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AG Community Playthrough #31: The Whispered World
Everything made sense.
YES! But… while “everything made sense” from the narrator-designer perspective, not everything made sense from the player-main character’s perspective.
If you think about it, pretty much no game has ever made sense from the protagonist’s perspective. I mean opening a safe by solving a slide-puzzle? Killing 500,000 orcs to get a magic-sword-that-goes-ting? Killer goats? A health bar where you can take 10 shots without any problems but the eleventh will kill you even if it just scrapes your skin? Healing potions? Mad men hell-bent on destroying the world? Having to make 99 copper pots so you can increase your smithing skill? MacGyver type solutions instead of just buying the items you need from the local shop? The zombie apocalypse? ... The list is endless, even for games aiming at a so called realistic setting.
If I was a character in a game, then it would take about 5 milliseconds before I asked myself this question:
In this game it at least makes sense for Sadwick when [spoiler]he realizes that nothing he encountered during the game was actually real, that it was all just a game story. It all comes together and makes sense, because it is a story within a story.[/spoiler]
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
If you think about it, pretty much no game has ever made sense from the protagonist’s perspective. I mean opening a safe by solving a slide-puzzle? ...
Yes, but not in that way. Suspension of belief is another thing - We all KNOW that it’s perfectly fine to combine hook and staff instead of just going to a store to buy a grappling hook. We all know it’s fine to solve random, or even abstract puzzles because that’s how the genre works, and we’re consciously going into it. The thing with The Whispered World ending is another thing. As someone already stated: [spoiler]You’re “tricked” the whole game to connect to Sadwick, the clown, not the boy in a hospital. More importantly, it’s SADWICK (well, it’s you, but it’s really Sadwick) who makes the choice at the end - there’s no reason for Sadwick to favor some boy he just met from an unbelievable story he just heard, instead of HIMSELF! That’s really the issue here, the narrative device wasn’t in such way that the choice would come as a natural conclusion, because the ending came out of nothing in the last minute of the game and we, the players, weren’t “prepared” enough in order for it to be a “choice” at all. (even though the general picture is fine, in retrospective, but only from the designer’s view).[/spoiler]
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
because it is a story within a story.
[spoiler]Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
Edgar Allan Poe[/spoiler]
I’ve been enjoying diego’s quizzes so much, that I decided to try one on my own. It’s a quiz with a bit of a twist. Okay, more than a bit.
The Whispered World Quizionaire
Covering all four chapters – spoilers if you haven’t finished the game!
Section One: Object Identification
1. 
The object above is:
a. an abstract painting of Santa Claus
b. a ghostly librarian
c. a sliding silver sliver puzzle
d. a mysterious stained glass window
e. a detail from a Reading Rainbow advertisement
2. 
The black, curved objects above are:
a. levers
b. slippers
c. eyes
d. Spot’s missing antennae
e. discolored banana peels
f. horns
3. 
The object hanging above is:
a. pantaloons
b. an animal restraint mechanism
c. a parachute
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
f. none of the below
1. d unless you’re unlucky, in which case it’s c 2. f obviously 3. d or f
4. Which bear(s) do(es) NOT belong in The Whispered World?
a. 
b. 
c. 
d. 
e. 
f. 
b and e
The Whispered World Quizionaire
Covering all four chapters – spoilers if you haven’t finished the game!
Section Two: Matching
5. Match Spot’s form with the noise he makes when in that particular form.
a. Hefty Spot
b. Flat Spot
c. Fiery Spot
d. Multiple Spot(s)
Noises:
“frizzle”
“boingboingboing”
“pffftttt”
“kreee wah wah wah kreee wah”
“flap?”
“gloob!”
“meep”
“doobeedoobeedoo”
a. “meep” b. “flap?” c. “frizzle” d. “boingboingboing”
6. Match the cloud formation with the chapter it appears in. (Hint: there are four chapters.)
a. 
b. 
c. 
d. 
e. 
f. 
a. Chapter Two b. Chapter Three c. Chapter Three d. Chapter Two e. Chapter One f. Chapter Four—I’m pretty sure, anyway.
