The Whispered World | A Review

Hello everyone, I am the uneducated, unqualified clown, G.E.M.Simov, a fellow so tremendously foolish that I’ve transcended into genius, here to tell you about Daedalic Entertainment’s game “The Whispered World”.

Simple review details - I rank games on an out of 10 basis, granting up to 3 points in 3 categories, as well as a last, single point from my own self, depending on my experience with it.

Gameplay

While a Presentation issue at large, this game does not tell the Player how to play it. Thus, they are left to figure things out by themselves - and that happens quite unnaturally, with lots of head banging (against walls) and confusion. However, due to the fact that this is a point and click game, things finally ‘click’. One other weird aspect of the tutorial - aside from it being thoroughly useless - is that it forces the Player into being unable to do certain things before the tutorial has allowed them to do those things, which is exceptionally bothersome, considering that, since the tutorial does not teach the Player how to play the game, it should not go on to add to that by limiting the amount of game the Player can play. The issue is made even more prevalent by the fact that the tutorial is clunky and can not properly track what the Player has done - in regards to the tasks it sets out for them - requiring that the Player perform a certain task multiple times before triggering the next part of the tutorial. It’s not good.

The Player moves their Character around by clicking. When the cursor goes over something peculiar, a name pops up - but the Player clicking on it will, rather than make the Character interact with the object, make the Character walk up to the object. The way to go about actually interacting with objects and playing the game is to click the object, hold the Left Mouse Button (LMB) down, and drag in a direction. That will open a tiny context menu, centered on the particular object, and provide the Player with the option to pick out of three options - one is shown off by an eye, which has the Player Character look at the object and comment on it, another is shown off by a mouth, which has the Player Character talk to the object (or about it), and the third has a hand, which actually has the Player Character interact with it physically.

Another thing that the Player finds out through clicking about and looking for ways to work the game is that by pressing the Spacebar, and holding it down, all interactable objects on screen are highlighted by small white dots. That is a bit useful, as it removes the necessity to do pixel hunting, which is one of the most egregious, yet common, things that Point and Click adventure games do.

Lastly, the Player can access their Character’s inventory by pressing the Right Mouse Button (RMB) or by scrolling down with the Scroll Wheel. Now, all that combined makes for a nearly workable set up, but the way interaction with objects happens is unfathomably bothersome and downright bad. Having to click and drag on an object to be able to even do anything with it adds a layer of friction that does nothing but make the experience a lot more miserable than it needs to be. It’s aggravating, frankly, and makes the process of playing the game almost painful. Considering how a Point and Click Adventure Game already struggles with making its gameplay engaging or at least interesting, this is a humongous mistake.

Now, other than clicking things, looking at them, and occasionally collecting them to add them into the inventory, the Player also gets to use things on other things. They open their inventory, interact with an object, which replaces the cursor with the object, then they get rid of the inventory screen and click on an object somewhere on the screen to use it. That’s standard for Point and Click games.

The funky thing is Spot - the Player Character’s companion - who has his own little menu that has him transform into various shapes, one out of five, and can then be used as an item. It’s quite intriguing, and some of the means to use Spot are relatively neatly thought out. The others are completely incomprehensible and make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

The other thing that the Player can do is select dialogue options when talking to other Characters. Unfortunately, there is a very unpleasant set of things that occasionally happens, that being the fact that the Player cannot repeat lines of dialogue already tried, and there are cases wherein the Player is locked into dialogue without being able to back out, being ultimately forced to pick the right option, though picking the wrong option just brings up the same pair of options again.

It’s… Very weird and appears almost pointless. The fact that the Player is forced to make their Character say something, then if it is the wrong thing, they are just made to say the other thing, and explicitly lie in this particular continuity, is not very neat. If one makes the wrong choice in dialogue, there should be more to it than just having to pick another option.

Additionally, this is a Point and Click Adventure Game. And that means stupid garbage showing up and blocking the Player’s means of progression - bad, nonsensical puzzles on and on again, to infinity and beyond, the famous line ‘moon logic’, using every single item in one’s inventory on a certain object until it clicks and makes some sense, or trying every possible combination of answers presented to get to the correct combination, with absolutely nothing indicating that those are the correct answers. It goes so far as to actively stop the Player from doing what they have been told is the right thing and forcing them to figure out something else to do with LITERALLY, and I mean it with absolutely no bombasticity or exaggeration in my expression, LITERALLY no indication that they need to do that particular thing to progress. It is absolutely baffling.

The Whispered World features multiple locations wherein the Player has absolutely no indication of anything but must, somehow, figure out what to do, which involves a lot of brute forcing - and that’s excruciatingly unpleasant. When the puzzles click, they click; when they make sense, they’re neat and do exactly what a puzzle in a Point and Click Adventure Game must do. However, at least a fifth, maybe a fourth of the time, the puzzles do not click, and so the Player must do the most unpleasant thing that this game can do - make them try everything, only for things to finally work, and for the Player to be stricken with just how inexplicable and astoundingly stupid the whole thing was.

