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Wailing Heights
#5 of 26 (2018)
8 hours playtime
9 of 12 achievements
Wailing Heights (2016)
I had to take this one down in small spurts since I was stuck for a while, and the movement controls are mildly frustrating to the point of being tiresome. Action-packed, this game is not. But it was an SG win from a little over a year ago, and one I was looking forward to, and one I even somewhat enjoyed… at first.
The basic premise is that you’re a manager for a band, they’ve all died, and you’re tasked with getting the group back together for a reunion concert in the vampire, zombie, werewolf, and ghost-filled afterlife town of Wailing Heights. You accomplish your task by swapping into the bodies of various characters to reveal new options, and you’re permitted to do this only once you’ve collected one item they hate, one item they love, and one item that identifies them. A song snippet with lyrics encompassing all three items plays each time you swap, and most of the songs seem a little improvisational, but not terrible, and a couple kinda grow on you.
The game has some very original ideas, a half-decent plot, snippets of good music, a few pretty good voice parts, and some very nice comic-style artwork. But the rest is mediocre all around, and I was glad to be done with it by the end. (Thankfully, after “Act 2”, the final “Act 3” only takes a few minutes to finish.) Everything needed at least a few more months of testing. Countless dialog lines are spoken by the wrong voice actor, and often with awkward emphasis that doesn’t follow the flow of conversation. The controls feel like trying to fly a hang-glider through a super-market. While it didn’t ever cause me to get stuck, minor boundary and graphical clipping was frequent. Some of the achievements may be bugged (certainly, unlocking the in-game Extras is bugged), and there appear to be no fixes incoming.
I wanted to like this title, and it has its charms, but I can’t recommend it. There are much better adventure games out there to be played, with much better endings. Give it a try only if you really need to see a bar filled with colorful happy doggy people, or see a café for hipster vampires (with a more interestingly bat-like appearance than most vampires these days), or just really need to hear a lot of northern Irish accents for some reason.
Also…
Finally finished Chapter I of the first Witcher game! And still hanging out in Anor Londo in Dark Souls for now.
Witcher one is sooooooooooooo slow paced sigh
lol, I’ve started it twice before and made it into the town (Outskirts of Vizima) the first time, and then maybe about halfway through the first chapter (still Outskirts of Vizima) the second time… so I’m already much farther than I’ve been now (I’m actually in Vizima!). I think realizing that there’s a lot of Elder Scrolls / Zelda mechanics in it (steal everything from all the houses, no one cares) helped.
Oh gosh, yeah. It’s basically like me and Dishonored. I think I have started it four times so far and stopped three times. But this time! This time we manage, right?
You can do it! Just…. don’t overdo it. The game sucks cough
I’ve been very tempted to join the Dishonored fight alongside you in solidarity… :) I’ve started it once, and made it past the intro missions, got in a little boat, and then never came back despite a friend telling me (as I was playing it) that it was one of the best games he’d played in a long time. And it’s definitely my style of game, too (I love the Deus Ex games, for example), and it’s on my “The 26” assassination goal list for this year (and last year…). I think I’ll install it at least, now that Wailing Heights is done and I’ve got some more room. I know you aren’t fond of first-person games, but hopefully the praises will eventually outweigh your misgivings (and actual physical reactions) to the game. (Have you tried checking if your monitor refresh rate is set to the monitor’s native refresh rate? Usually this is automatic these days, but it’s likely buried in advanced Windows Display settings if you want to look. Or trying it with V-Sync on or off – I’ve had either work better/worse for me before.)
Also, I’m assuming the “sucks” comment was in regard to your current opinion on Dishonored and hopefully not The Witcher!… though I do hear (and am experiencing that) Witcher 1 was a bit rough around the edges! :)
That said, I’m still mostly okay with having abandoned Dead Space last year for similar reasons…
I really, really enjoy Dishonored! It’s absolutely my kind of game (Deus-Ex, Hitman, Thief…), I just have to play it in short periods, but that is ok :)
Sadly I am to stupid for stealthy in this one O.O
No, I meant Witcher 1 when I said sucks. I didn’t like it too much. I didn’t like Geralt too much - still don’t, although I have high hopes for 3. Since 3 is supposedly the best. I just… dunno, 1 was so clumsy (which Mass Effect 1 is too, but that game I still love!) and 2 might be prettier and less clumsy and the controls are nicer but Geralt is still… ah well, maybe I’m just not into that kinda guy :D
I stick with Garrett and Hitman and that bunch! <3
Ah! I haven’t made my mind up yet about The Witcher, which is probably good since I’m still playing it, but my playing it is definitely also in anticipation of all the good things I’ve heard about Witcher 3. :)
And I’m really glad I played the first Mass Effect when it released – it didn’t really feel clunky at the time, but even with nostalgia glasses on, what I remember of parts of it definitely had some clunk. But yeah, that one’s still a great game, in large part due to the interesting story and quests… and characters… and side missions… and world… and…
Pleased to hear that Dishonored is still good so far, even having to play it in short bursts! :)
Yep, that’s totally me and Witcher as well. Like some other Series I might have abandoned by now, but I still have hopes for the last part and I AM indeed looking forward to it. Even if I only come to a closure with it. Or love it. Who knows :D
I was a bit late for ME, two was already out when I started with it, but it is such an awesome game! <3
Ha! Me too! :D
Oh noooo! I bought it not too long ago - I don’t think I can refund it bc it’s been too long.
I’ll give it an honest shot, though - maybe do myself a favor and play it with the sound off. Thank you for the heads up!
No, no, turning the sound off would really do a disservice to some of the good musical bits (and the few better voice sessions)! As long as you have a heads up not to expect it to be as good as you imagine it is, it can still be mostly enjoyable, if very very very clunky.
Ah! That makes a lot of sense c: Thank you, godprobe.
I think it’s funny how sometimes games that are not that good do a great job of marketing themselves, when there’s others that are terribly marketed but actually brilliant. The concept of Wailing Heights does sound cool but then the reality is clearly not. It’s a pity, because in today’s crowded games market it’s hard to know what is going to actually be a great game.
I bought Wailing Heights on release last year in the sale. I was a bit hyped because I loved the song in the trailer and the setting…
After playing it for nearly 30 min I had to refund it.
The Voiceacting was so bad, that it would be even better if there would be no voiceacting at all and the animations and graphics where not near the prommies views in the screenshots. And if then the controlling for a point and click is awful to (how hard can it be) a game will fail…
Aye, though in defense of some of the voice actors, I’d mostly call the voice recordings bad. Things weren’t mixed properly either, so occasionally voices were whisper quiet and others a bit obnoxious. Just no consistency on that front between characters, and I think that was a good instinct to refund it. If anyone else is “stuck” with it though, it’s not terrible… it’s just nowhere near as good as the store page builds it up to be.