I have been playing point-and-click adventures since the early 2000s, starting with the legendary Monkey Island franchise. That series set such a high standard for the genre that very few games have managed to capture the same magic over the years, although Grim Fandango still holds a special place in my heart. Fast forward to today, and developer imaginarylab seems determined to keep the genre alive with modern classics of its own. Their debut title, Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town, earned a 9 in our review, and now the studio returns with Whirlight – No Time To Trip. This is our review of the PC Steam version of Whirlight – No Time To Trip, in which we try to guess our way to victory in a DxB game and blame a parrot for our failure.
Whirlight – No Time To Trip features the story of a worn-out inventor named Hector who is trying to create different inventions, but everything always backfires on him. He has a typical inventor story where a partner has stolen his best idea, made a fortune, and left him in the dust. As he tries to turn his luck around, he ends up twisting the very existence of time and must work his way through the narrative to save the world. Along his journey, he meets with an artist named Margaret, who is surprisingly well-known in the world of science and has a pet parrot named Apocalypse.
The story starts slow but quickly picks up pace as it throws you in Verice City, a calm, fishing city with an assortment of colorful NPCs and activities. The latter half of the narrative is more enjoyable than the first half, which might be because the second half of the game features sci-fi locations, and that is what you expect from a time-traveling game. The story of Whirlight – No Time To Trip is decent and will keep you entertained for the most part. The game shines when it comes to its level design and special effects, especially in the second half of the game. The dialogue is mostly inclined towards humor, which is the trademark design of this genre.
The gameplay of Whirlight – No Time To Trip is exactly what you would expect from a point-and-click game. With little or no help, you have to figure out what works and how. You must explore different scenarios, pick up objects, combine them, and figure out a way to progress in the game. At certain points, you will have to solve smaller puzzles like figuring out a code for a padlock or putting together a newspaper from cuttings. These puzzles are few and few with the main focus remaining on the bigger picture as you roam around, trying to figure out weird combinations of items to figure out what needs to be done.
Some of the puzzles in the game are fairly straightforward, like making a sandwich and feeding it to a carnivorous plant or corking geysers to make a third one explode, but some puzzles will really have you scratching your head throughout its 15-hour or so gameplay time. You may end up completing the game much more quickly, but this was the marker when I first completed my playthrough. There is no in-game help system as well, so you have to figure out everything yourself. If you get stuck, you get stuck, but that is the charm of playing a point-and-click game. This genre may not punish players with constant deaths, but it can absolutely test your patience when you hit a progression wall.
My main concern with Whirlight – No Time To Trip was the time-changing mechanic, which was exceptionally overused, and it was a pain to figure out the first time. Solving puzzles in point-and-click games is not easy, but when you couple them with another mechanic, such as changing time, it increases the difficulty significantly because you must try the same thing in different settings. This section literally frustrated me, because certain sections were literally doing one thing, changing time again, doing another thing, and then changing time again. This constant back-and-forth was not only confusing for solving puzzles but also led to a lot of backtracking in the same location.
Apart from this, the character animations were not up to par. This is weird because the environments look very good, but the characters stood out with their poor animations and face expressions. During dialogue, the mouth would just open up and down randomly with no proper movement or word synchronization. The game’s technical performance was good with no crashes or glitches throughout. It is very easy to have something glitch out in a game like Whirlight – No Time To Trip, where there are a lot of interactable items. I did not encounter any such issues with the game. The game also supports controllers, but I recommend that you use a keyboard or mouse to play the game, as it is easier and the intended way of experiencing a point-and-click title.
Final Verdict:
Whirlight – No Time To Trip is a true old-school point-and-click adventure and a genuine treat for fans of the genre. However, it may be difficult to recommend to players accustomed to modern gameplay systems, cinematic storytelling, and streamlined design philosophies. The game is a reminder of a different era of gaming, one built around exploring strange worlds, experimenting with bizarre item combinations, and solving unconventional puzzles through patience and creativity. For genre veterans, this is an easy recommendation, but newcomers or players looking for a more casual experience may find its classic design approach difficult to embrace.
Final Score: 7.5/10
Disclaimer: A PC Steam review code for Whirlight – No Time To Trip was provided by HomeRun PR on behalf of imaginarylab for this review. Read our Review Policy.
