Whispering Willows

81%
Game Brain Score Based on 724 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Whispering Willows Game Cover
Immersive audio and impressive art-style isn't quite enough to prevent the gameplay of this intriguing ghost story from being quite banal.
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In Whispering Willows, young Elena Elkhorn searches for her missing father and explores the mysteries of the Willows Mansion. Armed with an amulet that lets her communicate with ghosts, Elena solves puzzles and helps spirits while uncovering chilling secrets. This atmospheric adventure game combines elegant puzzles with a rich, ghostly narrative.

  • iPad
  • iPhone
  • Mac OS
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Phone
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Android
  • Linux
  • Mobile Platform
  • Ouya
  • Play​Station
  • Play​station Vita
  • Tablet
  • Wii
  • Wii U
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

81%
Audience ScoreBased on 724 reviews
story273 positive mentions
replayability13 negative mentions
  • Beautiful hand-drawn art style and atmospheric sound design create an engaging experience.
  • Interesting story that explores themes of loss and redemption through the protagonist's journey.
  • Simple yet enjoyable gameplay mechanics, including the ability to astral project and interact with ghosts.
  • Game is very short, typically completed in 2-3 hours, leading to questions about its value at full price.
  • Puzzles are often too easy and lack challenge, making the gameplay feel simplistic.
  • Lack of running indoors and some frustrating backtracking can detract from the overall experience.
  • story708 mentions

    The story of *Whispering Willows* follows a young girl named Elena as she searches for her missing father in a haunted mansion, uncovering dark secrets tied to her family's past and the colonial history of the area. While the narrative is rich with atmospheric elements and intriguing lore, it is primarily conveyed through scattered notes and diary entries, leading to a somewhat simplistic and linear experience that some players found lacking in depth and character development. Overall, the game offers a charming yet predictable ghost story that resonates with themes of loss and redemption, though many reviewers wished for a more engaging and fleshed-out plot.

    • “I enjoyed piecing together the story via scrolls gathered throughout the game, the main character's diary, and talking to ghosts through Elena's spirit form.”
    • “The story is touching, even more in the final part of the game.”
    • “The story is intriguing and the art and character animations are beautifully done.”
    • “The story is equivalent to something an edgy teenager would write.”
    • “The story is mediocre and the game is tiny.”
    • “The story was simplistic and uninteresting and the puzzles were little challenge.”
  • gameplay265 mentions

    The gameplay of "Whispering Willows" is characterized by its simple mechanics and a focus on exploration, primarily involving the protagonist's ability to switch to a spirit form to solve puzzles and interact with the environment. While the game offers a unique atmosphere and an engaging story, many players found the puzzles to be too easy and the overall gameplay experience to be slow and repetitive, often leading to a lack of challenge and engagement. Despite its charming visuals and intriguing concept, the gameplay is seen as underdeveloped, with limited mechanics that do not fully utilize the potential of the spirit transformation feature.

    • “The gameplay is very good; it is your standard point-and-click game, but a nice twist is the ability to astral project yourself. You can become a ghost and move all over the place and possess certain objects. I found that a pretty good concept as it was fun to explore more inaccessible parts of the mansion or possess an object with ghost powers.”
    • “The spirit mechanics make it a bit more complex than most similar games I've tried before, but that's not to say it was hard or confusing. However, it also makes the gameplay wonderfully relaxing.”
    • “Whispering Willows is a charming 2D adventure featuring smooth hand-drawn animations, immersive sound design, and a clever spirit-mode mechanic reminiscent of the Blackwell series.”
    • “Unfortunately, the main gameplay mechanic (astral projection) is not interesting enough to avoid being boring between story beats, and since there aren't any dialogue trees, the conversations are also not interesting.”
    • “The gameplay consists mostly of walking; there's no challenge in puzzles at all. The story you uncover from collected journals and letters is somewhat alright, but it doesn't matter much.”
    • “The gameplay and puzzles are repetitive and boring.”
  • graphics258 mentions

    The graphics of "Whispering Willows" receive mixed reviews, with many praising the charming and unique art style, which effectively creates an eerie atmosphere. However, criticisms arise regarding the simplistic 2D visuals and inconsistent quality, particularly in cutscenes, which detract from the overall experience. While the in-game graphics are often described as beautiful and atmospheric, some players feel that the animations and certain artistic choices could have been improved.

