When Lucasarts abandoned point-and-click adventures after Escape from Monkey Island in 2000, the well had pretty much run dry.  Occasional releases like Syberia help fans get their fix, but it was clear the golden age had passed.  These days, Telltale Games seem to be the unofficial guardians of the genre.  Their approach is a little different — by taking pre-existing licenses and building seasonal, episodic content around them, they’ve managed to release accessible bite-size chunks of adventure gaming at reasonable prices.  In some cases, there’s a definite trade-off; it’s hard not to look back on the classic 2D animation of Sam & Max Hit the Road when playing the decade-newer, but uglier, Telltale adventures.  Still, their heart is in the right place, and the success of Sam & Max, Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People, and Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures has paved the way for a miniature adventure renaissance.  And a point-and-click resurgence, no matter how small, is always a good thing.

It becomes a great thing when those adventure games feature lovingly-crafted, luscious hand-drawn backgrounds and classic 2D animation, resplendent in high definition.  That’s why I’m so excited about The Whispered World, a German production that has ripped its beautiful fantasy aesthetic straight out of a fairy-tale.  I’m not sure I’ve ever played a game that looks like it could pass for a Miyazaki film, but The Whispered World looks like it could be a first.  It’s hard to say how the narrative will stack up.  It could be trite, poorly-acted, and wholly disappointing.  Maybe the puzzles will be bland and uninspired.  Maybe the in-game animation, which looks a little jerky in the new German trailer, will be a total letdown next to the incredible background artwork.

Or maybe The Whispered World will be a modern classic, a fitting tribute to a legendary genre, a game that emphatically demonstrates how to bring fantasy to life in playable form.  At any rate, that’s what I’m hoping for.