The Whispered World is about half a terrific game and half a mess. But since the most important parts, the puzzling, graphics and exploring, are all well done I'm going to ignore the stuff I cared less for and award the game an overall grade of A minus.
I am not a huge fan of point-and-click adventures, but i really love this one!
The story of the melancholic clown and his pet has great moments most of them funny but also some sad.
The game looks amazing with its handdrawn backrounds and livley animated characters. The sound... That seems to be a problem in the english version but for the german version I can say that thevoice actiong is amazing and the music ( which is available at the publishers page) is wonderful.
I had soem problems with the riddles though some of them are really logical and some are just chaotic.
But personally I can oversee these flaws, because when I think back at this game, I have to start smiling thinking of the good time I had and then I turn on the soundtrack think about the stunning ending!
I love sad Clowns. So i love it. The Game is wonderful illustrated. Good Story, nice Characters. And the best of it is the Main Character, the **** i fell tears ofer my skin. :D
Of course, a totally linear game is nothing without its plot, and The Whispered World doesn't disappoint in that respect. It's a relatively unique take on the 'reluctant hero saves the world' tale, with the kind of memorable ending that'll divide opinion straight down the middle.
I am not a huge fan of point-and-click adventures, but i really love this one!
The story of the melancholic clown and his pet has great moments most of them funny but also some sad.
The game looks amazing with its handdrawn backrounds and livley animated characters. The sound... That seems to be a problem in the english version but for the german version I can say that thevoice actiong is amazing and the music ( which is available at the publishers page) is wonderful.
I had soem problems with the riddles though some of them are really logical and some are just chaotic.
But personally I can oversee these flaws, because when I think back at this game, I have to start smiling thinking of the good time I had and then I turn on the soundtrack think about the stunning ending!
The most enjoyable, and essential, part of The Whispered World is its fantastic lore, partially because it's required to understand the context of its sequel, "Silence". The voice acting isn't quite up to par, but there's humor to be found in some of the nooks, crannies and possible interactions you can make in this otherwise bleak world. That said, when it comes to the puzzles, you'll have to rack your brain repeatedly to try figuring them out - sometimes I swear you were intended to solve them just by pure guesswork! But this is certainly a creative point-and-click adventure that deserves an honorable mention for its story.
As a huge fan of point-and-click adventure games I'm always happy to see new additions to this genre. Especially when so much time has been spent making awesome, handdrawn backgrounds, cutscenes and characters. Graphically The Whispered World is stunning, absolutely no complaints there.
The biggest point of criticism is the voice acting. The main character Sadwick sounds downward terrible, and it's beyond me why this has ever been thought of as acceptable. Such a beautiful game almost completely ruined by just this, it restrained me from rating this game the solid 8 it really deserves. Actually I'm hoping to get my hands on the original german version one day, just to experience this game the way it should.
Most of the storyline is good enough though. As a anti-hero depressed circus jester traveling through a fantasy world you meet a messegner of the king. The king is ill and the world is ending, and you'll have to deal with that somehow. Ofcourse that means visiting all kinds of different locations, all beautifully handdrawn and some filled with fun to solve puzzle elements. You're also accompanied by Spot, a shape-shifting catterpiller with a cute but limited vocalubary. This adds to the puzzle-solving fun as you need to think a bit more out of the box - in this case your inventory sack.
There are interesting fantastically shaped characters which are fun to interact with, and the locations are equally satisfying to wander through. Especially near the end there are some plot holes where things are happening without a proper elaboration, which can be a bit puzzling. But if you just go with it you'll be just fine, don't worry.
This game is no Monkey Island or Sam and Max, but it definitely has its own qualities. I'm glad I bought it when it was on sale on Steam. If it wasn't for the voice acting the full price would have been well worth it as well.
I want to love this game but I can't, because for me this game is not that good. Visually it's really stunning, fluid animations and hand drawn backgrounds really got to me, and I thought I would love it, but the way the puzzles are set-up are really problematic. Too many objects in the inventory at once, too many cryptic tips to indicate how solve some of them and lots of times they didn't make any sense at all, not in a good way like strange but classic point and click solving. You usually can start combining items you don't even know when they will be used. You are never 100% sure what should be your next objective.
The text is good, but always too long. The voice acting is also really hit and miss.
A lack of a tip system also makes this game impossible to beat without some frustration or a walk-through, and this is not the part I love about point and clicking games.
The graphics are basically the only thing keeping this game together. Unnecessarily long, pointless dialogue on -every single clickable item-, humour-driven but seldom funny, several pixelhunt puzzles, and a stereotypical story to top it off. Some of the scenes and much of the scenery in this game is truly magical, but almost all of this is shown to you in the trailer to sell it. This lead to the good bits of the plot being spoiled for me, and between those highlights I was bored out of my skull. I had actually yearned for this game before its release and maybe it was my high expectations that made it such a let down.