    • “I absolutely love the art style of this game; everything is so beautifully rendered, from Elena to her spirit to the environment and all of the buildings and effects.”
    • “The graphics are lovely, the mood is atmospheric, and the soul projection mechanic is creative and interesting.”
    • “Graphically, I have to say that this game looked amazing, the level of detail that was put into this game, and the art style seemed to fit the game perfectly.”
    • “While there are options to change the resolution for the mobile app, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the mobile app, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
    • “Without any other substantial graphics tweaks, it's not possible for gamers to improve the lackluster 2D visuals.”
    • “The artwork in the cutscenes is obviously that of an inexperienced artist, and the ending felt slightly anticlimactic.”
  • atmosphere139 mentions

    The atmosphere in "Whispering Willows" is consistently praised for its eerie and haunting qualities, enhanced by a captivating soundtrack and beautiful art style. Players appreciate the game's ability to create a spooky yet not overly frightening environment, making it suitable for younger audiences while still engaging for adults. Overall, the atmospheric elements effectively support the story and exploration, drawing players into the mysterious world of the haunted mansion.

    • “The atmosphere and sound are creepy.”
    • “The music, the ambience, the graphics, and the atmosphere really suit this horror game!”
    • “Whispering Willows has great atmosphere, lots of history to uncover in-game, and an ambient soundtrack to set the mood during your adventure.”
    • “It was alright, it's a fetch quest style game with a few easy puzzles where I feel like it just needed a little more polish in places to set the atmosphere up a bit better or prop up the ghosts a little more.”
    • “I think it comes closest to being a walking sim, but it's also not a walking sim, as those trade on atmosphere and visuals, and there was none of that here, no atmosphere whatsoever and some generic 2D my first visual novel art style.”
    • “The reason why I am not calling this a horror game, because they outdone it with the atmosphere but forgot the usual jump-scares, yeah us gamers complain when we see a horror game with constant jump-scares because that's not what horror games are about, but this game really needs some (in the entire game I had only one) and that's bad, I kept expecting some but never saw any, and with that set atmosphere it creates unpredictable jump-scares so they should've used that to make the game much more exciting and alive but it's sad that they didn't.”
  • music131 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its atmospheric and haunting qualities that enhance the overall experience, while others find it repetitive or below average compared to other titles at a similar price point. Many highlight the soundtrack's ability to create an eerie ambiance that complements the visuals and story, although a few note that it lacks memorability or depth. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the game's atmosphere, opinions vary on its quality and impact.

    • “The game has beautiful hand-drawn art, a suspenseful soundtrack, and a story about loss, regret, and letting go.”
    • “The music and sound effects in the game are really well done, and the artwork suits (and enhances) the creepiness of the game.”
    • “This game has absolutely beautiful artwork, a compelling story, and a haunting soundtrack.”
    • “The music was annoying at times.”
    • “The soundtrack is normal and simple, there's nothing special in it; the same goes for the graphics and gameplay.”
    • “Never got invested in the story and the music was boring, so I turned on the Little Nightmares soundtrack as I played.”
  • replayability29 mentions

    Overall, the game has very low replayability, with many players noting that it can be completed in just a few hours and offers little incentive to play again after finishing the story. Most reviews highlight its linear narrative and lack of additional content or challenges, making it more suitable for a single playthrough, often suggesting waiting for a sale due to its short duration and limited replay value. While some players found it memorable, the consensus is that it is primarily a one-time experience.

    • “The replay value of this game is decent - you will probably want to play it again at some point, but likely not soon after finishing it.”
    • “However, there isn't much replay value to this game, which can be done in a few hours, but I still recommend it.”
    • “Not much replay value, but worth a single go around.”
    • “Replay value is fairly low, particularly if you got most of the achievements and lore entries in your first playthrough.”
    • “The game was short and doesn't offer a ton of replay value if you've completed all achievements, so my only complaint would be I wish you could learn about all of the character's lives/deaths a bit more.”
    • “I cleared it in under three hours and there is little to no replay value for most people.”
  • emotional16 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its unexpected depth, featuring heart-wrenching tales of lost love, regret, and redemption that leave players feeling deeply invested in the characters and their stories. Many reviewers noted the touching moments and wholesome interactions between the protagonist and ghosts, particularly in the game's final parts, which evoke a strong emotional response despite some criticisms of pacing and design. Overall, the narrative successfully blends engaging storytelling with poignant themes, making for a memorable experience.

    • “Expect creepy spirits, get heart-wrenching tales of woe.”
    • “The story is really good; I love its themes of lost love, regret, and finding courage against horror. It also has some generally sweet and touching moments in the story.”
    • “I was not expecting something this heartfelt.”
    • “Good concept but boring story.”
  • humor13 mentions

    The humor in the game is a mixed bag, featuring both forced and awkward moments alongside some genuinely amusing dark humor and quirky interactions, particularly with ghost characters. While some players found the humor to be out of place or uncomfortable, others appreciated the lighthearted elements that provided a contrast to the horror theme, resulting in a unique blend of weird and funny moments. Overall, the humor adds a layer of charm to the gameplay, though its effectiveness varies among players.

