The Whispered World

Wesray · Sun 30/08/2009 15:33:00

Has anybody here already played the new commercial German adventure game "The Whispered World" by Deadalic Entertainment? I and my adventure-playing friends absolutely love it so far and I highly recommend it to anyone here. The gorgeous hand-painted backgrounds (see screenshots below) remind me of Curse of Monkey Island and the puzzle design is really satisfying for the most part, though some obstacles can be quite challenging.

Luckily Whispered World is very different from most other recent German adventures. It is not another fantasy/pirate spoof, but foremost it has an original story to tell, with some great characters and sarcastic, sometimes rather dark humour thrown into the mix. In that respect it reminds me of classics like Grim Fandango or, yes, the original Monkey Islands. The melancholic atmosphere is still very unique though.

Judging by their first two games, there almost seems to be a new Lucas Arts in town with Deadalic Entertainment. On the technical side they have progressed leaps and bounds since their first game, "Edna and Harvey" (still a great comedic adventure game, which story took a surprisingly dark turn in the end). And the story, humour and puzzles of Whispered World seem to be at least on par, if the first two chapters are anything to go by.

I can only hope that Whispered World is the huge blockbuster it deserves to be, showing that traditional point & click adventures with beautiful 2D-Graphics and a creative thoughtful story still sell well nowadays.

jetxl · Sun 30/08/2009 16:29:18

I haven't played it but I followed it on adventuregamers.com. I also hope it'll become an international smash hit and put adventure games back into the spotlight.
Walking inside such breath taking hand drawn backgrounds is possible in no other genre than the adventure game. This it bound to have an universal appeal, I just don't understand why they don'tmake more games like this.

mouthuvmine · Sun 30/08/2009 20:20:28

Wow, those shots are beautiful! I'm definitely going to try it.

Huw Dawson · Sun 30/08/2009 23:02:29

I actually thought Broken Sword with those backgrounds. I, however, cannot speak German and thus probably can't play this.

- Huw

Tijne · Mon 31/08/2009 02:43:33

Quote from: Huw Dawson on Sun 30/08/2009 23:02:29
I, however, cannot speak German and thus probably can't play this.

So I'm lead to believe, other various language-versions will be released by 'hopefully' the end of the year.

I'm certainly looking forward to this now. ^_^

ThreeOhFour · Mon 31/08/2009 12:11:46

I remember seeing this in the past and thinking "Those are really nice graphics". I am pleased to hear that the puzzle design is satisfying and even more pleased to hear that an English version is a possibility. Thanks for reminding me about this!

DrWhite · Mon 31/08/2009 14:29:38

Watched the trailer... to me, the style seems to be inspired by the films of Hayao Miyazaki - whitch I do appreciate. Certainly looking forward to playing it.

cat · Mon 31/08/2009 14:55:45

Just ordered it! Now I am exited to play it.

Phemar · Mon 31/08/2009 21:51:42

Quote from: cat on Mon 31/08/2009 14:55:45
Just ordered it! Now I am exited to play it.

Don't be exited, be excited!!

Matti · Mon 31/08/2009 23:48:45

Quote from: Wesray on Sun 30/08/2009 15:33:00
Has anybody here already played the new commercial German adventure game "The Whispered World" by Deadalic Entertainment?

Judging by their first two games, there almost seems to be a new Lucas Arts in town with Deadalic Entertainment.

Hey, Daedalic Entertainment isn't dead yet!

Yeah, those screenies are nice. Will watch the trailer now...

Edit:
Graphics are fine, but I really dislike the voices of the characters (and the narrator of the trailer, who's talking crap anyway). Also, it seems to be a rather childish disneylike story which isn't my cup of tea.

Wesray · Wed 02/09/2009 02:09:09

Phew, I finally finished the game tonight! After completing it, I can safely say it was my favorite commercial adventure of the last few years.

What I liked (in addition to the obvious things I already mentioned in the first post):
- Spot: really fun sidekick, even if he's silent.
- I really got interested in the outcome of the game.
- The end game didn't felt rushed like with many other adventures.
- There was some character development. Sadwick starts out a sad sack, but during the course of the game he seems to lose some of his depression and grow more and more determined. That really was a nice touch.
- Bonus material after finishing the game
- The copy protection with three colored twelve-sided dice. A bit annoying at first, but actually quite fun and really original.

Complains, minor annoyances:
- My only real complaint is that a few puzzle solutions seemed somewhat arbitrary, but most things made perfect sense within the game world.
- Near the end of the games a greater focus was put on mini games. But that wasn't that bad since I enjoyed most of them.
- Character animation besides Sadwick wasn't that good.
- I'm sure some will hate the ending. I thought it was ok, but Edna's was more impressive.

@ MrMatti: I admit the voice of the main character needs some time to get used to, but one really falls in love with the characters after a short time (well, I did). And it's less Disney-like than it may seem at first glance. I don't know if you are familiar with the Edna-game, but its similar. Very cutesy on the outside, but the darker aspects get more apparant once you spend some time with it. Oh, and the narrator is actually explained at the ending. It makes more sense then. But of course whether you appreciate the style of this game comes down to individual taste in the end.

@DrWhite: Hayao Miyazaki was actually mentioned as one of the primary influences for the game. Both regarding its look and its feeling.