20160707:
Stumbling upon and deciding to play The Book of Unwritten Tales was a bit random, but I'm glad I did. While I only played two segments, The Book of Unwritten Tales exceeded my expectations.
Instant Comments:
Haha. She hums the Indiana Jones tune after she uses the whip.
First Impressions:
During the first scene, I was ready to question the animation: the developers had MacGuffin repeatedly writing the same line over and over. This was an interesting choice considering they have his model do so many other things soon after.
Regardless, the animation was pretty good. This was despite the fact I later realized I was playing on medium quality instead of high. I have yet to play with the quality on high.
Steam: 39 minutes
About an hour or so later I try to squeeze in a little more game time with The Book of Unwritten Tales. Unfortunately, I began to grow tired and was on the verge of getting stuck - I collected a helmet and map, but had yet to make/find a parachute.
Instant Comments:
References Star Wars. "Try!? There is no try! Only DO."
References Lord of the Rings. "Just think about it. When has anybody ever given an important ring to a little being like a gnome?"
References Psycho. The Psycho theme plays when Wilbur pulls out the scissors to cut the Master Brewer's beard.
Steam: 55 minutes (session game time); 94 minutes (total game time)
20160708:
I almost didn't think I would play any more of this game, simply because I have an overall goal to play most of my games (though I should set milestones). However, my experience with this game had been so good thus far that I just had to play more of it.
Does that make video games like dating? Many games which come in many genres. Sometimes we try something new, but we generally prefer one type over another. Some experiences are good, others are bad. Some were great, but we eventually moved on from them. Some weren't as great, despite spending a lot of time and/or money. Well... it's never good take an analogy too far.
Instant Comments:
References Lord of the Rings. "Take good care of your ring. It's your precious."
References Braveheart. Something about being a free gnome and ending with "Will you fight?"
References Lord of the Rings. "No, that was thrown back into the fire from which it was forged."
References Felix the Cat and Harry Potter (twice). "Felix, Crookshanks, Jess, or Mrs. Norris?" [In a Google search for famous cats (named Jess), I found a cat named Jess belong to a British stop-motion cartoon character named Postman Pat.]
Answer choices reference Star Wars (I am your father) and The Godfather (an offer you can't refuse).
Steam: 1.8 hours (session game time); 3.4 hours (total game time)
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Humorous dialogue (including some pop culture references - perhaps common for point-and-click adventures)
+ Some of the humor lies in self-acknowledging cliches of the fantasy genre
+ Great animation
+ Great story (thus far)
Neutral:
~ Point-and-click; fantasy
~ Most objects which aren't needed will no longer be clickable. This makes getting through puzzles easier, but sometimes I would misclick and accidentally skip dialogue. Then when I want to hear it again, I can't. There are, of course, some exceptions. Like the chair sitting in the living room of Wilbur's home.
Recommendation:
Within a busy work week, I squeezed in 3.4 hours of playtime on this game and I have a strong inclination to play more of it. As such, my experience thus far with the game would definitely be classified as positive.
While there are times where I wish the graphics and waypoints were a notch or two better, there are other times where I am pleased with the graphics.*
A more extreme example of this longing would be wishing that Final Fantasy VII (1997) got a graphics update: we love the game as it is, but it would be way cooler with the latest graphics.**
Overall, while it wouldn't be the best of the best, I'm happy to give it the "great video game" label. Highly recommended to fans of the point-and-click genre.
*From the trailers and screenshots, the sequel The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 (PC) (2015) appears to deliver on this front.
**Apparently a remake for the PS4 is in the works (announced in 2015 at E3); same story, different fighting system.
The Book of Unwritten Tales (PC) (2011)
Relevant Links:
The Book of Unwritten Tales Website
The Book of Unwritten Tales (Steam Store Page)
The Book of Unwritten Tales (Wikipedia.org)
The Book of Unwritten Tales (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Stumbling upon and deciding to play The Book of Unwritten Tales was a bit random, but I'm glad I did. While I only played two segments, The Book of Unwritten Tales exceeded my expectations.
 |
| Wilbur Weathervane (gnome) |
Haha. She hums the Indiana Jones tune after she uses the whip.