    • “For a horror game, I wouldn't exactly call this game scary; in fact, it's kind of peaceful, with few scary parts and more friendly interactions with the ghosts, some even help you and have funny dialogues.”
    • “The humor was fun and gave me a few chuckles as I played, with many instances of dark humor to lighten the mood at times.”
    • “Elena provides dark humor and cute jokes as you are exploring the areas.”
    • “Funny, but not funny in a traditional sense; more like weird.”
    • “The humor feels forced and often misses the mark.”
    • “I found the jokes to be more cringeworthy than amusing.”
  • grinding10 mentions

    Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and clunky, often detracting from the experience. While some appreciate the exploration and mechanics, many feel that the repetitive back-and-forth tasks and lack of efficient movement options lead to a frustrating gameplay experience, especially towards the end. Despite these issues, some still consider the game enjoyable, albeit with a sense of monotony.

    • “As for me, I'm not spending another minute on this whiny, slow, tedious walking simulator that dares to call itself a game.”
    • “The gameplay may seem tedious because you need to go back and forth just to do something to progress in the story.”
    • “Exploration is fun, but tedious due to the lack of indoor run functionality that was removed for no real reason other than to pad out game length.”
  • character development7 mentions

    Character development in the game is generally perceived as limited, with a simple story that doesn't delve deeply into character arcs. However, players appreciate the character design and art, expressing a desire for more backstory and resolution for some characters encountered throughout the game. Overall, while the character designs are praised, the narrative depth leaves players wanting more.

    • “Loved the character design and art.”
    • “Have that said, the game does keep its spooky elements, and piecing the stories together with the notes, the character design, the backgrounds, and the lighting effects are all so wonderful. 10/10”
    • “It's a fairly simple story, so don't expect too much of an in-depth plot or character development.”
    • “The character design of the various haunts we meet along the way was by far my favorite part of the game – in fact, I wish we had learned more about some of these characters, or at least have been able to send them off in peace (as we got to do with some characters).”
  • stability6 mentions

    Overall, the game's stability is mixed; while many players report minimal glitches and a solid experience, there are notable issues with visual bugs and finicky controls, particularly when navigating stairs. Some users experienced minor interaction glitches, but these did not significantly detract from the overall gameplay.

    • “Good artwork, great story, easy to understand controls, no glitches.”
    • “Buggy visuals.”
    • “Conclusion: very short, buggy, non-challenging, and easily navigated game while passing through multiple times the same places with nice visuals that should not cost more than $3 full price.”
    • “First off, while I didn't run into a lot of glitches in my playthrough, getting Elena up and down stairs was occasionally finicky when it came to placement, which can get sort of annoying.”
  • optimization3 mentions

    The game has faced criticism for its poor optimization on PCs, with users noting issues such as stuttering cutscenes and sluggish character movement. While performance ratings are generally positive at 4/5, the lack of controller support and backtracking frustrations detract from the overall experience.

    • “The game runs smoothly on various hardware configurations, showcasing excellent optimization.”
    • “Performance: 4/5 - The optimization allows for a seamless experience even on lower-end PCs.”
    • “The developers have done a great job optimizing the game, making it accessible to a wider audience.”
    • “Well, for one, it was never optimized properly for PCs.”
    • “My only complaints are the lack of controller support (please add this in a future update!), Elena's sluggish walking speed (which made backtracking a bit of a snoozefest), and stuttering cutscenes.”
  • monetization3 mentions

    The monetization of Whispering Willows has been criticized as a cash grab, with users noting its origins as a mobile app rather than a genuine PC game. The game features in-app purchases, which detracts from the overall experience and raises concerns about its value as a product.

    • “Whispering Willows is a mobile app that's been dumped on Steam as if it were a real PC game. It's a cash grab from greedy mobile developers.”
    • “Whispering Willows is a somewhat mediocre 2D side-scrolling puzzle/adventure game where you can transform into a spirit to solve puzzles, but the monetization strategy feels exploitative.”
    • “If you're one of the lucky, or unlucky ones, that own an Ouya, Whispering Willows is 'free' with in-app purchases on the console.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

60% average critic score

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Play time

3hMedian play time
4hAverage play time
3-6hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 10 analyzed playthroughs

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