Through the long years of gaming I have tried various
genres of games. Some I have played more, some less. Some have become my favourite and some I
almost have not played. Typing games is one of the later. I have played few and
while I can say that they have some educational value I saw little value in
them as a gamer. This changed after I played Epistory Typing Chronicles.
Made by Fishing Cactus Epistory is a game about a fox
riding muse which has to do her job and inspire a writer. Thematic enough you
start on a blank page and as it happens often with books whole new world opens
little by little before you. While you explore you will see different objects
which will have words above them and you will need to type those words if you
want to interact with these objects. Objects will vary from wood trunks to
treasure chests and even enemies. Oh yes you will fight here, but more about
that later.
The game looks amazing with its
"origami-like" art style, charming characters and interesting, open
for interpretation story. And while this together with its "book"
theme grabbed me as I am a proud bookw(y)orm what impressed me is how the guys
from Fishing Cactus combined the charming look and theme with few things from other
genres(this seems to be THE THING now) to attract broader public, but at the
same time kept the focus of the game on the words.
The first of those things are the simple RPG
mechanics. The first part is there - you are (role)playing a muse, the second
part is character development. Through the game you will learn new skills which
will allow you to type easier, to run faster, to sense objects of interest, to burn
words(do not tell the dwarves, they will throw you in jail.) and more.
The second is the battle system. You will encounter
many enemies in the depths of the writer's mind and you will have to defend
yourself. Some will be simple, one word small fries which you will easily type
out. But others will be huge never-heard-before three words monsters and you
will have to use your whole typing skills acquired in the chats to beat them
before they reach you. Because even single touch is enough to kill the muse of
a writer. At the end of each zone you will have to survive few waves of
enemies, which will come at you from all sides.
I mentioned that they focus on the words and you might
wonder what exactly I meant. Let me explain. In Epistory you will type...a lot.
This is a game about typing. But you will not have to type "trunk"
every time you see a trunk. You will type something wood related. This goes for
everything you interact with. This game will expand your vocabulary. Also in
the game there will be barred areas and you will not be able to understand the
language of the words for those barriers until you travel to certain other
places where you will literally learn new "language" so you can read
the words you need to progress.
Conclusion
Epistory Typing Chronicles is an interesting pick up
on a genre in which we rarely see something new. But here instead of only
typing you will explore interesting and mystical, beautiful world filled with
treasures, monsters and puzzles. You will learn new "languages", learn
new real words and explore one charming and beautiful world. As every typing
game this one also will try to teach you something new, but at the same time
borrows some mechanics from RPG games which makes it only more interesting.
Great game! Niche and not for everybody, but a real hidden gem.
Where to find:
Няма коментари:
Публикуване на коментар