The Wickie : Journey of a Lighthouse Keeper

The Wickie is billed as a ‘first person thriller’ with a mysterious environment to explore. As originally released, the game spans over 5 days as you are introduced to your new job as lighthouse keeper. Back in March, I spent just over 3 hours playing with limited success. The game was rife with issues that were being worked on, and patches were released every few days. I took a break because I lost confidence in the game and could not differentiate between the mistakes I was making and problems in the code. Fast forward to June. Crispian Robson has reworked Day 1 of The Wickie and re-released. At present, Day 1 is available in a new and improved format and the stated plan is to continue updating the remaining days and release them on an incremental basis. The rework on Day 1 is impressive. The environments are more robust, the soundtrack is still very cool, the voice-acting is well done, the characters are now 3D, and mechanics are improved. The world of The Wickie is beautiful, harsh, and mostly empty. From what I gather, this is a game that simply turns you loose to explore. There are NPCs to chat with, gondolas to ride, doors to open, switches to flip, and machines to se…

I poured four hours of my life into The Wickie, trying to make sense of it. Frankly, I’m not sure if anyone else on planet Earth – other than the developer – has played it as much as I did. I’m mostly just saying this because the issues with the game become glaringly obvious if you spend more than twenty minutes with it. I mean, I understand this is the kind of game that refuses to hold your hand and wants you to unravel its secrets on your own. It even said so at the beginning. I get that part. My issue isn’t the fact that I was lost and confused, it’s that the game did absolutely nothing to make the journey feel engaging, interesting, or worth your time. I was expecting an atmospheric investigation with some Lovecraftian elements, and instead got a barrage of bugs, and a bland, empty world full of seemingly unfinished parts that made me feel like I was in an Early Access tech demo. Granted, the game is still getting patched, but why was it released in such a state in the first place? I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that did not enjoy my time with The Wickie, and that I cannot, under any circumstances, recommend it. For the full-length version of this review (along wit…

I've only scratched the surface when it comes to this game but I remain intrigued. It has a few issues of course. The game dropped some frames the longer I ran it but this could be due to a game install that I had in background. Also when I fell in the water it was a bit iffy to get out due to the controls. Graphically it looks solid. I found myself takin' in the sights/environment quite a bit. The character models are 2D which is interestin' due to the fact that they exist in a 3d world. I do think that the game could use some voice over work. It'd bring the characters more to life imo. Price wise it may be a bit much for some. 25 bucks is a lot. I do think think that the game could pay for itself int he end due to it bein' an open world title. More time will be needed to access the true quality/value. In the mean time I'll give it a recommend. Gameplay Impressions: https://youtu.be/XaFOj-M5Ecs

Been waiting on this one for a while, I'm only through the tutorial so far (boos hiss, work) the developer is super responsive to feedback. The atmosphere really lands, or seas I guess!. The NPCs have a mountain of dialogue and the locations have a bunch of hidden (sometimes not so hidden "KIY") If you are a fan of Cthulu, Exploration games or generally spooky vibes it's worth a quick stroll around Pandora, don't worry, I'm sure you won't get lost and stuck here forever.

Don't let the cartoonish characters fool you. If you want a really "creepy" atmospheric game, this is it. You love Lovecraft? Ambiance and puzzles? This game delivers. I just started my journey and I'm already captured by the promises of dark secrets and great rewards.