Disclaimer
For info-I played and finished this game in 2021 with up-to-date patches. The early-access/release game was a far less polished product, and a lot of negative reviews from its release justifiably reference issues it had then. It is a much improved game now.

What is we happy few
We happy few is a game by compulsion games a new independent games studio. its set in an alternate 1960's where world war 2 and the cold war was very different. An American president was assassinated and the new one was isolationist; America never joined WW2. Britain fights alone and after repulsing the first German invasion is defeated in 1943 and occupied afterwards. Through in game maps and journals you find out more but I won’t spoil it suffice to say Britain is ruined by German attack, then occupation.

The game is set in the fictional 'borough' of Wellington Wells a series of small islands just off the Southern coast. Not only do the citizens have to live with having lost the war, but the Germans after a ‘very bad thing’ happened. The people in charge of Wells decide something is needed to be done to cheer up a devastated, morose, Wellington. Hence joy is utilised a drug that makes you joyously happy (and has side effects like confusion and memory loss) and is prescribed to everyone. You must take it and wear a mask which makes you smile or else...

Simultaneously thanks to a new fuel source being discovered they make big scientific advancements and have semi-automated machinery to keep an eye on and if necessary, shock wrong doers. Unfortunately, Wellington Wells is slowly falling apart; it doesn't produce enough food and is cut off with little for trade, the joy pills aren't working as well causing more people to become downers and there’s a plague spreading (and more bad things lol).

You play as one of the different characters each with their own story who must manage their joy levels to fit in without losing your mind and navigate an always beautiful, sometimes miserable land. Each of the 3 main characters is fully realised, motivated and has a great flaw/secret which makes you (or at least it did me) root for the character. We’re not talking things like I exercise too much, or care too much that you might get in other games but pretty dark secrets that they’re wrestling with and that cause them very real pain.

You’ll note (and thanks for reading this far) that I’ve written a lot about the setting and story of We Happy Few and not about its gameplay. This is simply because, get ready for it, We Happy Few has the best and most unique setting and story I’ve played! Honestly, it’s a great imagination of a what if scenario, with tragically flawed characters who you can’t help but love as they struggle on battling their demons. They are true heroes, who try to do their best despite a hostile worlds and pasts they would rather not remember, but have to.

I have never wanted happy (or happyish) endings for characters as much as I have the 3 story characters.

What’s We Happy Few like to play
So I like the setting, the story, the characters, but what of the gameplay. Well as per my opening bit things have improved since launch, I haven’t experienced any bugginess except one citizen sitting in a wall. Impressive when you consider its randomly generated layout nature.

The game itself is fun with a basic levelling system/skill tree lots of things to make, food and drink to consume, beds to sleep in etc. You can get through the game without killing anyone or bash people with various weapons (cricket bats, truncheons, sharp sticks then crafted weapons and a bit more sci-fi). There’s some exploration, puzzling and stealth. You have to fit in by wearing certain clothes/outfits and not raise suspicion of being a rotten old downer!

Combat is a criticism raised at the start of the game’s release, both in its unforgivingness and its repetitive nature. Many reviews from release will recommend you set the difficulty to easy and put second wind on. I certainly did that for my first character (Arthur) but by the last character I had it on mostly normal. We happy few has an excellent system where you can set combat, stealth and survival difficulty independently.

I’d certainly consider for a first time playthrough putting combat on easy and survival on normal and put second wind on. Combat can be very brutal and you can take a lot of damage without being able to heal it back up fast enough in a short space of time. You can get chunked down very quickly, out of nowhere seemingly and not having a second chance can be unforgiving. By the third character you’ll be more familiar with the game and besides the last one is a beast in combat.

For the record I quite liked the combat, it is a little repetitive in that you have an attack and a block and that’s it, but there’s a wide range of whacky weapons and throwables.

Additionally, combat isn’t the main focus/only way of doing things, the first two characters have a stealth/fitting in skill-tree and there’s plenty of distraction objects. There are a few mandatory combat bits mind, and the last one lacking the afore mentioned skill-tree will be doing a lot of bashing of skulls! Thankfully he’s very good at it.

Final thoughts
So yeah, a very unique, interesting and well-told game great for story lovers (and is often mentioned alongside Bioshock, prey, etc) and those who like alt-history and examination of what if’s. One thing- I hear from reviews/forums a lot of people find the second characters ‘mechanic’ particularly troublesome. All I can say, spoiler free is ‘it’ does get easier to manage, stick with the story it’s a good one!

TLDR Excellent writing and storytelling and a truly unique world that has to be experienced (especially on sale).