Among The Whispers – Provocation preview — Fear refined

A while back, I reviewed the ghost hunting game Conrad Stevenson’s Paranormal P.I., which I praised for its spooky atmosphere and immersive gameplay. Now Kip, the developer behind D&A Studios is back with a sequel titled, Among The Whispers: Provocation. Right off the bat, I have to say that even in this early version, the updates to the formula are a massive upgrade to the pacing and tension. If you were a fan of the first game, I would say it’s safe to get hyped for this one. First I’ll be introducing the new features, then I’ll go over the core gameplay loop for those of you who are new to the game’s formula.

We’re back in New Eidolon with a new main character, Stephanie, Conrad Stevenson’s protege. It’s nice that we’ll get to see more of Conrad; he’s such an iconic figure with his relaxed attitude and comforting presence. He’ll be the perfect mentor character to the burgeoning ghost hunter. It’s also nice we’ll get to experience more of New Eidolon with its New England-like coastal town charm. More specifically, we’re investigating a sprawling haunted mansion with generations upon generations of history and a hidden dark past.

Right off the bat, we learn that Stephanie brings a few new mechanics to the game: nerve and focus, which tie into the new provocation system that the game is named after. One of my critiques of Conrad Stevenson’s Paranormal P.I. was that it felt like you were on the ghosts’ schedule, and sometimes they took their sweet time. The provocation system is the cure for that problem. You see, Stephanie can provoke ghosts by asking questions–provocations–thus prompting them to manifest and perform actions. This is where focus comes into play, as it’s the resource that’s used when she provokes ghosts, then regenerates over time.

Nerve, on the other hand, is the resource you lose for failing to take advantage of a provocation after you used it and/or missed evidence. Stephanie is much less experienced than Conrad is, so the presence of ghosts will disturb her. Just how frazzled she gets is shown on her watch, which has a display for both her nerve and focus levels. If the nerve meter drops too low, then Stephanie won’t be able to continue her ghost hunt, and you’ll have to return to base camp to recuperate. It’s not a massive loss, but I’d argue it’s the perfect way to add a little bit of consequence to an otherwise relaxed game formula. The presentation of Stephanie’s anxiety is really well done, the screen will blur and she’ll try to calm herself down. It’s an effective, down to earth way to tie the player to her emotional state.

Now let’s get into the meat of the gameplay and the process of hunting ghosts. Your base camp is in the lobby of the mansion and it’s home to one of your most vital pieces of equipment, your laptop. The laptop has three applications, Email, Fallen Apple, and the Spirit Blog, which enable you to start the preliminary steps of the hunt. Email has a bunch of messages from various people who Stephanie has helped with their ghost problems, and one about the current job, which will always be at the top of the list. This email will highlight specifically where to start your investigation in the mansion. Moving on to the Spirit Blog (we’ll get to Fallen Apple later), this application gives you information on the three ghost types, intelligent, shadow, and residual ghosts. They each have their own characteristics, so it’s important to get to know which behaviors belong to which ghost type. The Spirit Blog also allows you to switch out which provocations you have equipped, as the questions are divided into who, what, when, where, and why, and you can only have three provocations of each question type at any given time. On a side note, investigations start at 10:00 p.m. and end at 5:00 a.m., so keep an eye on the grandfather clocks scattered around the mansion. Alternatively, you could turn off the time based investigations in the setting for a more relaxed experience.

Once you’ve got a decent primer on ghost behaviors and know where the ghost is located, it’s time to scout the area with the basic tools of the craft, the EMF meter and thermometer. After you probe around for a bit, you’ll most likely find a cold spot or get an EMF reading. It’s important to check your surroundings, as these readings aren’t caused exclusively by ghosts. For example, if you’re near a fireplace, then a draft will come through and affect your thermometer, and if you’re close to an outlet or electronic device, then that could cause the EMF to act up. Stephanie will also eventually chime in if a reading on either device is paranormal, so you wont get stuck between a rock and a hard place, or, more aptly, between a furnace and a laptop. Most importantly, detecting a ghost with these devices counts as collecting evidence, which will increase its ghost level, thus increasing its activity and allowing you to use provocations on it.