Fortunately, it would appear that the game somewhat knows this, and so it culls the Player’s inventory every now and then (because it is split into a number of chapters, and whenever the Player progresses to the next chapter, all of the items in their inventory disappear). That feels somewhat bad, because the Player then needs to find replacements for a number of the items that they had previously found, but is largely better than stacking more and more stuff in the inventory that can barely handle more than 9 items.

Other things that ought to be mentioned include the fact that the ‘screens’, or environments that the game takes place in are sometimes larger than what is displayed, and thus scroll to either the left or right as the Player Character walks towards them. The unfortunate part is that this scrolling (coupled with the Player Character’s movement) is excruciatingly slow, so much so that it becomes an unpleasantly bothersome chore.

That is further exacerbated by the fact that when the Player Character travels from one screen to the other, there is a second, a second and a half worth of time that they are not responsive to any commands, meaning that there is even more sluggishness on display. That, coupled with the unfortunate certainty that the Player will wander from place to place, as they try to figure out what to do and wherefrom to get the items they need, will really take up a lot of time, in a manner most unpleasant. When a person is wasting time - and in this case it really does feel like wasting time, while trying to solve nonsensical, moon-logic based puzzles - said person is prone to get a bit miffed.

Ultimately, that’s what the Whispered World does - it miffs the Player. It features some interesting, smart puzzles, but then also a lot of bothersome trodding back and forth, and an unpleasant quantity of deranged solutions. It’s about as adventure game as it gets, and it is not very good in that regard.

1/3

Presentation

The Whispered World looks… Okay. It features a few cutscenes that have this appearance reminiscent of a cartoon from 20 years ago, but they do not look right. Something about them seems off, as if they are very, very cheaply made, poorly (or not at all) rendered, and, ultimately, there’s something… Unpleasant about them. There’s also the fact that things in the cutscenes are not the right color - as an example, the main Character’s hair is blonde in the cutscenes, but green in the game. That’s just odd and a weird inconsistency.

The game itself looks far better, though it is, for some reason, relegated to a 3 by 4 aspect ratio (even if it came out, apparently, in 2014), and that makes it very strange to behold. Regardless, the environments are hand drawn and look like wonderful outtakes from a fairy tale, the characters are outlined nicely, as are all moving things, giving off, again, that vibe that old (and some newer) cartoons gave off, where it is clear if something will move or not. It’s a very particular look, but it almost works, safe for the choppy appearance of almost every animation.

I do have to reiterate that the game looks absolutely sublime, when it comes to still frames. The sublime paintings that act as the backdrop for the adventure, the backgrounds and even bits of the foreground, everything about it, safe for the competent, but definitely nowhere near as enchanting as the scenery characters, is spectacular. Absolutely deserving of a chef’s kiss, and definitely reminiscent of Ghibli films (stated to be a strong influence on the visual style of the game).

There are some issues, though, such as with the inventory. The inventory screen is portrayed by an opened satchel, but it is very busy even when empty, and when items are added into it they sometimes overlap with the details of the inventory screen’s satchel design and become difficult to make out, which is a bit unpleasant to deal with.

Also, the game is meant for a touch screen (a phone) so that plays a role. During the tutorial, the Player is told to tap things, or to slide two fingers to zoom the screen in. It’s very peculiar. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the game tells the Player how to play it on a tablet, it does not tell the Player how to play it on a PC, and so the Player needs to figure out how to control the game themselves. They click to move, but there are no interface elements that pop up over objects so as to allow the Player to interact with them, which indicates that a button press is required… But which button?

That’s a massive issue, because it renders the Player unable to progress naturally through the very first scene. The tutorial explains things and tells the Player to open a drawer, but then how does the Player open the drawer? They click, they left click - but there is nothing. Even in the options menu, there is no way to access (or configure) the controls, so the Player really needs to figure things out by themselves. Truly a tremendous misstep.

Even more ludicrously, after the Player manages to figure out the game through brute force, it suddenly starts talking about itself in terms of clicking and mouse buttons, rather than touching and fingering. That’s… Stupendous.

Another thing that the game attempts to do, but fails, is… Developer Commentary? That would have been really neat and entertaining, but it is only in German (though it does have subtitles in the other languages the game is playable in) and the commentary itself is quite long and winded, while the folks delivering it fail to say all that much. Still, it does hold some interesting snippets, and is charming in its own right.

Now, audio - audio is very weird and appears to be one of the weakest suits of the game. Every character is voiced and is also quite decently voice-acted, but the quality of the recordings does not strike me as very high. Additionally, the dialogue is so excruciatingly loud that, even when tampered with via the audio sliders in the game’s options, it still explodes and almost hurts the listener’s ears. As a result, the game has poorly balanced audio, which is not a good thing.

