• Add Review
  • Subscribe
  • Nominate
  • Submit Media
  • RSS

Sacred Reviews: Zoids | Whisper v2.0

Introduction

"Zoids | Whisper" is a game that has under gone many updates over the years as the developer has slowly fleshed out his world with new side quests and additional story content. On the plus side, this does mean the game is still be actively worked on at the moment. On the downside the game is still incomplete and you never know when a developer is going to drop a game in favor of a new project or simply disappear into the depths of the Internet to never be heard from again. That aside, "Zoids | Whisper" is probably one of the better fan games I've run across over the years even if it's story isn't connected to any of the manga, anime, or games attached to this franchise.

Story

On the story side of things you play as a ragtag group of heroes who are on a mission to save Juno's sister from some invaders. Unfortunately as the story plays out our ragtag group of protagonists are slowly but surely dragged into a pissing match between the Goddess Slyvanr and her brother Skies. Sadly, I'm not sure who your really supposed to be rooting for in those war between siblings. After all, Slyvanr doesn't really care about humans by her own admission on the grounds that her brother created them while her brother is a monster who warps and twists life to serves his own ends. As a result, I really don't want to fight for either of them.

Gameplay

"Zoids | Whisper" features your standard turn-based combat system found in RPG Maker VX Ace for the most part, but it does add a few little twists on top of the usual formula by giving the player access to skills and items that can be used instantly without ending the player's turn. As a result, it's possible to massively weaken your enemies at the start of battle rather then investing several turns into the process. As well as weakening enemies there are certain items you can consume that don't require you to give up a turn either. As such its possible to buff your team without spending multiple turns on it as well. Albeit, the best method for empowering your team is to setup buffs before you go into battle. In fact, the only major issue I have with the buffs in this game is that you can't cast them on a unit again until they've completely worn off. After all, there are battles in this game where I'd like to be able to extend a buff or two for a few additional turns.

Graphics

On the graphical side of things the game is alright for the most part, but there are a few areas where the maps feel rather amateurish. Of course, that probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise considering this is Sviel's first and only game that is available to the public to my knowledge. As such, I'm willing to overlook the mapping issues for the most part.

Outside of the standard RTP assets used for the maps. The game also includes images of Zoids that have been lifted from the various modeling kits from what I've been told. Oddly enough this images do manage to blend into most of the standard RTP backgrounds rather well.


In fact, my only major gripe about the look of the game is that enemy zoids sometimes take up so much space that they actually don't fit within the confines of the background. And this issue also applies to the combat menu itself. I suppose some would consider this small potatoes, but I can't help but feel that this looks unbelievably sloppy.

Conclusion

"Zoids | Whisper" is a rather solid fan game for the most part, but I find myself hard pressed to recommend this title considering its still incomplete. After all, I've been burned by titles like "Ellie Starling's Very Long Walk" in the past. And that's not even delving into all of the series I've stumbled across where the developer only finished one or two games in a series meant to be comprised of three or more entries. As such, I recommend exploring this title at your own risk. After all, while it does contain a lot of side quests and optional content to explore. It still ends on a cliffhanger where you may need to wait several more years before you'll see the next update. Assuming that it ever comes at all.

Posts

Pages: 1
I am super happy to see this getting reviews.

This might be one of the best fangames I've played (it doesn't beat Tallest Reed, but that's the level of its competition.)

Whisper doesn't have a ton of polish, but the worldbuilding alone makes this an absolute gem, and I've yet to see another mech game where you walk around healing plants and feeling good about yourself.
I don't know if feeling good about yourself applies in part two. After all, we get an entire scene dedicated to Pana being haunted by her own self doubts. And that's not even getting into the bits and pieces where people seemingly rub it in Pana's face that the world isn't comprised of sunshine and rainbows.

And there's all of the political intrigue going on with the outside forces that involve everything from dirty backroom deals to assassination attempts.

And you have Skies attempts to twist and warp his sister's followers to suit his own ends and so on.

And I can only imagine that this will get even worse when part three drops. After all, at that point will be heading into territory that is clearly under the rule of Skies.
Thanks for the review! And the videos!

I promise that, barring my untimely death, I'll get part three out. It may be a year from now, or it may be sooner, but I'd feel way too guilty if I just dropped it after all this~
Pages: 1