7. Match the statement with the character who said it.
a. “Oh boy, what kind of wuss are you? If I were your world, I’d rather end myself. And that’s a fact.”
b. “Fate is probably sitting on its front porch sipping cocoa, looking down on me and laughing.”
c. “Five years in a monastery simply because I had chili casserole before bedtime.”
d. “I hate Limericks.”
e. “He died of natural causes. Well… natural for an alchemist. His boots were still smoldering at the funeral.”
f. “I wouldn’t mind being rotated a bit.”
g. “We could make a bookssstand from hissss ssskull.”
Characters:
Sadwick
Grandpa
Maurice
The Royal Astronomer
Yngo
Loucaux
Gourney
A. Maurice b. Sadwick c. Grandpa d. Loucaux e. Royal Astronomer f. Yngo g. Gourney
The Whispered World Quizionaire
Covering all four chapters – spoilers if you haven’t finished the game!
Section Three: Psychological Evaluation
8. Which collection would you prefer? Your choice will indicate something about you!
a. a book collection
b. a candle collection
c. a pearl collection
d. a caterpillar collection
If you chose a: You are a powerful seer who can sense the future. You could make a killing predicting the outcome of sporting events. But instead you spend time disregarding directional arrows and sitting with your nose in a book.
If you chose b: You are a mystic maintaining a thousand points of light. You are reconsidering your life philosophy, however, since an upstart beat you at chess.
If you chose c: You are an insomniac with an incredible sense of smell. You are a capitalist who never sells or buys. You know a good thing when you see it, and that good thing is staying put.
If you chose d: You are a mournful clown who is about to destroy the world. Your collection will multiply, burn, fatten and flatten. It’s time to start appreciating it.
9. Which is your most characteristic response? Your choice will say something about you!
If you don’t get what you want, your first impulse is to:
a. Invade a neighboring country
b. Ask the next traveler on the path to take you with him
c. Hide in a suit of armor
d. Blow away on the breeze
If you chose a: You are ruthless and cruel. Sign yourself up for the next session at Spot’s Extreme Charm School.
If you chose b: You are resolute in your views because your view never changes. Tell the next traveler on the path that you want to be a Pet Rock and insist that he take you home. You can then enslave the world.
If you chose c: Next time, spit in the soup.
If you chose d: You must communicate with your employer/wearer that you are a free spirit and should not be hung out to dry. Stand up for yourself!
10. Which statement most accurately reflects your outlook on life? Your choice will affect your future occupation!
a. “THE END IS APPROACHING.”
b. “Can we imagine something like stagnation-induced balance after all?”
c. “Not now. We can have a mushroom barbecue after the world has ended.”
d. “feep”
If you chose a: You are an expert at frightening children in their sleep. At game’s end, I will write you a glowing recommendation, which you can submit to the employment office at Monsters, Inc.
If you chose b: See if you can express this concept in 20,000 words or more. If you can, and it takes fewer than 9 years to write it all out, you will be awarded a PhD in Economics.
If you chose c: You have an imperfect grasp of logical consequences. I suggest you apply for a government job.
If you chose d: You are optimistic, considerate, helpful, courageous, and entertaining. You have earned the right to star in yet another video game.
Extra credit: Invent a new transformation for Spot and state what special power would result from the transformation.
YAAY! Finally, I can enjoy playing quizzes, for a change! 
Thanx, Becky!
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
Excellent job Becky! Though I think that in section 1, question 2, those were Loucaux’s horns.
As for the extra credits, and since Spot will not retain the butterfly form as we have seen from TWW2, then I propose…..
Liquid Spot!!!
He will be able to put off fires and move where no other form could (in tubes, etc)....
Hey cool, another quiz, missed the clouds in this one. All my answers in the Psychological evaluation should be feep from now on.
Spot new form would be again pantaloons Spot, would solve every puzzle in the game with it.
