The game DOES get hard.

[x4000]

Seen as I'm just about to throw my pointed sticks and fresh fruit at the local Overlord, what happens if I succeed at this stage? (PM if too spoilery for public domain).  Only been able to find 1 lt tower thus far, although that was pretty fun

Well, the villagers nearby are no longer oppressed, which will later have a lot more strategy game implications (such as being able to use the happiness bar at all, not just the morale bar), but which right now doesn't mean as much.  And the morale of the villagers already skyrockets for a good while, making them more productive, etc.  And a few other things along those lines -- villagers start talking about something other than just that stupid overlord that's oppressing them.

As time goes on, the effects on the world will be larger and larger from this, but that's what's in there so far in this early stage.

[zebramatt]

I'd love it if it made some sort of Okami-esque drastic aesthetic change to the region in question... but I've no idea how or what would have that effect without making everything look noticeably nastier before you overthrow them - which might be hours, days or forever in this game!

[x4000]

I love Okami, but that's definitely a different direction art-wise in terms of making everything so unpleasant to start with.  But we do have some cool things planned for when we get time.

[Nalgas]

AVWW is kind of the opposite of Okami, too.  In Okami, you make the world a better place by bringing trees back to life.  In AVWW (so far, at least), you save the world by razing all trees you see to the ground, along with any other background objects that happen to get in the way.  Heh.

[x4000]

Hahahaha, depends on your choice of spell but yeah.

A Valley Without Wind: The Treepocalypse