Conflicted about Kathy Rain - should I buy this?

[Elukka]

First off, the Kathy Rain giveaway is pretty effective advertisement - I'd never have ran into these games otherwise!

Now, I basically liked everything about Kathy Rain - the main character and her personal story, the world and writing - except that it got me hooked on a mystery and then didn't deliver payoff. So, I like almost all of it, but it also does one of my least favorite things that a story can do. It did nicely resolve Kathy's character arc, but when you open up threads of intriguing mystery those tend to take center stage over subtler matters, and while a mystery doesn't need to explain everything, some more satisfying exploration and resolution of it is, I think, needed. (To be fair, good payoff in a mystery is incredibly hard to do.)

From its blurb Whispers of a Machine sounds like it has plenty of intriguing mystery, which on one hand is a good thing, but on the other, I don't want to be intrigued, get invested and then feel like it didn't pay off again. Without any spoilers, if anyone else felt similarly about Kathy Rain, does Whispers bring its mysteries to a more satisfying conclusion?

[Krusbert]

Originally posted by Elukka:

First off, the Kathy Rain giveaway is pretty effective advertisement - I'd never have ran into these games otherwise!

Now, I basically liked everything about Kathy Rain - the main character and her personal story, the world and writing - except that it got me hooked on a mystery and then didn't deliver payoff. So, I like almost all of it, but it also does one of my least favorite things that a story can do. It did nicely resolve Kathy's character arc, but when you open up threads of intriguing mystery those tend to take center stage over subtler matters, and while a mystery doesn't need to explain everything, some more satisfying exploration and resolution of it is, I think, needed. (To be fair, good payoff in a mystery is incredibly hard to do.)

From its blurb Whispers of a Machine sounds like it has plenty of intriguing mystery, which on one hand is a good thing, but on the other, I don't want to be intrigued, get invested and then feel like it didn't pay off again. Without any spoilers, if anyone else felt similarly about Kathy Rain, does Whispers bring its mysteries to a more satisfying conclusion?

Your criticism of Kathy Rain is totally justified (and widely echoed by many other players). I'd like to believe that I've learned from my mistakes, though. I think Whispers of a Machine delivers much better payoff in this regard (it was definitely one of my personal goals when we started the project).

With that being said, I'm obviously extremely biased here, so hopefully some WoaM players who were in the same situation as you when they started playing can pitch in :)

And if nothing else, perhaps browsing through some Steam user reviews could give you some insight?

[Elukka]

Ha, biased or not, it's probably the most encouraging thing to hear that the one thing that bothered me is something you've addressed. Thanks for the reply!

I do hope to see more of Kathy Rain in the future too.

[Samuel Varg]

I never felt Kathy Rain never missed at delivering a payoff for its mystery plot. I just loved that game. Whispers of a Machine is (almost) just as good!

I hope we get continuations of both games.

[Kilrathi lord]

I loved the first half of kathy rain but hated the second half and ending. To me this is worlds better than kathy rain. While there is some mystery left at the end of this game, it wraps up far better. The only thing both games have in common to me is both of the last days in each game feel rushed, but whispers is a lot less so than kathy rain.

[residentbadass]

I'm surprised that you'd describe aspects of Kathy Rain as a mistake and I'm curious what you specifically think is a problem with that game as a developer.

I didn't dislike the game, but the part I remember best was the scene that referred to Rain's abortion. That was a bit heavier than I was expecting.

Originally posted by Krusbert:

Originally posted by Elukka:

First off, the Kathy Rain giveaway is pretty effective advertisement - I'd never have ran into these games otherwise!

Now, I basically liked everything about Kathy Rain - the main character and her personal story, the world and writing - except that it got me hooked on a mystery and then didn't deliver payoff. So, I like almost all of it, but it also does one of my least favorite things that a story can do. It did nicely resolve Kathy's character arc, but when you open up threads of intriguing mystery those tend to take center stage over subtler matters, and while a mystery doesn't need to explain everything, some more satisfying exploration and resolution of it is, I think, needed. (To be fair, good payoff in a mystery is incredibly hard to do.)

From its blurb Whispers of a Machine sounds like it has plenty of intriguing mystery, which on one hand is a good thing, but on the other, I don't want to be intrigued, get invested and then feel like it didn't pay off again. Without any spoilers, if anyone else felt similarly about Kathy Rain, does Whispers bring its mysteries to a more satisfying conclusion?

Your criticism of Kathy Rain is totally justified (and widely echoed by many other players). I'd like to believe that I've learned from my mistakes though. I think Whispers of a Machine delivers much better payoff in this regard (it was definitely one of my personal goals when we started the project).

With that being said, I'm obviously extremely biased here, so hopefully some WoaM players who were in the same situation as you when they started playing can pitch in :)

And if nothing else, perhaps browsing through some Steam user reviews could give you some insight?

[kconvey1]

If you are curious, its crazy cheap right now on humble choice.

[Zyhgar The Phoenix]

I can just give you my key I don't want it

[mhenryblack]

Yeah, They had this an an option in humble bundle, and I had to pass. I don't think there is a very big market for this game. I even enjoy story rich games, but this one seems aimed at a really niche demo.

Best of luck though.

[Not You]

Humble choice (formerly humble bundle) user . Have to say I like this game so far...but I grew up with point and click adventures. much more my style than twitchs fps or rts games. Keep it up devs

[Ellevern]

I don't want to spoil the game for you, but I will say I highly recommend this game. It has features that make your choices matter, there's no restoring saves; every choice you make is permanent and it changes how your character behaves and grows throughout the game. The characters are really intriguing and so is the story, figuring out the lore of this world while also solving a murder. While I can't promise you'll have all your questions answered, I feel like you'll end up connecting more with you're character at the end, even more so than Kathy.

This game certainly makes you turn the pages. It's honestly like a book you can't put down.

~ignore my avatar please~

[CAROL]

My great fondness of the game "Kathy Rain" is the reason I just purchased this game. Looking forward to playing "Whispers of a Machine". Thank you Devs for your great games!

[mike]

Kathy Rain - brilliant. Whispers of a machine - rubbish

[Bearbottle]

Hello, I'm coming into this almost a year later but my interpretation is that Kathy and her grandad stumbled into something ancient and powerful and that doesn't need explanation as much as a Lovecraft tale needs, I really liked Kathy Rain, I was immersed in it from start to finish. My only disapointment is the lack of a sequel, because I would like to explore this world further.

About whispers of the Machine, I didn't liked it as much as Kathy Rain, but the world is intriguing and and the way you move forward is interesting because you can choose your approach. They don't explain much about the world except what is really important for you to understand it's plot, it's a good game but it mantained the theme of the character arc is complete but the world continues, even if you don't get to experience it. I prefer Kathy Rain because of the Cthulhu stuff , I think is better framed, you feel the dread in the city, the creepyness.

[SickRamen]

-This game is better in terms of replayability and branching.

-Writing is brilliant in both games. The main characters are very well fleshed out in both games, but Kathy Rain had more well built and interesting side characters. Bonus points for WOTM for letting you change the main character's traits.

-Kathy Rain had a lot more humour, whilst this game is a lot more dark and serious. The doctor is the only truly funny character; the clown character is just sad and pathetic.

-Art and music is good in both games

-Gameplay is meh in both game. Frustrating and obtuse combinations. Neither are enjoyable to play without a walkthrough.

[Cursed Life]

The graphic is worse imho but all the rest is better