Halloween Leftovers: Orwell & Whispering Willows

Halloween's over and I managed to write about most of the games I played in October. There are two games I couldn't really justify a full article about, so I've decided to discuss them both in brief: Orwell and Whispering Willows. 

Orwell

I don't have many negative things to say about Orwell. The game is very simple, with the gameplay mostly involving you browsing webpages and dragging useful information about persons of interest into Orwell. The artstyle is simple and cohesive, and the minimalist soundtrack stays in the background until the moment your eyes fall on some shocking information that completely changes how you see a person or even the entire story thus far. There are musical changes for both dramatic twists and tragic realizations.

I was impressed how a game that essentially works like a browser managed to tell such a compelling story about the information we share online and how it could be used against us, and forces the player to make choices. The Orwell system can't take contradicting information, even if the contradiction would be cleared up by simple common sense like "They changed their mind" or "They misspoke." Say a person has a certain view of the government; if a person changed their opinion on or lied about their opinion at one point, you can only choose to submit one single piece of information to define what Orwell thinks his or her opinion is.

I'd go more in-depth about the profoundly disturbing implications of Orwell, but I went in with certain expectations and the game managed to shock, surprise and delight me in its own way; I don't want to take that from you, so I'll just recommend that you play it yourself:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/491950/Orwell_Keeping_an_Eye_On_You/

Whispering Willows

Whispering Willows mostly involves 2D exploration and plays a lot like an adventure game or point & click, where you are expected to find items to use in the appropriate places and make progress; the gimmick is that the main character can separate her spirit from her body to explore different areas and possess objects like levers.

The game had good visuals and music - the main character's animations, especially her body language when enemies are nearby or the flowing hair of her spirit form - are impressive. I didn't mind the exploration and some of the puzzles were quite fun, but there were scenarios were the main character could get hurt. In these situations, the character's slow movement and lack of other mobility options meant that you simply had to wait for enemies to patrol by and then move with little other strategy or thought. I also got stuck at one point in a maze, because I had to turn into a ghost to speak to a ghost dog elsewhere in the maze. The problem is that ghosts only appear to you in your spirit form, and your only clue to their presence in your normal, non-spirit state is a whispering sound. Missing this was partially my fault, but the dog's presence could have been a bit more clear if it was going to be so vital to progress. At the very least, I would've appreciated a guarantee from the game that the solution was in the maze with me, as it still let me explore every prior area.
Aside from talking to spirits, the spirit form also has little else going for it beyond being a door opener. You occasionally get to fly items over to your body, but I was disappointed that it didn't really get more interesting than that.

The story mainly revolves around the protagonist saving her father, but the mansion where he disappeared has a history of its own that reveals itself through diaries and journals, as many games like to do. I thought both the backstory and the protagonist's own quest were interesting enough, but the way they were brought together in the end seemed a little clunky to me.

All in all, though, Whispering Willows was still fun and its flaws were less impactful because the game was short and sweet. If you're looking for a short, spooky adventure with some decent puzzles and story, you can do a lot worse. Buy it on sale:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/288060/Whispering_Willows/

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And that's it for the Halloween leftovers! Halloween might be done, but there's still plenty on my list. I'm happy to be updating this blog more regularly again, I'll try to keep up the pace and publish at least one article per month.

Deltarune

We've finally had our first look at the successor to Undertale, Deltarune. I played through the first 'episode.' It'll take some time for me to form coherent opinions, so here's some ranting and wild speculation. I'll update this post as more thoughts and facts come up. I'm also going to include unmarked, HEAVY SPOILERS for Undertale and episode one of Deltarune. Beware!

Timeline Woes
Due to the characters involved and their relationship(s), this game cannot exist in the same "timeline" as Undertale. There are monsters living on the surface, yet our protagonist Kris seems to be the only human. To complicate matters further, his facial features and skin tone are reminiscent of Frisk (also note the name similarity), but his shirt and position in the timeline (recognizes both Toriel and Asgore as parental figures, has a sibling type relationship with Asriel) adds up more for Chara.

