Gerda: A Flame in Winter Gets New DLC

Gerda: A Flame in Winter is easily one of my favorite games from 2022. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the World War II-Era narrative game nearly as much as I did. To my surprise, the developers at Bird Island (formerly PortaPlay) and publisher Don’t Nod have released a new DLC, focusing on a rather large character in the main story.

Announced (and released) yesterday, Liva’s Story is a standalone DLC that focuses on Liva, the resistance leader that Gerda winds up (potentially) helping during the main game. Here is what the press release has to say about the DLC:

“Liva’s Story offers players an alternate look at war through the eyes of a different kind of woman, a resistance leader. Desperate and discouraged after a failed mission, Liva’s team has to regroup, patch up, and hit the enemy again using sabotage, infiltration, spying, and even assassination. Opposite to Gerda’s empathic approach, Liva is not afraid of using violence and often walks the thin line between justice and revenge. Players will have to carefully balance her fury towards the enemy, duty towards her mission and country, and care for her teammates.

The events of Liva’s Story take place in the weeks leading up to Anders’s arrest and the beginning of Gerda’s journey to save him. Each story is a standalone narrative, and each of them sheds light on the other, so players can choose to play them in whichever order they wish.”

In addition to the new DLC, the developers announced a new bundle for PC and Nintendo Switch called the Modstand bundle, pairing the DLC and the main game together for one price. As previously mentioned, you can play either story in whatever order you choose. However, this also serves as a great opportunity for people to replay Gerda’s story in case you want to take a new route.

Here is what the press release has to say about the Modstand bundle: “The Modstand Bundle was created to showcase two very different women’s experiences of World War II and to tell two kinds of stories, those of Gerda and Liva. Gerda has lived a quiet life as a nurse and is pushed into involvement with the Resistance by the Gestapo’s arrest of her husband, Anders. She is compassionate and tries to avoid conflict where possible. Liva on the other hand has been a member of the Resistance for some time. After a failed mission, her team regroups in Tinglev where she will have to stand up and lead them to their next fight.”

Personally, I think that anyone interested in historical fiction or narrative-focused games should check out Gerda: A Flame in Winter. It showcases a different kind of World War II story that I haven’t really seen in gaming before. I’m excited to check out Liva’s Story, to see how the different perspective and storyline is portrayed.