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Whispers of a Machine - from Kathy Rain developer

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Played for about an hour and a half so far. Really enjoying it and becoming consistently more intrigued as it goes on. Loving all the investigative mechanics. The visuals and soundtrack are excellent as well.

     
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Great game for the price. Plays great so far. We need a CPT of this one.

Looks better than Kathy Rain, nice improvement in the graphics department.

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I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.

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I agree just beat day one, and this is my favorite adventure game since technobabylon. the voice work is great, the story is awesome so far and the choices you make seem to really effect the gameplay, which is something we rarely ever see.Puzzles are a great balance of easy and hard and make you feel like a detective. love Vera as a hero.

for instance on gameplay

near the end of day one you have to get a fingerprint to open the door to an apartment, I made a mold of a finger to get the print and the game literally told me there was an easier way to do it, even though I couldnt find it lol

The one concern I do have is at the start of the game the tutorial tells you that gameplay will change base on your choice of answers, I think the choices are analytical, empathetic, and strong willed. If you keep choosing one type of answer you will unlock new tools for vera to use. my question is are you going to be punished if you dont stick with one type of answer. I think for the most part I have been analytical but I have been empathetic once or twice and harsh at least once. Is that a bad thing to be or does the game reward that too. Thats my only fear that since im not playing just one set way with only one set of answers; im playing more humanish.Since im doing that im scared I wont see any new cool vera powers lol

     
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So I really disliked that keypad puzzle. The solution just being the relevant date backwards really sucked imo. Why? It makes sense that the code would be 5/13 but there’s nothing in the game pointing you toward reversing it. In fact there’s misleading sign-posting that guides you in completely pointless directions for no reason. I just had to annoyingly try random combinations till I got it. Really frustrating that there was no legitimate payoff for that because I got stuck on it for like 30 minutes. I’m hoping there’s no more puzzles like that in the game afterward.

     
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PlanetX - 17 April 2019 11:50 PM

So I really disliked that keypad puzzle. The solution just being the relevant date backwards really sucked imo. Why? It makes sense that the code would be 5/13 but there’s nothing in the game pointing you toward reversing it. In fact there’s misleading sign-posting that guides you in completely pointless directions for no reason. I just had to annoyingly try random combinations till I got it. Really frustrating that there was no legitimate payoff for that because I got stuck on it for like 30 minutes. I’m hoping there’s no more puzzles like that in the game afterward.

Maybe you missed this In Katarina’s note for Karl says “Remember how you FLIPPED the day I arrive to Nordsund?” Why is that FLIPPED in capital letters?

     

Currently translating Strangeland into Spanish. Wish me luck, or send me money to my Paypal haha

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Jdawg445 - 17 April 2019 10:18 PM

I agree just beat day one, and this is my favorite adventure game since technobabylon. the voice work is great, the story is awesome so far and the choices you make seem to really effect the gameplay, which is something we rarely ever see.Puzzles are a great balance of easy and hard and make you feel like a detective. love Vera as a hero.

for instance on gameplay

near the end of day one you have to get a fingerprint to open the door to an apartment, I made a mold of a finger to get the print and the game literally told me there was an easier way to do it, even though I couldnt find it lol

The one concern I do have is at the start of the game the tutorial tells you that gameplay will change base on your choice of answers, I think the choices are analytical, empathetic, and strong willed. If you keep choosing one type of answer you will unlock new tools for vera to use. my question is are you going to be punished if you dont stick with one type of answer. I think for the most part I have been analytical but I have been empathetic once or twice and harsh at least once. Is that a bad thing to be or does the game reward that too. Thats my only fear that since im not playing just one set way with only one set of answers; im playing more humanish.Since im doing that im scared I wont see any new cool vera powers lol

About your question in the spoiler did you notice the scalpel at the morgue? What do you make of it?

Don’t worry, the game doesn’t “punish” any path you choose. You will just unlock different augs based on the path chosen, because Blue adapts to Vera’s personality. It can happen than you unlock your first aug with one personality and then your personality changes and unlock another aug based on your new personality.

