I've had a lot of Swedish related influences and involvements this year and
now it seems that this Nordic vibe has crept in to my gaming, with The Book of Unwritten Tales and I am
pleased to admit, I enjoyed this somewhat older point and click adventure game
quite a lot.
Game play is standard for P’n’C, you click on where you want the character
you control to move to and there are many objects to interact with, either to
make use of on your quest or to observe. You take turns playing as an elf and a
dwarf. What’s that? No, this isn't an RPG, but it utilizes tropes and humorous
traits from RPG genres, purely within its storytelling. This leads me to first
discuss the characters themselves. Voice acting is charming and the different accents
are something I really appreciate and find refreshing. No offence America or
even England, but I think we need more Welsh dwarves in games. Broaden that RPG
based spectrum. We've had Welsh elves in Dragon Age, though did anyone ever
wonder why every other elf was Irish, except Merril. Anyway, digressing.
You encounter a strange gremlin, who beseeches upon you a ring that must
not fall into the hands of evil doers. It sounds familiar doesn't it, but this
isn't a Lord of the Rings rip off, the only similarity is it’s a ring. I mean
it’s handier to carry around.
The humor in this game is highlighted not just by the script but by spoofs,
fourth wall breakage and an apt air of sarcasm and somewhat innocent
dim-wittedness. Most characters you meet will be mad in their own unique way.
Along the way you’ll come across a plethora of delightfully quirky characters
who all mostly, either by choice or unwittingly aid you on your mission.
Animation is simple, colourful and detailed in it’s vibrancy. Character
reactions, especially when they experience shock can be absurdly amusing.
Despite this not being a major graphically super charged game, now and again,
facial responses to certain scenarios show of an apt tweak and contribute to
the funnies.
Puzzles are fun and not too exhaustive or pretentious, which can be a fine
line in point and click games. Granted some more veteran players may assume
that the puzzles are too easy at certain points, but what I will say is that
this game does a great throwback to previous moments and every object has a
role, that isn’t just flippant. Some puzzles are homages with influences
clearly taken from the likes Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark.
There was a major bug (I refer to it as major purely because I was enjoying
the game and thought I might not be able to continue), I encountered which
meant me having to restart the game, after devoting 2 hours of game play, which
felt a bit wasted. When loading a save file while I was with a fortune teller,
the protagonist I was in control of for that level froze, as did the fortune
teller. After hopping from some scenes and coming back again, I managed to get
the main character back to normal, but alas the fortune teller could not be
interacted with, which meant I could not advance any further. The only reason I
restated this game was because I wanted to keep going, see how the stories goes
and ultimately complete it.
Overall this game pays homage without relying on used tricks and
successfully imbues the genre with its own unique style. This is how point and
click adventures should be done and it’s a testament that there is still life
in this genre. Now if you’ll excuse me I'm off to play the sequel.
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