When a girl named Elena wakes up to read the news that her father has gone missing, she goes on the hunt for him. What she finds along the way is a large mystery filled with murder and misery, plus lots and lots of unrest in the spirit world.
Whispering Willows follows on the same gameplay path as an old school point-and-click adventure, though with considerably less point and click. It follows a linear path where you guide the main character, Elena, from point to point, with little to no deviation off the set path. That’s really the big caveat with this game, though, as it won’t let you stray far away from each point in the story. For example, at the beginning of the game you have to find the deceased body of a spirit, so he can rest. You have to pick up certain objects that set off other events in order to find the spirit’s body. You can’t skip steps, you can’t go off and find things randomly, you have to stay on the linear gameplay path. Again, while the gameplay portion of Whispering Willows seems uninspired, what it lacks in open world, it makes up for in a strong story. While certainly a lot of gamers will find the linear nature of Whispering Willows to be tedious at best, if you stick with it long enough there is an interesting story to be told, which makes the journey more than worth it.
And boy does it have a story.
Along the way through each event in the game, you pick up notes and pieces of the story that spiral towards a greater picture of what happened in the area you’re investigating. You’ll find that several murders have occurred, you’ll pick up notes detailing the situations leading up to said murders and you’ll also get clues from the spirits themselves that fill in the blanks when needed. It’s a narrative driven title that requires reading (GASP! How could Night Light Interactive ask gamers to read and think???) and retaining the material. In this first-person shooter world, it’s refreshing to get a compelling story that sinks its hooks into you and drags you along, even if you’re kicking and screaming.
Story aside, the actual gameplay control doesn’t require much thinking at all, which probably helps with the reading retention. You control Elena and her inner spirit through the thumbsticks and touchpad on the PlayStation 4 controller. Yes, finally, the touchpad has a practical use. All other controls are basically selection tools and allowing for Elena to run (L2+R2). There were times during the game where I would have died (no pun intended) to have a weapon or have a punch option. Night Light apparently didn’t build the game with that in mind, meaning actual violence-driven gameplay was not part of the picture, and surprisingly, once you get used to it, the controls work well. So, gamers looking for action, you’re going to be sorely disappointed — this ain’t that game.
Outside of the story, the other part of the game that drives it is the large amount of puzzles inside of it. Granted, most of what you get with Whispering Willows is ’seek and pick-up’ items to progress. Once in a while, the game will throw you for a loop, especially when you’re trying to figure out how to get to the next step. For example, in Chapter III of the title, there is a spirit that is looking for her love letter, something she must have before she can be at peace. It took me nearly an hour to find that sucker, which was located in a different area (not saying which) and was sitting in the middle of nowhere in that area (not saying where). Frustrating, sure, but the game certainly requires you to ponder things and be keenly aware of your environment. That is what you’re in store for with this title and something that makes it more than just a simple action game.
Beyond the above items, the gameplay doesn’t stretch any further. The game is what it is and it seemingly doesn’t apologize for it one bit. Night Light Interactive has put together something anti-mainstream with this PS4 title. They seem to put faith in the idea that gamers can do more than just push buttons and quite frankly I am actually onboard with this type of gameplay. I know it’s not a perfect game, but it does some things that I haven’t seen in a long while. This gameplay does harken back to a time, especially on the PC side, where exploring-discovering-thinking was a requirement in games. That makes this a fun game, even though I know modern gamers won’t see it that way immediately. Don’t worry, though, modern gamers, there are enemies in the game, but you’ll have to find a way to avoid them, rather than kill them. That’s much tougher than button-mashing enemies away, trust me.
On the presentation side of things, while the art style is certainly unique on the eyes, nothing that Whispering Willows does screams current generation gaming. Its art doesn’t stray away from comic book-esque movement and feel, where the character and her environment look like something straight from the panels of a dark DC world. The frame rate is a bit choppy, but I have to write that up as matching the style. Again, nothing here screams PlayStation 4 or current generation. It’s good, but nothing special. Is that a bad thing? Well, maybe, considering this is a PC port and maybe a little bit of PS4 love could have been added to it to make it feel like a PlayStation 4 game. At the same time, this game is coming from an indie developer who put their heart and soul into it, maybe a large amount of capital as well, to extend it out onto a platform that has 20+ million gamers. I’m sure there wasn’t a lot of wiggle room to upgrade it extensively. Regardless, the game doesn’t shine on the PS4, but the style is cool enough to gain some respect.
The audio side of Whispering Willows, specifically the music, is just creepy enough to keep the mysterious aura alive and kicking from beginning to end. You’re not getting a John Williams written composition, but you’re getting enough to keep the game interesting on the music front and to create a certain mysterious ambiance.
Having read all this, is this game worth your time and money, and more importantly, is the game fun?
While the game certainly won’t appeal to everyone, it has a certain charm to it that makes it slightly addictive, despite its flaws. Maybe it doesn’t flow with the mainstream gaming current, but it does have such a cerebral appeal about it to make it worth the $9.99 asking price. If for nothing else, gamers should appreciate the design and care that went into reminding all of us that there’s more to gaming life than point and shoot.
I hope more indie game companies take chances like this, as this keeps the gaming market fresh.
Anyway, onto the summary!
