WitchSpring 3 Re:Fine (Nintendo Switch) Review

WitchSpring3 Re:Fine from developers Kiwi Walks and publishers ININ Games and STUDIOARTDINK has made its way to Nintendo Switch. The original two Witch Spring games were released in South Korea as mobile games by developer Kiwi Walks and this 3rd entry into the franchise has been revamped for a global Nintendo Switch release. 

Players who are new to the franchise will be glad to know that you can jump right into this game and not really miss much from the previous two titles. As a game that features its own story, WitchSpring 3 Re:Fine follows Eirudy, a witch who lives in the forest and longs to make friends. 

As Eirudy, players will explore the continent of Derkarr while learning more about the world and its complexities. This involves using their witch powers to infuse vitality into marionettes or dolls which Eirudy can then summon in battle to fight off the monsters that inhabit the world. 

Eirudy, being a witch, has been driven to a life of solitude in the forest because there’s a war waging between humans and witches. Witches are being persecuted and Eirudy unfortunately is one and thus she has to lay low. When soldiers arrive in the forest things take a turn for the worse and her adventure really kicks off. 

The story of WitchSpring3 Re:Fine is really not bad but Eirudy herself as a character tends to come across as very reserved. There’s a definite JRPG-esque tropey writing style that’s been applied to this character and it shows throughout the game. Other characters in the game also fall within this same genre-specific style of writing and if you’ve played a JRPG title before, you’ll immediately understand what I mean by this. 

Gameplay in WitchSpring3 Re:Fine is a bit of a mixed bag. The battle system feels rather complex combining sword attacks, summons and magic. There’s a lot of gameplay mechanics here which you’ll need to read through walls of text to understand before going further into the game. Combining Magic Circle spells is important because this is where a lot of the game’s charm comes into play. Unfortunately this isn’t as straightforward as it should be and players who don’t bother to read through the text won’t really understand what’s going on here.

You essentially mix and match a magic circle with another one and end up with spells which get added buffs or bonuses to them. Using these spells in battle along with sword attacks and summons is essential to victory in WitchSpring3 Re:Fine. There are plenty of monsters which will defeat you should you slip up and having to sit through a loading screen each time you fall in battle does get a bit annoying over time. The solution is simple though. Simply be sure to not die and play it safe with healing. 

There’s a definite feeling of playing a mobile game in WitchSpring3 Re:Fine’s design. From the UI to the way the game itself plays out, you can’t help but feel as if you should be playing this title on a phone or tablet. 

WitchSpring3 Re:Fine features a handy journal which honestly, is great because the game is best played in bite sized chunks. This helps keep track of the story with what you did and where to go next which is extremely useful if you’ve spent some time away from the game. 

Graphically, WitchSpring3 Re:Fine looks great with a top-down view with some great looking character models. Eirudy, NPCs and enemies all look great and when the game switches over to its visual-novel storytelling, the character images look fantastic too. The overall graphics of the game are definitely reminiscent of a mobile game title but because of the art style, it works really well and looks great on Nintendo Switch. One major gripe to be had though is the fact that the text in the tutorial blocks can be rather small and you’ll have to really focus to read through these blocks.

The OST of WitchSpring3 Re:Fine is not bad with some really catchy tunes but unfortunately the voice acting in the game is limited to Japanese or Korean only. If you wanted English voice acting, you’re unfortunately out of luck. 

Overall, WitchSpring3 Re:Fine is a fairly standard eastern RPG title. It features gorgeous visual-novel storytelling, flashy effects in battles and a convoluted battle system that requires you to sink some time into the game before you’ll get used to it and its complexities. If you’re looking for a new RPG game to spend 15 hours or more in, on Nintendo Switch, WitchSpring3 Re:Fine is worth checking out.

A review code for WitchSpring 3 Re:Fine was provided to Gameblur by the publisher