There are stories that begin with a bang, and there are those that begin with a question. With Eyes of Ice belongs firmly in the latter category, opening with Gréta Egilsdóttir dying of frostbite and leaving us to wonder how a young woman ended up in such a desperately cold and lonely place. From there, the story works backwards, peeling away layers of memory, affection, regret and circumstance to discover where everything went wrong. It is an immediately intriguing premise, but what makes With Eyes of Ice linger is the uncomfortable feeling that perhaps Gréta’s fate was never decided by a single moment.
Developed as a dramatic linear visual novel, With Eyes of Ice is a substantial piece of storytelling, containing around 120,000 words and supported by original artwork and music. Rather than relying on conventional horror or constant twists to maintain interest, it builds its atmosphere through character relationships and the emotional weight of choices already made. This is a story about love, but it is rarely a comfortable one, and the frozen landscape surrounding Gréta feels like an appropriate reflection of the emotional distance developing between the people in her life.
A Story Told From the Cold
The opening is deliberately bleak. Gréta is suffering from frostbite, and whatever brought her to this point has already happened. Instead of a straightforward journey from beginning to end, With Eyes of Ice encourages us to look back and examine the events that shaped her life.
Perhaps everything began with Steina’s baby. Perhaps it was Kai agreeing to stay the night. Maybe it was that almost kiss with Nataníel. Or perhaps the real beginning stretches much further back, to when Gréta’s grandmother was still alive and Nataníel Jóhannsson first entered her life.
That structure gives the narrative an almost dreamlike quality. We know from the beginning that something terrible has happened, yet the story does not immediately tell us why. Each memory becomes another piece of the puzzle, and because the game is so interested in the emotional connections between its characters, even seemingly ordinary moments can carry an uncomfortable weight.
There is also a melancholy sense of inevitability running through the story. Gréta is not simply wandering through a series of random tragedies. Her decisions, relationships and circumstances gradually form a pattern, and the further the story progresses, the more you start to wonder whether she could ever have escaped the path she was walking.
Love Is Not Always Warm
At the heart of With Eyes of Ice is Gréta’s relationship with Nataníel. The game describes it as love at first sight, but it quickly becomes clear this will not be a conventional romantic tale in which two people meet, overcome a few obstacles and ride happily into the sunset.
There is something wonderfully uncomfortable about the way the game approaches romance. Some relationships feel fragile, others complicated, and some suggest that the people involved may want something they should never have pursued. That tension gives the story considerably more emotional bite than a straightforward romance would.
The title itself becomes increasingly appropriate as the story develops. Ice is not merely something that surrounds Gréta physically. It becomes a metaphor for distance, isolation and feelings that have been allowed to freeze rather than be confronted. Love can be passionate, but it can also become painful, destructive or impossible, and With Eyes of Ice is much more interested in the latter possibilities.
Characters That Feel Human
A story like this lives or dies by its characters, and thankfully With Eyes of Ice gives them enough room to breathe. Gréta is not simply a vessel through which the plot unfolds. Her memories, emotions and relationships create a much stronger sense of who she is, even as the circumstances surrounding her become increasingly difficult.
The supporting cast is equally important, as each relationship offers another perspective on Gréta’s life. Steina, Kai and Nataníel are not merely names appearing in the narrative to move the plot forward. Their interactions with Gréta help establish the story’s emotional landscape, making it easier to understand how apparently small decisions can eventually have enormous consequences.
What I particularly appreciated is that the game does not seem interested in making everything neatly black and white. People make mistakes. People misunderstand one another. People want things they probably should not want, and sometimes they hurt others without fully appreciating the consequences until it is too late.
That messy humanity is one of the strongest aspects of the writing. It makes the story feel less like a carefully constructed romance and more like someone opening a box of old memories and discovering that some of them still hurt.
A Visual Novel With Real Atmosphere
Visually, With Eyes of Ice understands the value of restraint. The original artwork supports the narrative rather than overwhelming it, allowing character expressions and environmental details to carry much of the emotional atmosphere. There is a natural melancholy to the presentation that fits the subject matter beautifully.
