It’s said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but it adds a whole new twist when the picture is made of text. That’s exactly what indie RPG Whispers in the Moss has done; its entire visual style is based on the extended ASCII character set. Drawing from familiar elements of retro JRPGs, Whispers shoots for a return to an older era of games, from its unique visual aesthetic right down to its code. Developer Uncultured Games has opted to utilize QB64, a more modern upgrade to the days of QuickBASIC, for its underlying systems.
In short, it’s the sort of game that has “me” written all over it.
Whispers’ visuals are indeed striking, though it can take a little time to properly acclimate. As was not uncommon in the era, some depictions can require a little more imagination than others to properly discern—I found adjusting the color palette settings helps with this. There’s also some oddities in the way movement feels, simply due to the natural proportions of an ASCII “pixel,” but this too can be mitigated, as the feeling is less pronounced when the player is running rather than walking (and there’s a setting to make this the default as well). On the whole, though, the effect is a delightful callback. There’s a wide variety of environments to explore, and seeing the ways the limited “tileset” are used to convey them is as much a part of the enjoyment as the gameplay itself.
Mechanics-wise, Whispers makes use of an ATB-style combat system that will feel very familiar to fans of the likes of Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger. Party members each have a unique skill in addition to the standard Attack, Flee, Magic, and Item options, and gain more over the course of the adventure. Protagonist Orion can steal items off enemies and will gain other abilities focused on quick attacks, for instance, while his friend Veda is more magically inclined, gaining abilities to study an enemy and learn their weaknesses. Enemies are visible on the map and can be avoided or fought as desired, and every so often a character will gain access to a “limit break”-style move that can either do large amounts of damage or act as a party heal, depending on who’s doing the move. It’s not entirely clear what triggers these, and they’ve been a bit rare in my experience, but it’s a nice surprise when they do show up.
The story as I’ve seen it thus far is expected JRPG fare—young protagonist, his friend, and a mentor figure start in a small village, are sent out into the larger world, and tumble into a larger scheme involving a prince, his brother, and claims to the throne. There are some tonal inconsistencies here and there, as one character will speak in elaborate, regal-sounding language, only for another in the next moment to talk almost entirely in hacking metaphors. It’s a little self-aware for my taste, too. An early character, for example, makes a joke about how it’s his job to stand outside the mayor’s house in order to point it out to anybody who asks, and I can practically see the wink at the camera. The general tone of the writing, however, doesn’t feel like it takes itself too seriously, so they’re not entirely out of place—just a little jarring at points.
The soundtrack turns out to be one of the game’s strongest points, expertly flitting between pastoral village tunes, bold battle ditties, and a dramatically frenetic-feeling boss theme as the situation calls for them. Most pieces are delightfully catchy and memorable, and certainly evocative of the music of the JRPGs Whispers attempts to emulate. It’s one of the game’s highlights, and it would be remiss of me not to give it a proper nod!
Some of Whispers’ design decisions, on the other hand, seem a bit odd, such as the process for upgrading equipment. Each new weapon, piece of armor, or spell purchased requires not only money, but a handful of items dropped from enemies. The grind for these drops can be mitigated, as Orion and Veda can each obtain a specific type of drop from enemies during battle with their skills, but on the whole, it makes equipment upgrades feel much more difficult to obtain. There’s little sense of progress on the gear front as a result, and when a fair amount of time is put into obtaining the materials for an upgrade that turns out to be pretty minor, it’s…well, not the best feeling for a player. I’ve also noticed the occasional animation hitch, though always brief, and a full party wipe drops to a screen that says to “press any key to continue” but also “press any key to quit,” which inevitably drops me out of the game entirely.
Even with these quibbles, it’s not enough to keep me from looking favorably on the game. There’s a lot here that’s entertaining. Whispers clearly has a load of heart and charm, and if retro JRPGs are your thing, you’ll find much to like. It’s evident the game is a labor of love, and well worth checking out for the throwback it provides.
Special thanks to Uncultured Games for the review copy!
Linguistic Dragon works in translation by day and nerds out about language, video games, and storytelling by night… and nearly all other hours, really. You can find him on Twitter as @DragonKetea.
