The Book Of Unwritten Tales Gets A Second Tale
Adventure game sequel
Today we players of games are spoiled for choice when it comes to adventure games. Wadjet Eye release a steady stream of interesting pointers and clickers, Double Fine are halfway through a new game and recently re-released a classic, Telltale have reinvented parts of the genre and are off doing their own thing, Sierra has been sort-of resurrected and a new King's Quest is coming, and that's barely scratching the surface.
So it's funny to think that as recently as four years ago we'd start a post about The Book of Unwritten Tales with "a decent full-length adventure game is as rare as a completely uncooked Banjo & Kazooie developer". Times do change, eh? But hey, Unwritten Tales is still here, and its sequel [official site] is now out.
John was fond of King Art's first Book of Unwritten Tales, which despite some notable flaws proved a charming love letter to classic adventure games and classic fantasy trappings. Me, I like a bit of the fantastic in my fantasy, by which I mean I tend to sit up and pay attention when a fantasy game doesn't feature elves, dwarfs, goblins and the like. That is, unless we're talking about a game which fondly parodies its source material, as is the case here. By all means add as many dragons as you like if you're planning to make fun of them, developers!
Speaking of making fun of things, the game's official launch trailer pokes fun at, er, game monetisation strategies, via the medium of those melancholic songs from Jackson's Tolkein movies. It's a curious thing indeed.
The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 sounds rather interesting to me. If I weren't neck deep in Grim Fandango I'd be checking this out myself. It's on Steam for £26.99/$31.49/€31.49, and on GOG as part of a promo on the entire series (prices vary depending on how many games you buy).