Hello, everybody! I'm happy to announce that the beautiful retro JRPG Whispers in the Moss is now fully playable form start to finish. There's still a lot to do, so I've decided to set the game's release date to April 2024. To celebrate this moment, I've released a 20-minute gameplay video, showing the beginning of the game.

Watch the first 20 minutes of gameplay in the video below. The footage seen here is work-in-progress and does not represent the final product.

What's next?

I will be spending the next months testing and polishing the game. I'm currently completing a very pedant test run of the game, in which I will address and fix every issue, big or small, that I come across. It's pretty slow, but the goal is to have a 99 % finished product by the time the playthrough is over. Earlier in the production, I've been postponing many things, thinking I'll just fix them later, but at this stage postponing anything is no longer an option. The main issue I'll be working on is the game's balance, which requires a lot of work.

To give you an idea of the this detailed playthrough, here's a list of some stuff I've fixed in the last few days:

• Fixed a bug with the save point, where the looping of the background song stopped
• Added a sound and a visual effect for field poison damage
• Added missing sound effects for browsing stores, using magic spells in the menu, opening doors, handing over items, et cetera
• Fixed a bug where certain Veda's equipment caused her power and magic skills to drop to 0
• Added new script to various NPC interactions, fixed grammar errors, added new lore and instructions
• Added new instruction screens for the player
• Added a new key item to the beginning of the game, allowing you to pass through a guard post
• Added the character portraits to many NPC interactions
• Added some new minor side quests
• Introduced a new karma mechanic to the game: options made during the game will effect the player's karma, which in turn will have effects in battles
• Composed a short harp loop for a side quest
• Changed the chest opening sound effect into a more fitting one
• Fixed a problem in which characters woke up automatically from the 'trance' status way too often
• Fixed a bug in which you couldn't browse key items under certain conditions
• Balanced the stats of some enemies
• Marked some new map spots as examinable (an exclamation mark will appear over the character when facing such spot)

Oh, and I've only made it to the second town, so as you can see, it will certainly take a moment to finish the playthrough. Anyway, that's it for now!

- Tapio / Uncultured Games