Additionally, the way the voice-lines cut from one to the other is very jarring. Sometimes, the characters do not even get to finish the words (or even sentences) they are saying, and the sound files for their dialogue are cut short in favor of playing the next one. It does not sound good and really tears the Player from whatever story-esque vibe the game is trying to pull off.

When it comes to music and sound effects, everything is quite competently done, though there’s a profound frugality in the use of sound. Music and ambience, sure, but things making noises? Very rarely. And the music manages to become excruciatingly grating, considering just how long the Player might have to stay on one screen at a time, which really does it a disservice. It loops and loops and, if it is a bit louder and a bit more energetic than a basic little tune, it really starts hammering into one’s mind in a most unpleasant manner.

2/3

Story

The Whispered World follows the tale of Sadwick, a teen-ish clown boy who is very sad and miserable and a bit of a loser (strangely, like most other Daedalic Point and Click Adventure Game Protagonists [I hate Rufus]), who is plagued by weird nightmares. He has a pet caterpillar - Spot - who is exceptionally odd for a caterpillar, but since everything is magical in this world that Sadwick inhabits, it’s fine.

He lives with his brother and grandfather, and they’re the circus, roaming the land in wagons and providing entertainment… But there aren’t that many people around, because the world is ending. Apparently.

The story opens up with someone telling it to the Player, some narrator, who indicates that Sadwick led to the end of the world, so the Player expects that their loser protagonist will be exceptionally similar to Rufus (the ultimate loser protagonist who wound up kinda ending the world in his series of games). However, things rather quickly take on a different appearance.

The shtick is as it appears. Sadwick is a pathetic, miserable fellow, and folks do not like him at all (though that might be with good reason, as he is a bit of an asshole) - his older brother is exceptionally unpleasant in his interactions with him, his grandfather is kinda senile and mistakes him for his older brother, and even other random characters who meet him. Again, he does not help himself - he lies (constantly, that’s how he gets through most conversations), is a real downer, and is quite mean-spirited sometimes.

Fortunately (it could be said) Sadwick meets very few characters, but they all treat him the same, though he never fails to not be snide in return - when he is not being a cowardly little pansy. With that said, the Whispered World does a pretty good job at introducing its characters and giving them character, making them distinct from the rest of the cast and even colorful enough to be somewhat memorable and interesting. The best two examples are Sadwick’s grandfather, who has a lot of stories to tell, as well as the villain of the story, who is a delectable treat.

Additionally, the game manages to introduce an endearing, lovable character - that being Spot, who is a wonderful little goofball that really grows on the Player, in part because of how adorable he looks in all his forms.

Then there’s also the fact that the Whispered World has this mysterious, immense world within itself. It is captivating and truly esoteric, sparking one’s curiosity for it really does appear to be a fairytale come to life. Most places the Player visits are enchanting and filled with curiosity, brimming with stuff that does not get explained away, leaving this itch that can only be scratched by imagination.

On top of that, Sadwick even goes through a bit of a hero’s journey, though that winds up cut short as some twists and turns introduce the truly weak conclusion of the game’s story. Now, I say weak, but it is… In hindsight, it works. Taking a look at everything that leads up to it, there are certain things that can be interpreted as clues, as indications that the end will be that. The revelation does not come entirely out of nowhere, but at the same time it is not satisfying.

When Sadwick walks into that last chamber, it became apparent to me (the Player) that what was about to be shown was going to be somewhat similar to the Neverending story, what with the fact that the world is ending and falling apart, becoming nothing… But the parallels remain mostly parallels, rather than direct inspiration.

Even so, the twist, the revelation is even less satisfying than the alternative, which leaves me bothered. The Whispered World tries to make some kind of poignant statement, but it winds up lacking. I will try not to spoil, but ultimately, there is no actual reason for the world to be destroyed; it can remain as it is, all the while the choice does get made. There’s some kind of finality that is forced upon the Player, and Sadwick himself, which finality has no reason to be there.

Thus, what winds up happening is that the story of the Whispered World starts off strong, though sporting a very unlikable protagonist, who slowly grows on the Player, while the story remains quite strong, until it crashes and burns into a heap of lost potential. It is entertaining, it is pleasant, and the mystery of what is happening, as well as the wonder of the world, remains strong enough even after the end of the game. It’s better than it is bad, but it is not too good.

2/3

Legendary Point

Does this game get the Legendary point, so craved and wanted by all and none at the same time? Visually, I felt a bit convinced, but in all other regards the game stumbles and fails. It even failed to have that one area to wow me, like that one Deponia game, as a result of which it will just feature a few images in my mind for a month or so, before fading away. It does NOT get the point. 0/1

Conclusion

5/10. The Whispered World is a very pretty looking, decently interesting Point and Click Adventure Game that will definitely float the boats of genre fans, but for anyone else I would think twice before recommending it. It has far too many issues to be approachable for non-dedicated meth– I mean Adventure Game heads, though, so keep that in mind.

In the bag of mediocrity it goes. It looked nice, but was relatively vapid. A shame, really.