The Book Of Unwritten Tales Review

A dwarf, an elf and a bandit sword-master mouse walk into a point and click..."

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. 

It's ok not to play Depression Games

Recently with the death of Robin Williams, depression has been discussed quite a lot. Also with the push of Depression Quest and ironically the scandal involving the personal lives of the creator Zoe Quinn and others (I won't spread the Burger and Fries blog because that's not necessary), the value and merit of the game has been discussed.

To be honest, I never really heard much about the world of depression before the past few years. I knew someone in University who suffered it and took medication. I didn't quite get it. I said the stereotypical line to myself "how can he be doing well in university, have a boyfriend, a car he adores, a loving network of family and friends" and yet he often finds himself in this black hole, he can't explain where he needs to be alone and take medication. I will say that will educating yourself is important in life, people cannot be blamed for simply not knowing the details of every illness and situation that all humans can/do go through. There's a difference between being unaware and plain ignorant.



It was my first encounter and it wasn't until 2 years later I would go through my own bouts. I don't suffer from clinical depression, but I do go through extreme cases of it. I endured it for a year straight, loss of hope, waning faith and it was all new to me. I'd been sad of course, but this was new, fresh, roaring with life and yet so empty and dead. I can't describe it gracefully. You kinda know it's coming and you want to fight it, you sit in a silent panic internally, willing it to subside and not to come back.

I'd like to also to just highlight that just because someone is not diagnosed with depression or suffering it due to a chemical imbalance, does not make the depression they go through any less harrowing or invalid for purpose of discussion.



While it's good to talk about these things, a lot can be said for not delving in to talks of depression as a topic, taking a back seat and playing video games like Depressing Quest and Actual Sunlight, can have a doubled edge sword effect. 



I think it's perfectly ok and understandable to play these games that you can relate to or that can give you even a glimmer of insight, but on the other hand I would like to heavily promote the idea that it's also ok to not indulge in them.

Playing video games can help you when you're going through stages of depression, because you're playing something immersive that takes your mind off it. It doesn't fix anything, but it gives you a mental relief. I can play Mass Effect, Pokémon, Metro or anything and just focus on getting through the levels, indulging in the story and for a little while not being bogged down in what I'm usually thinking when not heavily distracted.


HEAVILY DISTROOCTED!

I wouldn't ever play games like Depression Quest, whilst being in a very dark place. I've started a playthrough of Actual Sunlight and I'm not sure if I want to continue. For me if I do, it will be to simply complete the game. Again if you do for whatever reason, then that's good, that's dandy. But for me I see it as a slippery slope, one that is letting me succumb even further. For others that feeling of understanding can make them, momentarily perhaps, feel less alone and so for that reason, I get it.



On the Scary Granules Channel I begun a play-through of The Cat Lady. Unlike Depression Quest and Actual Sunlight, this game is brutal in it's visceral, cerebral bluntness and gore. The game is like a shock of emotional, deathly lightning, that's how I felt when the initial subdued, bleak opening dialogue ended.

I decided to not go on any further after a certain point of the game. It was very close to home in the subject matter and I could get a feeling that no matter how this game ended, there would be no uplifting conclusion or aftermath, not really. The path being taken by our heroine, if you could call her that, was not one of redemption or resolve and upon reading the script for the remainder of the game I didn't want to play, I found out that my assumptions were pretty accurate. Though the elves and choices you make and characters you come across were a lot more morbid than I would have guessed.



Again this is a case of something having the ability to resonate with someone, but whether that leads to a positive or negative effect is wholly dependant on the individual.

Summary of things I've learnt under the "gaming and depression" umbrella:
There's a lot to be said for playing online multiplayer games when you're in a rough spot, this is coming from a 95% single player gamer. It's nice to play with friends or people who are cool online, for a brief moment, you kinda lose that feeling of loneliness.

Decide for yourself what is the best course when it comes to picking a game to play when you're depressed. Go with your gut and trust yourself whether you decide to play something where depression is the primary theme or decide not to. It's ok either way.

Don't beat yourself up or beat others for not knowing what you're going through. How could they, it's such a solitary, internal personal conflict. 

Play games for what they are, don't let the e-drama ruin that for you.

For those that are interested and not aware, though you probably are - Depression Quest is free currently on Steam. Despite the actions of the creator, that doesn't really encourage me one way or the other, not to at least give folks a heads up and decide for themselves.