Whispers of a Machine

This is a well made point and click that has a compelling narrative and excellent puzzles, and overall I enjoyed my time with it. Having said that, there's still something a bit anti-climactic about the story that didn't quite work for me.

The world it takes place in is kind of undeveloped (in more ways than one), as technology got out of control and AI caused some kind of cataclysm that left advanced computing being outlawed. As a consequence the setting is somewhat post-apocalyptic but still has some things that suggest civilisation was far from decimated.

You play as a cybernetically augmented agent and that is one of the few exceptions made for technology being allowed, as it assists you in solving crimes. Sent to investigate a murder in a somewhat sleepy town, only to find that it's the tip of the iceburg in a much bigger conspiracy. So far so good.

The technology you have been implanted with allows you to scan for biological evidence, detect when someone is lying, exhibit increased strength and visual acuity, and even take on someone else's appearance. Along with the logical and rewarding application of more mundane items this makes for a great tool-set when solving the puzzles and deducing the crime. So far so good.

The characters are engaging and the voice-acting is good, but not great. The graphics are lush to look at and nicely animated. The puzzles and overall pacing are great. So far so good.

So why, if everything is of a high standard and it is super engaging, is this still meh when the end credits roll? Well, I don't want to get into spoilers as for some people I'm sure this won't feel a bit...hollow? But personally the more of the plot that was revealed, the more it felt a tad silly and when I said the world was undeveloped, I meant it literally.

All the elements are there and it gets from A to B to C and so on to Z in a neat fashion, but that final reveal was underwhelming and under-cooked. One example of this would be that your character has a dead boyfriend and some unresolved trauma with them in their past. The augmentation they received is causing them to hallucinate and see their dead love.

The problem is that you never got to experience scenes where they were together in the past, so when she starts seeing this dead lover more and more it doesn't resonate emotionally or dramatically. It would be like playing The Last Of Us without experiencing Joel's life with his daughter before all hell broke loose and she dies, and the developers expecting you to care about his loss without witnessing it first-hand.

The character has a connection to them and a history, but we as the player don't and these hallucinations start becoming integral to the plot. It's a decent way of examining grief and how the technology you have been implanted with could have bad side-effects like losing your grip on reality, but they come pretty close to being stupid and don't earn the dramatic heft that the writers think they do.

Fundamentally all the pieces are fine, and in theory there's nothing wrong with the way they were arranged, yet that spark of greatness is missing. Mechanically this is one of the best for mental stimulation when it comes to the game-play and structure. As far as the narrative goes it's sound for about three quarters of it, but still falls a bit flat in the end.

Ultimately there isn't anything here that's more far-out than, say, an episode of Black Mirror or some other sci-fi that explores the possibility of future technology, but it isn't enough to have a grand idea if you haven't developed enough of an emotional or dramatic hook. For me, as someone who has seen and read enough sci-fi for this to be not especially original as a premise, it lacked that spark to elevate the end result.

I do still recommend this, because as a game it's an excellent entry into this genre and despite my gripes with the story it was still pretty compelling to experience. It's just not that memorable when considering the narrative overall, but your mileage with that will vary.

It's a superb point-and-click adventure title. It's lamentably rare in games like these to find a game that's crafted so that you can just naturally follow where clues and evidence lead you and solve puzzles organically, instead of trying to work out the abstruse and often-cutesy reasoning of the dev. The highest praise I can offer Whispers is that I almost never had to resort to pixel-hunting and random combine-this-with-that exercises, and on the rare occasions I did the frustration was short-lived. The game flowed smoothly, obstacles were neither too easy nor game-breakingly difficult: overall it was a solid seven or so hours of play.
I like the setting and the basic concept here. I like the characters and the ideas -- classically cyberpunk -- I was impressed by the voice acting, and I enjoyed piecing together the mystery and all its twists and turns. The augments are a really nice idea: part of what saves the gameplay so often from the old point-and-clickisms is the options your augment gives you to get around problems in creative ways. The story was not mind-blowing, I'll grant you, but it was very satisfying, and the setting is tantalizing. I would love to see more of it someday, if this game ever gets a follow-up.

Scandinavian post-cyberpunk is fascinating.
A detective point and click game with RPG elements, an unusual setting and a femme fatale as protagonist.

Whispers of a Machine ,well-crafted detective story set in a quiet, futuristic world. You play as Vera, a special agent with cool tech powers, trying to solve strange murders in a future where AI is banned. The story makes you think about freedom, control, and what it means to be human. The puzzles fit the story well, and your choices matter. It’s a bit short game, but worth playing and the price.

This game was made for me. I love mysteries with cool worlds. And this world is really cool. I love the augmentations that allow you to play with AI. I think it is a really fun game

Loved it. Very good story and pacing. I was upset when work/adulting cut into my gametime because I really didn't want to put it down. Applause. Now please make more.

So I read a common warning among steam reviews that this was a short game. I had Whispers of a Machine under my radar for a some time now, unfortunately I have to admit I was a bit hesitant to get it because of those reviews. The theme and its tone it was going for really intrigued me and because of that. I really wanted to sink into a long and gripping story.
Well, I'm glad I got to play the game after all. I took my sweet ol' time to complete my first playthrough (with only checking a guide once) and I assure you, it's more than worth it.
With the length of the story aside, it was a very well rounded story with no loose ends, it answered all of the questions it asked throughout the playthrough; the voice acting is on point!; none of the lines are "cringe" (other than Valter/Nisse,... but I gotta keep in mind their role as "comic-relief); the augmentations (in-game mechanics I was unaware of prior to playing the game, which made for great surprises) are all pretty rad, though I wished some could've been explored more(?); the pixel-art and the backgrounds both do their job well but it's the characters' portraits and how their voices matched them so well (except the nurse) that stole the show for me.
Honestly, I'm really glad I finally played this game and off to another playthrough!