First Impressions:
During the first scene, I was ready to question the animation: the developers had MacGuffin repeatedly writing the same line over and over. This was an interesting choice considering they have his model do so many other things soon after.
Regardless, the animation was pretty good. This was despite the fact I later realized I was playing on medium quality instead of high. I have yet to play with the quality on high.
 |
| Ivodora "Ivo" Eleonora Clarissa (elf) |
About an hour or so later I try to squeeze in a little more game time with The Book of Unwritten Tales. Unfortunately, I began to grow tired and was on the verge of getting stuck - I collected a helmet and map, but had yet to make/find a parachute.
Instant Comments:
References Star Wars. "Try!? There is no try! Only DO."
References Lord of the Rings. "Just think about it. When has anybody ever given an important ring to a little being like a gnome?"
References Psycho. The Psycho theme plays when Wilbur pulls out the scissors to cut the Master Brewer's beard.
 |
| Wilbur and his grandfather, "Colonel Grandad." |
20160708:
I almost didn't think I would play any more of this game, simply because I have an overall goal to play most of my games (though I should set milestones). However, my experience with this game had been so good thus far that I just had to play more of it.
Does that make video games like dating? Many games which come in many genres. Sometimes we try something new, but we generally prefer one type over another. Some experiences are good, others are bad. Some were great, but we eventually moved on from them. Some weren't as great, despite spending a lot of time and/or money. Well... it's never good take an analogy too far.
 |
| Let the pop culture references run wild. |
References Lord of the Rings. "Take good care of your ring. It's your precious."
References Braveheart. Something about being a free gnome and ending with "Will you fight?"
References Lord of the Rings. "No, that was thrown back into the fire from which it was forged."
References Felix the Cat and Harry Potter (twice). "Felix, Crookshanks, Jess, or Mrs. Norris?" [In a Google search for famous cats (named Jess), I found a cat named Jess belong to a British stop-motion cartoon character named Postman Pat.]
Answer choices reference Star Wars (I am your father) and The Godfather (an offer you can't refuse).
Steam: 1.8 hours (session game time); 3.4 hours (total game time)
 |
| Graphics quality at med. (lt) and high (rt). Slightly increased dynamic range; best noticed in the dragon's wing. |
Pros:
+ Humorous dialogue (including some pop culture references - perhaps common for point-and-click adventures)
+ Some of the humor lies in self-acknowledging cliches of the fantasy genre
+ Great animation
+ Great story (thus far)
Neutral:
~ Point-and-click; fantasy
 |
| Cheep-Cheep and Ivo outside MacGuffin's home |
Recommendation:
Within a busy work week, I squeezed in 3.4 hours of playtime on this game and I have a strong inclination to play more of it. As such, my experience thus far with the game would definitely be classified as positive.
While there are times where I wish the graphics and waypoints were a notch or two better, there are other times where I am pleased with the graphics.*
 |
| Ivo and a (hilariously) demented mummy |
Overall, while it wouldn't be the best of the best, I'm happy to give it the "great video game" label. Highly recommended to fans of the point-and-click genre.
*From the trailers and screenshots, the sequel The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 (PC) (2015) appears to deliver on this front.
**Apparently a remake for the PS4 is in the works (announced in 2015 at E3); same story, different fighting system.
 |
| Wilbur and his boss, Master Brewer (dwarf). |
The Book of Unwritten Tales (PC) (2011)
Relevant Links:
The Book of Unwritten Tales Website
The Book of Unwritten Tales (Steam Store Page)
The Book of Unwritten Tales (Wikipedia.org)
The Book of Unwritten Tales (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Date/Time
Thursday, July 7, 2016
@
19:00
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