     

Currently translating Strangeland into Spanish. Wish me luck, or send me money to my Paypal haha

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walas74 - 18 April 2019 12:35 AM
PlanetX - 17 April 2019 11:50 PM

So I really disliked that keypad puzzle. The solution just being the relevant date backwards really sucked imo. Why? It makes sense that the code would be 5/13 but there’s nothing in the game pointing you toward reversing it. In fact there’s misleading sign-posting that guides you in completely pointless directions for no reason. I just had to annoyingly try random combinations till I got it. Really frustrating that there was no legitimate payoff for that because I got stuck on it for like 30 minutes. I’m hoping there’s no more puzzles like that in the game afterward.

Maybe you missed this In Katarina’s note for Karl says “Remember how you FLIPPED the day I arrive to Nordsund?” Why is that FLIPPED in capital letters?

If that’s really how they expected you to figure the puzzle out, that’s completely bogus. I’m not reading the subtitles for voiced lines like 90% of the time when I play. The letter should have been a readable full screen item like the journal if that was the case so they could be certain everyone would see that.

     
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PlanetX - 18 April 2019 12:53 AM
walas74 - 18 April 2019 12:35 AM
PlanetX - 17 April 2019 11:50 PM

So I really disliked that keypad puzzle. The solution just being the relevant date backwards really sucked imo. Why? It makes sense that the code would be 5/13 but there’s nothing in the game pointing you toward reversing it. In fact there’s misleading sign-posting that guides you in completely pointless directions for no reason. I just had to annoyingly try random combinations till I got it. Really frustrating that there was no legitimate payoff for that because I got stuck on it for like 30 minutes. I’m hoping there’s no more puzzles like that in the game afterward.

Maybe you missed this In Katarina’s note for Karl says “Remember how you FLIPPED the day I arrive to Nordsund?” Why is that FLIPPED in capital letters?

If that’s really how they expected you to figure the puzzle out, that’s completely bogus. I’m not reading the subtitles for voiced lines like 90% of the time when I play. The letter should have been a readable full screen item like the journal if that was the case so they could be certain everyone would see that.

Maybe you have a point there, I will share that with the creators.

     

Currently translating Strangeland into Spanish. Wish me luck, or send me money to my Paypal haha

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played an hour or so. the cybernetic implants aspect of puzzle solving is neat.  game seems really cool so far

     
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walas74 - 18 April 2019 01:01 AM
PlanetX - 18 April 2019 12:53 AM
walas74 - 18 April 2019 12:35 AM
PlanetX - 17 April 2019 11:50 PM

So I really disliked that keypad puzzle. The solution just being the relevant date backwards really sucked imo. Why? It makes sense that the code would be 5/13 but there’s nothing in the game pointing you toward reversing it. In fact there’s misleading sign-posting that guides you in completely pointless directions for no reason. I just had to annoyingly try random combinations till I got it. Really frustrating that there was no legitimate payoff for that because I got stuck on it for like 30 minutes. I’m hoping there’s no more puzzles like that in the game afterward.

Maybe you missed this In Katarina’s note for Karl says “Remember how you FLIPPED the day I arrive to Nordsund?” Why is that FLIPPED in capital letters?

If that’s really how they expected you to figure the puzzle out, that’s completely bogus. I’m not reading the subtitles for voiced lines like 90% of the time when I play. The letter should have been a readable full screen item like the journal if that was the case so they could be certain everyone would see that.

Maybe you have a point there, I will share that with the creators.

I didnt have a problem with the keypad puzzle simply bc both those notes involved the owner of the apartment. So i figured that out easily enough.

I didnt like

the infant heartbeat puzzle, id turn the valve, and check the computer each time to no avail, i dont think you should have to use vera’s Heartrate power as the only solution to that problem. Both ways should work.

I dont want those minor problems to let you think im not enjoying the game, i am loving it so far.

     
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I’m up to day 3 now and continuing to really enjoy the game. I just finished the part where you re-assemble that dudes flesh to make his tattoo. All the investigation mechanics are continuing to impress me. Despite my criticism of how that one puzzle was handled the overall quality is very high. There’s a refreshing lack of hand-holding as well which makes everything feel like real detective work in the best moments. Also bonus points are awarded for genuinely likable child characters. No small feat.