My current speculation is that we are in an alternate universe where humans were forced underground and the monsters stayed up above. Kris seems to be the only human around, a fact that is further emphasized by the fact that Susie initially keeps calling him freak.

To make matters even more complicated, there's our adorable and peace-loving companion throughout this adventure. Ralsei is a self-proclaimed PRINCE FROM THE DARK, explicitly establishing himself as separate from the Humans and Monsters in the prophecy, and yet...
... he's Asriel. it makes sense in a way, because he was also the prince of the underground in Undertale... and yet! This makes matters even stranger because Asriel is explicitly known to the world above and is supposedly enrolled in a university elsewhere. I speculate that Ralsei is Asriel from a different timeline, since this entire game seems to be playing with the idea of an alternate universe. It's still very strange that Kris doesn't really react, while Susie actually seems shocked. If my theory is true, that leaves two possibilities: Either Kris knew all along, or this Asriel doesn't look like his brother, the 'other' Asriel.

Every time I dig into the game, things seem to raise more questions than they answer, but I'm very excited to see where this is going.

One more thing, the game distinguishes the creatures from the underground as a separate 'class' of beings, referring to both monsters and humans as Lighteners. This sets the game's theme as being a typical light vs dark story, though it's up to the player whether they want to conquer dark (by being violent) or recovering the balance (by being peaceful).

Or is it? One more thing the game emphasized is that your choices don't matter. It says this several times, especially near the start. It makes me wonder if the outcome of the story will vary as much as it could in Undertale, or if it won't; Toby Fox likes to play with the conventions of the genre, so perhaps this is a play on the illusion of choice? I actually wrote an article about the way Undertale handles choices if you're interested, you can read it if you click here.

UPDATE 2-11-18: Toby Fox posted a Q&A, which you can check here:

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sqn3p9

He answered quite a few questions. Among other things, he confirmed that Delta Rune exists in a separate "universe" from Undertale and seems to imply one does not impact the other. I'm sceptical, though, because it is my belief that Kris and Susie entered another world or timeline through the closet in their school. Being a "separate" universe or timeline does not actually separate it from the story in Undertale.

Furthermore, and this puzzles me even more, he says the ending will be the same regardless of your choices. Undertale, I feel, had something profound to say about finding peaceful resolutions; it seems Delta Rune's outcome is ultimately always the same. I find it strange that Ralsei clearly states the contrary, however. It makes me wonder if this is a bit of deception on Toby's part. Perhaps the outcome will be the same in some ways, and not in others? We'll have to wait and see.
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UPDATE 2-11-18: After reviewing some gameplay footage, I have a few thoughts about the Lightners and Darkners.

After the adventure Kris and Susie wake up in an abandoned room in the school surrounded by many things they encountered on their adventure (poker cards, etc). It could all have been a dream, but both Kris and Susie remember the adventure and Susie still has her injury from the final battle.

All this got me thinking about what the Darkners really are.

Seam describes the Lightners as being Gods, but not just that - the Lightners are specifically named as the creators of Darkners and those who gave them purpose. And all the Darkners are based on manmade objects; the shopkeeper above is a plushy toy, Rudin and Hathy are poker cards, there are statues and poker chips, Lancer is a spade... It got me thinking that perhaps, the underground in Delta Rune is a place of lost toys.

Gameplay Joys
The battle system is basically an evolution of its predecessor, removing random encounters and introducing multiple party members. The interface buttons are a little small, though, which might be troublesome for people with impaired vision. I have little to say about it, beyond that I think it's great. Any excuse to hear more of Toby's musical talent is fine with me, and the added animations and in-battle dialogues add even more flavour.

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Also,

That is all.

I'll share more thoughts as more gets revealed and I take more time to do research.