The cold setting also gives the artwork a distinct identity. Snow, isolation and darkness can easily become visually repetitive, but here they reinforce the themes running through the narrative. The further Gréta becomes separated from the life she once knew, the more oppressive that sense of emptiness becomes.
The original music deserves similar praise. In a visual novel, music can sometimes disappear into the background, but a strong score can completely change how a scene feels. The music here helps give the story its emotional rhythm, allowing quieter moments to breathe while adding weight to scenes where the tension begins to rise. It is the sort of presentation that does not necessarily demand your attention every second. Instead, it quietly gets under your skin.
120,000 Words Is a Serious Commitment
At approximately 120,000 words, With Eyes of Ice is not a brief visual novel to be finished in a couple of spare evenings. That length is important because the story needs time to develop its relationships and establish the history behind Gréta’s circumstances.
A shorter narrative might have struggled to make the various emotional threads feel meaningful. Here, there is enough room for characters to develop naturally and for the consequences of earlier events to become clearer as the story progresses. It also gives the central mystery surrounding Gréta’s situation considerably more room to breathe.
There is, inevitably, a certain amount of patience required. This is a dramatic visual novel first and foremost, so anyone expecting constant action or rapid plot developments may find the pacing deliberately measured. For players who enjoy settling into a character-driven story, however, that slower approach becomes one of its strengths. The game understands that sometimes the most important thing is not what happens next, but understanding why something happened in the first place.
The Weight of the Past
Perhaps the most effective element of With Eyes of Ice is its treatment of memory. Gréta’s past is not merely exposition to explain the present. It becomes the heart of the experience, with each remembered moment reshaping how you view the situation she finds herself in.
That makes the opening particularly effective because we already know the destination. We are not wondering whether Gréta will eventually reach some terrible conclusion. We are wondering how she got there and whether there was ever a moment when things could have been different.
There is a particular sadness in watching characters make decisions when you already know those decisions will have consequences. It gives ordinary conversations a strange significance. A kiss that never quite happens can feel as important as a major revelation, because you understand that these people are standing at a crossroads even if they do not.
That is difficult to achieve without making a story feel artificially tragic, but With Eyes of Ice largely avoids that trap. Its emotional impact comes from the characters rather than simply throwing misery at the player.
Not Horror, But Something Colder
The supplied description might initially suggest a traditional survival horror experience, but With Eyes of Ice is far better understood as a dramatic visual novel. There are no hordes of monsters to fight, and no elaborate survival systems that distract from the central narrative. The cold is primarily emotional and thematic rather than a gameplay mechanic.
That distinction is important because the game’s strengths lie in its writing, atmosphere and relationships. If you approach it expecting an action-heavy horror game, you may come away disappointed. Approach it, however, as an introspective, melancholy story about love, memory and consequences, and its appeal becomes much clearer.
In some ways, that makes the cold setting even more effective. There is no need for a creature to hide in the darkness when the story itself explores what people are capable of doing to one another.
Verdict
With Eyes of Ice is an emotionally heavy visual novel that succeeds because it understands that tragedy is often more powerful when you know it is coming. Gréta’s story is not built on constant shocks or dramatic spectacle. Instead, it asks you to spend time with her, understand the people around her, and slowly piece together the chain of events that led a young woman to such a desperate place.
The 120,000-word script gives the characters plenty of room to develop, while the original artwork and music create an appropriately melancholic atmosphere. Most importantly, the game treats its relationships with enough complexity to avoid reducing them to simple romantic wish fulfilment. Love, regret, jealousy, loyalty and loss sit uncomfortably close together, creating a story that can be surprisingly affecting.
Its deliberate pacing will not suit everyone, particularly players looking for something more interactive or mechanically driven. But for those who enjoy visual novels that put character and emotional storytelling ahead of conventional gameplay, there is plenty to admire here.
With Eyes of Ice is ultimately a story about how the past refuses to stay buried. It is about the moments we remember, the moments we wish we could forget, and the terrifying possibility that one small decision can change everything. Beautifully presented and quietly devastating, it is a cold journey in every sense of the word, yet there is plenty of warmth in its characters.
