Review of Whateverland – What ever land?

Whateverland is a game from an online game developer website for those who miss the good old point-and-click quests with a great storyline, humor and memorable characters. This story about the unfortunate thief Vincent, who ends up in a parallel world for his sins, is definitely worth your attention, and in the review I tell you why.

The game meets with a philosophical reflection on human nature - about our weaknesses, predictable behavior and role in the universe. So the writers of Whateverland pull us out of our comfort zone and hint that the humorous story that follows has a serious connotation.

In the opening cut-scene, we get to know the main character, although it would be more correct to call him an anti-hero - this is the thief Vincent, who tried to steal the necklace from old Beatrice. But she turns out to be a witch, and with a slight wave of her hand causes a black funnel that absorbs the thief. And then, breaking the fourth wall, he suddenly turns to us, offering a series of choices that will obviously affect the passage.

Yes, Whateverland is a non-linear game, and the endings depend on our choices. Forks appear not only from conversations, but also from actions, but more on that later.

We wake up in some kind of dump, and the crazy grandfather nearby, who wants to build a helicopter out of garbage, quickly brings us up to date. It turns out that the loser Vincent got into a parallel world, the inhabitants of which also somehow offended Beatrice. This is a kind of purgatory, in which there are so many offenders that they founded an entire city and came up with their own board game.

And this place also changes the appearance of those who are dependent on their actions - for example, the crow in the garbage dump, with which we will talk, once had a human appearance, but due to subsequent misconduct, we see what happened.

Such an unusual and original world opens Whateverland before us, and you instantly fall in love with it. Its rules are very clear, with great pleasure you explore new areas and elicit information from NPCs about how they got here. True, not everyone wants to talk to us.

At the stage of entry, another feature of Whateverland is revealed, which lies in the essence of the protagonist. The game pushes us to sin - any quest can be completed by cheating and stealing, or by completing tasks in an honest way. So, in the beginning you need to get cheese for the crow so that she gives the key, and you can steal it, deceive the old man in dialogue, or be extremely frank. Actions affect the attitude of people towards the main character and, of course, the ending.

And all this is just an introductory part. In it, we are introduced to the funny ghost Nick (on behalf of Nikolai), who will become a faithful companion in further adventures, and he will also lead us to the main city, where all other actions will take place. To get out of the country of Whateverland, you will need to collect seven parts of the spell that summons Beatrice.

In almost every character you meet, you can see some kind of reference, parody or embodiment of a life theme. The same Nick is very similar to Nearly Headless Nick from Harry Potter, and Medusa Gorgon became the librarian, which is better not to be angry. On the way, we will meet poor Francois, who is trying to commit suicide due to deep depression - you can’t die in Waterland, but you sincerely want to help the guy get rid of bad thoughts.

Another strength of Whateverland is the dialogues. They turned out to be concise, meaningful and humorous, and you will have to think about the choices, as they open various branches of the dialogue and can suddenly end it. It is especially funny to watch Nick, whom you already very soon consider your virtual friend and strive not to hurt his feelings (and this, believe me, can be done many times).

Gameplay is woven from these charming conversations and puzzles. To get parts of the spell, we will have to wander around the key points of the city, communicate with the heroes and solve their problems. They are not the most obvious - they will require you to repair the radio tower, cook ramen and even get a mermaid tattoo. The developers do not lead us by the hand, offering to go anywhere right from the start.

The puzzles are simple but not boring. In addition to them, there is another entertainment - the board game "Bell and Bowles", the local analogue of "Gwent". It's playable with just about every hero - it's a tactical turn-based strategy game with bugs that compete in an American football analogy and try to knock a tiny ball into... spoons.

To get one of the parts of the spell, you will have to defeat the Bell 'n' Bowles champion, and before that, get to him by defeating participants of a lower rank.

And, as with Gwent in The Witcher, some players will really want to understand the rules and challenge everyone they meet, while others will find this activity boring and uninteresting. For the latter, which include me, the developers have provided the possibility of a pass with an instant victory.

You can go through Whateverland in 5-6 hours, or even less, but you don’t want to leave this wonderful country - it turned out to be too “alive”. Not the last role in this is played by simple but charming graphics in the spirit of classic point-and-click, and pleasant musical accompaniment, the sound of which recreates the atmosphere of a slightly gloomy but intriguing fairy tale.

It is unlikely that Whateverland will attract a wide audience - but the project definitely deserves it. This is an excellent point-and-click quest in the spirit of old games of the genre with a fascinating story, really "living" characters, an original world and a huge portion of humor, thanks to which the game does not let go until the very credits. It remains to say only one thing - welcome to Waterland!