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The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 (PC) Review

 
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Book-of-Unwritten-2-header
Book-of-Unwritten-2-header

 
At a Glance...
 

Formats: PC
 
Genre:
 
Year:
 
Publisher:
 
Developer:
 
Final Score
9.0
9/ 10


User Rating
no ratings yet

 

We liked?


  • Genuinely funny
  • Some really great puzzles
  • A "must buy" for point and click fans

Not so much?


  • Minor issues with frame rate at times and uncooperative characters at rare times


Final Fiendish Findings?

If you’re a point and click adventure fan this is a must buy.

0
Posted March 19, 2015 by

 
Full Fiendish Findings...
 
 

The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 returns to the PC after a successful Kickstarter campaign had been launched after the success of the book of unwritten tales in 2009. I’ll confess I did not know much about The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 and had not played the previous version although I have always enjoyed point and click adventures such as Broken Sword and Monkey Island and after looking at the trailer I was excited to try my hand at The Book of Unwritten Tales 2.

The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 has 4 main characters that you will control and guide through the story. Elven princess Ivodora Eleonora Clarissa, the gnome magician Wilbur Weathervane, the human adventurer Nathanial Bonnet, and a creature named Critter. The original Book of Unwritten Tales also had the same 4 characters who after a long adventure found and hid the Artifact of Divine fate which has great power, from the rest of the world. Part 2 kicks off with each character having gone their separate ways, until Ivo finds that she has become pregnant from dark magic and against her mother’s wishes sets off to find the Arch Mage and Wilbur. This sets of a chain of events and begins a truly amazing adventure and story. Of course out with the 4 main characters there are a host of supporting acts such as a grumpy troll, spying rats, inventive zombies I really could go on here but I don’t want to ruin the best bit about this game which is discovering new characters and the interaction with them. The voice acting of each character is really one of the best parts of this game.

Book of Unwritten Tales 2 Screen 2

The humour from the developers is something I loved right away, there are times when this game will have you literally laughing out loud. The developers like to make fun of topics which I’m guessing they must be very passionate about in the game development world. One example is when you get a magic tablet that will answer anything you ask it, and Wilbur asks the tablet if it comes with games which are free at first but slowly manage to leave you poor from in play content. Obviously a dig at pay to win games, which if you watch the trailer for the Kickstarter campaign it’s something the developers promise that you won’t get with The Book of Unwritten Tales 2. There are many more examples of how the game keeps you amused but I will try not to spoil the best bits!

The gameplay is very easy to pick up. With point and click adventures you need to strike a balance with making the puzzles challenging and making them far too easy that the players don’t feel any sense of accomplishment when they move onto the next bit. The tutorial at the beginning of the game was very well put together, while watching the opening credits the machine will break down and you need to find parts to put it back together to continue the opening credits and begin the game. That is just one example where the people and KING Arts have thought outside the box and have done everything they can to make the game fun and come up with new ideas.

Book of Unwritten Tales 2 Screen 1

Playing through the adventure I did enjoy the challenging puzzles, although I did feel there were times the game could have made it a bit easier. One example is looking for something to light a fire with and after clicking on a piece the character just tells me there is nothing in the item with no mention I can use it for fire or even a hint, after looking around the room for a good while I just resorted to clicking anything I could and that same item when clicked on again was the item I spent quite a bit of time looking for. It was a little annoying the first click made me think it was a useless item. It was a very small annoyance and it didn’t happen often.

The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 is extremely beautiful, the environments you play in are very bright and colourful and where they need to be, they are dark and eerie looking. The artwork is one of the most outstanding parts of the game, there were times during the game where I found myself admiring the environment especially the Elfburrow. The music is quite good and fits very well with the game, during the kickstarter campaign it was one of the extra bits of funding they were looking for get orchestra recording and it does look like they put that money to good use.

There were some small niggles and bugs that creep up in the game with frame rate dropping and characters not going where you tell them to go. But those occasions were quite rare, and didn’t take away the enjoyment of the game.

Book of Unwritten Tales 2 Screen 3

Final Thoughts

The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 is truly one of the best point and click adventures I have played. It’s funny, witty, has great puzzles and characters who you will fall in love with. It feels as though KING Art tried their best to deliver something special to their fans, a game that doesn’t feel as though it is missing content and you need to wait for the DLC in a few months’ time. I also believe KING Art would have wanted to thank them for their support during their Kickstarter campaign and I have to say I think they have delivered that and more. If you’re a point and click adventure fan this is a must buy.

 

Guest Reviewer: Saqib Ahmed


Zeth

 
Zeth is our EU ninja and Editor in Chief. He's been writing about video games since 2008 when he started on BrutalGamer. He's pretty old and has been a gamer since he played Space Invaders as a young boy in the 80's. His genre tastes lean towards platformers, point-and-click adventure, action-adventure and shooters but he'll turn his hand to anything.


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