As soon as I got a look at the visual aesthetic, I had to give this game a try, and I’m not disappointed. Whisper Beyond the Hollow is excellent, thanks largely to its stylized presentation and focus on character development and story. 

The developer is keenly aware of how splatter and backwoods horror films of the past are supposed to look. The presence of a cell phone suggests the era may be 90’s, but the grainy look of the game (and the music) resembles the splatter and backwoods horror films of the 70’s and 80’s.

Exploration and story take center stage, and I think the game is better for it. While retro, PSX-style games have become more popular, the majority of them focus on fast-paced action and avoiding nearly-impossible-to-escape killers. But here, you’re encouraged to explore, not only to take in the atmosphere, but to also get acquainted with game’s two leads, who take a road trip to an old, seemingly abandoned farm in search of one of the character’s missing sister. 

Whisper Beyond the Hollow is a slow burn build of suspense, steadily revealing the game’s mystery through exploration, notes and other progression items such as keys and tools. The mystery that makes up the story is downright frightening. Without giving anything away, it’s safe to say the game’s pace is remarkably consistent, steadily giving you bites of the story without revealing too much.

My only gripe is with the small bits of combat toward the end, as I wasn’t exactly sure where I was supposed to aim to hit my target. My failings led to being counter attacked, where the enemy would latch on, without me knowing how to shake it off. Each time I was attacked I had to basically stand there until the attack was finished, which felt like an eternity.

This was honestly a very small portion of the game though, and I have confidence that it will be addressed before the game is complete. 

I can’t recommend Whisper Beyond the Hollow enough. Although not finished, I think the developer is onto something very scary and memorable. If you enjoy horror films of the 70s and 80s, this might be right up your alley. 

Thanks so much for playing! And for leaving such a thorough impression of your experience, really loved watching you play through and try to piece it together as you did, very cool to get a feel for whether the story and pacing is working. You'd be right in saying the combat is still in it's infancy design wise, trying to balance difficulty of control to maintain the atmosphere and not make it too easy means a bit of tweaking is needed for sure, and I simply ran out of time to include the one thing that I think is needed during the 'spidey' latchings, which is a MASH button prompt, spamming WASD frees you from them much quicker, and you can certainly fight them but it needs a little overhaul before I continue work on the rest of the game.

Thanks again for checking it out and I'm looking forward to you returning once the game is a little further along!