BTW, this is now the most discussed Community Playthrough, having dethroned the previous record holder The Pandora Directive! Congratulations to Sefir and all of the participants, and yeah, I can stop spamming the thread now. 
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
My Score was Lumberjack 
As for a new Spot form, how about:
He could tell bad jokes until the baddies run away screaming, or confuse them with insane moon logic, he can even blow smoke to detect those hard to see laser grids.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
If you think about it, pretty much no game has ever made sense from the protagonist’s perspective. I mean opening a safe by solving a slide-puzzle? ...
Yes, but not in that way. Suspension of belief is another thing - We all KNOW that it’s perfectly fine to combine hook and staff instead of just going to a store to buy a grappling hook. We all know it’s fine to solve random, or even abstract puzzles because that’s how the genre works, and we’re consciously going into it. The thing with The Whispered World ending is another thing.
I don’t see the distinction. A bad story element is a bad story element regardless of whether it was put into the game to provide some game mechanics, because it is part of the convention of the genre, or for no other reason than the story itself. A game isn’t just some story where you add some mechanics or obstacles, or for that matter mechanics where you fill in the holes with a bit of story, it should all come together and the mechanics be part of the story and vice versa. It is also the main reason why games can’t quite compete with books or movies when it comes to telling stories, not (just) because game designers are not equally good story tellers, but because their job is not to tell a good story but to make a good game.
I don’t believe that Sadwick would spend the entire game trying to save himself and his world and then sacrifice it all for some kid he just met with an incredible story.
As someone already stated: More importantly, it’s SADWICK (well, it’s you, but it’s really Sadwick) who makes the choice at the end - there’s no reason for Sadwick to favor some boy he just met from an unbelievable story he just heard, instead of HIMSELF!
But it is NOT some boy he has just met, they are pulling a Smeagol/Gollum here.
Sadwick is talking to his own reflection in the mirror, he is literally talking to HIMSELF! And if you can’t trust yourself then who can you trust?
Also remember this quote from the conversation with the boy: “You know that it is true”, real world Sadwick is not telling Sadwick anything that he didn’t already knew, it is just memories that Sadwick has repressed and need to remember before he can wake up.
As someone already stated: [spoiler]You’re “tricked” the whole game to connect to Sadwick, the clown, not the boy in a hospital… That’s really the issue here, the narrative device wasn’t in such way that the choice would come as a natural conclusion, because the ending came out of nothing in the last minute of the game and we, the players, weren’t “prepared” enough in order for it to be a “choice” at all. (even though the general picture is fine, in retrospective, but only from the designer’s view).[/spoiler]
Well tricking the player/reader/viewer into thinking that the story is different from what it actually is, is kind of the definition of a major plot twist. I do actually at least partly, agree with you here. Throwing a major plot twist on this scale right at the ending is not the best way to tell a story. In fact if we once again compare it to The Neverending Story, then it handles the whole duality of fantasy/real world and story within a story much better. It is a major part of the story right from the start of the book, while at the same time it still has a plot twist at the end.
But expecting the same kind of brilliance as The Neverending Story from a game, is simply asking too much, the game and the ending is not perfect, but it is imo perfectly fine.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
Excellent job Becky! Though I think that in section 1, question 2, those were Loucaux’s horns.
Those are horns that were his eyes? 
Since they grow right out of where Loucaux’s eyes should be, are you sure they aren’t eyes? Loucaux doesn’t seem to be blind (well, not physically blind). If those aren’t his eyes, where ARE his eyes?
I love the ideas for the new Spot transformations!
The MTV Spot?! Playing music videos in order to draw attention of you foes while you sneak behind them and take their keys?
The Cube Spot! Earn $ millions in casino while playing with your fake, lucky dice.
Monster Spot!
Spotwick! ... or… Sadpot!!
But I really wonder what was this Spot form planned for?
Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale
Excellent job Becky! Though I think that in section 1, question 2, those were Loucaux’s horns.
Those are horns that were his eyes?
His eyes are exactly where they should be….
Some free lessons on Asgil anatomy.....
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