If the plot holds strong throughout I can see myself going through this multiple times to check out the other abilities and how that effects the gameplay.

Jdawg445 - 18 April 2019 05:32 AM

I didnt have a problem with the keypad puzzle simply bc both those notes involved the owner of the apartment. So i figured that out easily enough.

Yeah but imo there’s also misleading signposting. The bookmark from Maja’s safe gives a hint regarding Katarina. “PW = Think new Katarina.” It says it’s a “console” password. I naturally assumed this was referring to the keypad but it’s actually in reference to the computer which you don’t find until after you’ve solved the keypad.

The doctor also tells you “new Katarina means there must have been an old one. Maybe she changed her identity.” Another misleading hint that you get bizarrely ahead of time. While you’re (potentially) solving another pass-code puzzle involving the same person.

I thought I was supposed to take all that evidence about Katarina and use it to find a number in relation to her new identity, because “PW = new Katarina.” But in actuality I was supposed to know ahead of time that some of those hints were about a completely different console yet to come, ignore them, and focus on capitalized subtitles. 

Imo that’s just sloppy. If you’re gonna have back to back password puzzles about the same person, don’t let the player get clues for both when they’re only aware of one.

Jdawg445 - 18 April 2019 05:32 AM

I didnt like

the infant heartbeat puzzle, id turn the valve, and check the computer each time to no avail, i dont think you should have to use vera’s Heartrate power as the only solution to that problem. Both ways should work.

I’m mixed on that one. I really like the idea and how it makes use of the augmentation. Still, I agree it is cheap that there’s no heart rate monitor on the computer. Especially when the status screen explicitly mentions heart rate but no percentage and has percentages for other vitals. It’s also kinda cheap that the light doesn’t turn green on any position before you use the aug.

But I ended up thinking it was pretty cool use of Vera’s abilities. It just needed slightly better integration. Like there could have been a heart-rate monitor on the terminal but it’s malfunctioning so the number is inaccurate. Then you’d still have to think to use your powers but the set up wouldn’t feel quite so arbitrary.

And yeah, I don’t want to make it seem like any of this ruined my enjoyment of the game. It’s always gonna seem way harsher when you’re trying to break something down. I’ve spent way more time enjoying myself with this game than anything else. So far I think it’s a really good game.

 

     
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We think a lot a like. I also like all the characters. The voice work is truly impressive. Im doing just one day at a time to make it last longer. My hope is at least 7 days, each lasting an hr or two gameplay wise. This game is a breathe of fresh air after life is strange, and truerbrook

     
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I’m happy there’s a positive feedback about this one. Can’t wait to have some free time to try it out. Seems right up my alley.

     
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Something has been troubling me though about the narrative. this is a world where robots, AI, and technology in general is frowned upon yet here is a super agent named vera who uses a lot of technology and yet its not really addressed in the opening of the game. I hope it is addressed sooner or later but I did find that odd.

back to gameplay

I read a review and he said that there are even many different choices to the very first scene and the puzzles there. that is pretty amazing to me considering there really isnt a lot to interact with in the first scene

Also another aspect I like in this game, is that like gabriel knight this game takes place over days/chapters so it would be great for a CPT bc it can easily be broken down. Also while the game does not hold your hand it does streamline things for you, like double click gets you to the next area, the spacebar will light up all objects you can interact with, and at the start of day two vera gets rid of all the inventory she wont need going forward in the game.

So Im off to start day 2

     
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Jdawg445 - 18 April 2019 12:32 PM

Something has been troubling me though about the narrative. this is a world where robots, AI, and technology in general is frowned upon yet here is a super agent named vera who uses a lot of technology and yet its not really addressed in the opening of the game. I hope it is addressed sooner or later but I did find that odd.

The game does address that during day 2. There’s also an optional dialogue option that could possibly get deeper into it. Idk to what extent because I didn’t choose it but I suspect that idea will come back into play throughout the story.

     

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