There’s other gear as well, such as a DOTS pen that projects a field of green dots to help observe the ghost, a camera to take pictures of the ghost, a recorder to capture what they say (or try to say), a stationary EMF pod to alert you when a ghost enters an area, a video camera on a tripod, and a parabolic microphone. Then there’s a device that emits electrical waves called a “Jacob’s ladder”, which has three frequencies corresponding with the three ghost types, and is used to release ghosts. While the recorder and camera count as evidence, the rest of the equipment just makes the search more convenient. At the same time, the former two devices are vital for capturing ghosts’ responses to provocations, thus giving you a good glimpse into how they lived, and more importantly, how they died.

If you end up getting spooked or think you have enough evidence, then you can take a trip to base camp and go on the Fallen Apple application on your computer. This is a family tree database with information on every member of the family going back generations. It’s here where you can check the death records and hobbies of every family member and compare them to what you saw the ghost doing or saying. For example, if the ghost was a chess master, then you’ll need to find a chess piece before you can release them. Luckily, there’s always a picture in the Fallen Apple profile with some context clues as to where to find the hobby object.

At a certain point, you’ve gotten the ghost to its max level of 5, maybe a level or so lower. By this time, you should have taken a few pictures of the ghost, as well as a few audio recordings. It’s here where the deduction board comes into play. The deduction board allows you to upload the pictures and audio snippets you’ve taken onto what is essentially an online red string-laden corkboard. You’ll also upload family members from Fallen Apple who you suspect are the ones overstaying their time on Earth. Did you hear a ghost saying they spent their time rolling dough and a profile on Fallen Apple said the grandparent was a baker? Bam, they’re a suspect. There are a bunch of symbols that can be used to denote who you think a ghost is, and you can put those symbols on the evidence you think corresponds with that ghost. There’s no wrong way to use the deduction board because it’s rather free-form.

Let’s say you’re pretty confident that you know which family member the ghost is, you know which type of ghost they are, how they died, and you’ve used their Fallen Apple entry to find the object related to their hobby. Now, it’s time to release the ghost, which has to be level 5 to begin the process. Go back to the haunted area with the correctly tuned Jacob’s ladder and hobby object in hand, open the provocation menu, and select the release the ghost prompt. You’ll be presented with a list of ghosts who you’ve deemed as suspects from the deduction board, and you need to select the correct name to acknowledge their presence. After that, you’ll have to select their hobby and how they died, then tell them it’s time to move on. It’s touching, and Stephanie’s voice actress does a fantastic job of sounding sincere in her sympathy for the departed.

At this point, you might be thinking that you can memorize the ghosts and blitz through every subsequent run. That my friend, is where you are wrong. Every single run randomizes the family tree with different relatives, hobbies, and deaths. You can get better at hunting ghosts and deducing, but you can’t outright know who’s where.

Before I wrap up I need to gush about the mansion itself. The mansion is sprawling, with dozens of rooms to explore. While I wouldn’t quite call it maze-like, it’s certainly possible to briefly get turned around and confused. The spaces are segmented in a way that makes the player feel isolated, but not claustrophobic. There will be times when your nerve meter is low and you want to sprint back to base camp, but you’re in a far away wing of the building on the second story. Your fear will be compounded by the plethora of vaguely human-shaped objects in the mansion that will mess with your head in the best possible way. Despite its sheer size, none of the mansion feels samey or uninspired, and it’s clear a lot of love was put into the setting.

Overall, Kip has updated the series’ formula in a way that drastically improves the pacing and tension. I look forward to unraveling the dark past of the mansion at Magnificent Drive and putting every ghost to rest. Provocation had my sympathetic nervous system absolutely blitzed, and this is only a beta test. Given the strong start and foundation, I’m thoroughly hyped for the Among The Whispers universe to come to fruition.

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