liang is a tamed beast but one that could ostensibly go off the rails at any second.
If you can make it past the first little bit however, things begin to change. It starts subtle, but it feels entirely organic as you begin to both sympathize and empathize with Liang (but only Liang) as you make some tough decisions throughout your trek to drop off the lambs. Someone you once loathed becomes someone you end up respecting, but of course this can go either which way as well depending on the choices made throughout the game once pivotal moments come into play every few chapters. This will ultimately determine the routes you take and what the fate is for Liang, Tongue, and the lambs in tow. Can you be led on a path of redemption and forgiveness, or will we let fate and karma steer the ship of life?
Despite feeling like you're in control, however, much like life, the control is more of an illusion of influence. The paths and twists and turn keep the narrative fresh and engaging throughout, and every choice, however beneficial, has a consequence that brings back Liang's past, adding an extra layer of struggle that he has trying to become someone new.
The character development throughout is The Hungry Lamb's strongest point. From beginning to end it remains consistent in growth, and you can't help but feel like you've played a big part in it as you progress, for better or for worse given the circumstances involved.
Whether on sale or full price, there's no denying that The Hungry Lamb is worth all of your time and funds (and then some). It's arguably one of the best time-conscious visual novels to come out in quite some time, if not ever, and with an easy-to-read and use flowchart to access after you've become content with your initial route, it makes the entire story accessible and opens it up to further possibilities, adding more depth and value to the gameplay and narrative, branching into different avenues that you likely wouldn't have expected, with a multitude of endings both bad and true.
PROS:
Great artwork that helps bring many scenes to life with stellar voice acting to complement it.
So many routes that all feel worthwhile, with an easy-to-access timechart for those that want to 100% the game.
For visual novel afficionados or those that may casually dabble, it’s humble asking price is more than worth the price of admission for a story that runs through every emotion.
CONS:
Despite an organic flow, it can sometimes feel like it’s prolonging itself, adding a feeling of redundancy from time to time.
A huge thank you to STRIDE and 2P GAMES for providing us a copy of The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty for the purposes of this review.