The Whispering Valley

Got the game on sale and wasn't sure what to expect but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a short but fun horror/mystery point and click adventure, not jumpscare-y, and I can definitely see the scratches inspiration. It's an interesting and dark story with religious theming, and I found it satisfying putting all the pieces together to figure out what's going on. Most of the horror came from the sounds for me, not in a loud = scary way, just genuinely eerie creaks and good usage of the right sound or silence at the right time. Not too difficult to figure out, I completed the whole thing without using a guide and I don't usually play point and click games like this. I'll also mention the whole game is in french with english subtitles, I didn't mind but some people might not enjoy that. Overall a fun experience, and if you enjoy point and click horror games this is a good one to try.

10/10 The Cat and Dog Survive. This game nails the spooky atmosphere, with suspense and dread steadily rising with each new discovery, the pacing of the mystery gradual but steady, and I really enjoyed the fear that was built up around the "Whisperer" while never actually showing the monster (except a quick glimpse at the end, seriously, W----go?). The puzzles hit the right level of difficulty for me, and the callbacks to the prequel game were gratifying and chilling. The game is, admittedly, a bit buggy, with some outdoor textures not properly loading in sometimes. However, my only real complaint is that I wish that a History Mode, like was in The Whisperer, could have been included. Still, I think any issues were more than made up for by the interactions with Tideau the dog and Bishop the cat, who are both cute and bestest pets, and it really made me happy how the developers anticipated how players would react to them; they move their heads when you click on them, as if they are actually reacting the way I was wave my mouse over them to pet them. Plus, I am SO grateful that they [spoiler] showed that both pets were rescued by the PC at the end, very important, THANKYOUTHANKYO…

A really good period game with moody atmosphere, stellar graphics of the village and well done puzzles that are intuitive when you find the needed artifact(s). I also mapped out the area, which really helped to speed things along when I found and collected the items. A creepy story of regret and mass suicides continually hangs over this game like a dark cloud. Well done and I would compare it to "What Remains of Edith Finch" or "The Wild Case". I'm glad I ran across this.

This is game is not designed well. Many of the puzzles are far too vague and the game suffers from bad lighting and too many loading screens for all the backtracking it requires. It does not provide adequate lighting until the end game. This makes it easy to miss many of the items. Likewise, the story unfolds slowly and in an even manner vagueing about the fate of its main characters until later and leaves much unresolved and undescribed in a manner that is far from satisfactory. I would only buy this game if it is on sale.

Barely give a thumbs up. Game graphics are beautiful, but interface and loading times are atrocious. Lighting is terrible unless you turn the brightness all the way up. Story is so-so. Buy only if on sale.

x-- 8/10 --x Very eerie, loved the P & C styled gameplay!