"A Warm, Funny Throwback That Wears Its LucasArts Heart Openly"
About
The Book of Unwritten Tales is a point-and-click adventure game set in a fantasy world where you play as Nate, a young adventurer, and uncover the mystery surrounding an ancient magical artifact that archaeologist Mortimer MacGuffin has hidden away. You navigate through environments collecting items, solving inventory puzzles, and engaging in dialogue with quirky characters to progress the story and learn what MacGuffin's secret truly is. The game relies on traditional adventure game mechanics where combining objects and talking to NPCs reveals clues needed to advance.
Verdict
The Book of Unwritten Tales is a comfort-food point-and-click adventure that earns its laughs without trying too hard. The puzzles are clever rather than cruel and the fantasy parody never curdles into smugness, but if you've cooled on inventory-combination logic this won't reconvert you.
You'll like it if …
- +you enjoy classic LucasArts-style inventory puzzles that reward lateral thinking
- +you play adventures for the writing and a fantasy parody full of characters you grow attached to
- +you want a complete, linear story rather than systems to experiment with
You'll dislike it if …
- −you've cooled on inventory-combination logic and want a genre that evolved past Monkey Island
- −you replay games and need branching or reshuffled puzzles to come back
- −backtracking and hunting for the right spot wears on your patience
Breakdown
- +Puzzles reward lateral thinking without resorting to moon-logic
- +Inventory-combination logic feels fair and avoids obtuse design
- −Some backtracking and pixel-hunting drags the pacing
- +Twenty euros for roughly 20 hours of a complete, well-told adventure is fair value
- −Puzzles don't reshuffle and the story doesn't branch, so little reason to return once solved
- −Bound to the rhythms of a genre that hasn't evolved much since Monkey Island
- +Genuinely funny fantasy parody that doesn't take itself seriously
- +Charming, well-drawn cast that players stay attached to years later
- +The fantasy parody lands its jokes and builds characters you actually care about
- +Hand-crafted painterly backdrops and expressive character design that have aged better than most 2012 fantasy games
- +Solid voice acting and a fitting orchestral score carry the storybook tone
- +A well-finished production for its scope with presentation that holds up over a decade later
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