Book of Unwritten Tales Review
- Thread starter Susan Arendt
- Start date
I dunno... No matter how funny you say it might be, I can't help but think "It's a point-and-click adventure game with jokes about video game, fantasy and other story tropes that leans on the fourth wall and makes references. Ho hum. I guess we'll just have to add that to the pile of the dozen or so other games which have done the exact same thing without any of them realising that now that the indie market is flowering it really isn't unique or clever any more".
Maybe I'm wrong, but... I dunno, I have trouble believing that out of all the 'self aware' games out there this is the truely funny one.
Maybe I'm wrong, but... I dunno, I have trouble believing that out of all the 'self aware' games out there this is the truely funny one.
I don´t really play point and click adventures but this one was really funny. I bought the german version quite a while ago for my little brother because i heard it was good and it was totally worth it. The mummy mentioned in the article and the grandfather of wilbur are brilliantly funny written.
or "unwritten" (i´m sorry don´t hit me)
or "unwritten" (i´m sorry don´t hit me)
I can't believe I had never played this game until I saw it mentioned in a news post on this very website. It's been out in the UK for ages and I never even knew.
The last point and click adventure game I played that had me enthralled until the end through interesting characters, beautiful presentation and joyous voice acting was The Longest Journey.
The last point and click adventure game I played that had me enthralled until the end through interesting characters, beautiful presentation and joyous voice acting was The Longest Journey.
To say that this is a game that exists purely to riff on the more ridiculous aspects of RPGs is an unfair assessment. As Susan said in her review, the jokes are not forced upon the player, they're more like subtle nods than anything else and their certainly not the core appeal. The game's true charm comes from its gorgeous aesthetics, genuinely amusing characters and brilliantly balanced gameplay. Simply put, it's just a really good game.Geo Da Sponge said:
Just got this on Steam on your rec Susan 
Looking forward to playing it thanks! I'll be back with what I thought xD
Looking forward to playing it thanks! I'll be back with what I thought xD
Awesome. I'm going to give this one a go. Also you can get it from amazon for £5 plus shipping so if it's as good as you say that's a no brainier.
So I pull up this review because I'm surprised to see Escapist reviewing an adventure game. I skim the article not reading the by line and get to "If you're going to try and woo a modern gaming audience with old-fashioned gameplay, you'd better be pretty special. The Book of Unwritten Tales is. It's smart, funny, well-crafted and has tons of heart" and I said to myself, well I bet anything Susan reviewed this one. That is so her tone/writing style.
In any case Unwritten tales is a fantasic game, though I though the end game got a little blah. It is not the quality of the longest journey, but few games are. They do a very good job of inventory control and prevent you from having too many items as once that are not relivent to the task you are currently working on. It is a pretty darn good game.
*EDIT* BTW the only thing possible wrong with this review is that it is about 12 months late. The book of unwritten tales was release approximately a year ago. It was just release on steam recently.
In any case Unwritten tales is a fantasic game, though I though the end game got a little blah. It is not the quality of the longest journey, but few games are. They do a very good job of inventory control and prevent you from having too many items as once that are not relivent to the task you are currently working on. It is a pretty darn good game.
*EDIT* BTW the only thing possible wrong with this review is that it is about 12 months late. The book of unwritten tales was release approximately a year ago. It was just release on steam recently.
It came out in Germany in 2009. It was released again in late 2011. But that still makes the Escapist disgracefully late.Amaror said:
Yes, this game came out a while ago, but was just released on Steam and GOG. It's rare to find an adventure game this good, and its title is so generic that it would be easy to overlook. I wanted to let people know that it was available (it's not overly well known by American audiences) and, more importantly, that it was an excellent example of a dying genre. We didn't have to cover this at all, but I chose to because I think the game is that damn good.teh_gunslinger said:
If you find that "disgraceful," I simply have to disagree.
I picked this game up from Good old Games (GoG) a few days ago when it was on sale. It has made for a nice break from The Secret World.
I have not finished it yet but I will say that it is not so much about the puzzles but about the adventure. (The puzzles refreshingly mostly make sense) It is well made and if there is a sequel I will be very interested in looking at that when it gets a English release.
This is worth your time unless you hate whimsy and riffing on the high fantasy setting.
I have not finished it yet but I will say that it is not so much about the puzzles but about the adventure. (The puzzles refreshingly mostly make sense) It is well made and if there is a sequel I will be very interested in looking at that when it gets a English release.
This is worth your time unless you hate whimsy and riffing on the high fantasy setting.
It's really an excellent adventure game. I haven't had this much fun since Grim Fandango or to be fair since Telltale's Sam and Max. I love the graphics and it shows that a combination of 2d and 3d can look amazing.
I also like that most frustations of classic adventures is eliminated here, without dumbing down the experience.
I also like that most frustations of classic adventures is eliminated here, without dumbing down the experience.
Susan Arendt said:
I feel bad now. You do something awsome; bring a good review of a good game to an audiance who might not otherwise see it. And we aventure game snobs make fun of you because it wasn't fast enough.
I'm sorry Susan. Thank you for doing something cool and please do it more even if we are stupid sometime.
It's partly a dying genre because journalists cover only the generic, cartoony examples of adventure games which are invariably bland while passing over the more serious and mature ones which don't fit popular taste but deserve a closer look. Five stars is a ridiculous score for a game that does absolutely nothing new but, thus contributing to the demise of what you call a 'dying genre'. Adventure games can either languish in silly subject matter and remain in the 'light' entertainment section along with casual games or build on the strength which the medium offers, which is the opportunity to offer serious and meaningful interactive storytelling demanding thoughtful and creative input from the gamer. If you put this at the top of the pile you're basically saying this is the best that we can expect from the genre.Susan Arendt said: