Epistory – Typing Chronicles by Fishing Cactus Genre: Adventure | Indie Released: 30th March 2016 Gifted to me on Steam from a friend
Synopsis: Epistory is an atmospheric adventure typing game that tells the story of a writer lacking inspiration who asks her muse to help write her latest book.
In Epistory you play the muse, a fictional character in a world where everything is untold. Your adventure begins on a blank page, but the world will soon become larger and livelier as you gather inspiration, solve its mysteries and defeat its enemies. From movement to opening chests and fighting in epic battles, every element in the game is controlled exclusively with the keyboard.
As you progress and explore the fantasy origami world, the story literally unfolds in the writer’s mind and the mysteries of the magic power of the words are revealed.
I received this similarly to how I got Old Mans Journey; good friends passing on games they didn’t want in Books and Tea! My friends are the loveliest.
Before I get into this review properly I do need to address that this’ll probably be on the short side as I’m typing this one-handed. And yep I’m aware I can’t currently play this game as I can’t type quickly or correctly enough with only my left hand.
Okay time for the review though. I can hear you questioning me, questioning “why would I play a game in which you type? I know how to type, how is this a game mechanic?” I’ll get there and trust me, you want this game.
The characer you follow in this game is a lady and her fox and you can use the letter keys (shown in the first image above) or arrow keys to move around the map. As you explore and make progress the story is told you by a voice over narrative and the same words appearing on the floor. You don’t type these, they’re just there to tell you the story of the surrounding world and the playable character as she regains her memories.
The typing aspect of the game comes in when a monsters spawn or you come across a treasure chest or doorway that needs unlocking and ta-da now you have to type something. Simples.
As you finishthe main areas and your character regains her memories she also unlocks elemental powers! These are really helpful and vital in progressing as they’ll freeze water you need to pass, burn down fallen trees in your way, or get fans moving again with wind or electricity.
I think the methods used are a great way to tell a story as it requires you to interact with the world, solve puzzles, and take th eright path to be rewarded with more of the story.
On top of this very enjoyable and different playstyle of a game we also have its beauty! The aesthetics and visualsof this game are breath-taking, and simply described as a form of paper craft. I loved exploring further into the game and seeing how different weather, nature, and creature was created in this style. The look alone could’ve kept me going for another 12 hours – in fact it probably will when I’m able.
Additionally I love the fact that if you play through this game you’re going to naturally unlock most of the achievements and you wont really have to go out of the way for any of them!
The ones I do have left to get are about typing a lot of characters successfully one after the other with 0 mistakes. This one is a chore so uh I’ll check back the day I’m able to do i t because no I wont make it easier on myself like The Typing of the Dead required which is a buggy game!
I also don’t think theres enough letters to type in the main game to get some of the larger “You wrote the same amount of characters as [enter large book name here]!” achievements. But thats okay because there is an arena mode where you get to see how long you can last taking down waves of monsters with your typing and fully upgraded magically abilities until you’re overrun. This mode is also a handy part to play through the easier waves over and over to try typing a lot with no typos!
Overall I found this really enjoyable and if you’re still undecided about this underrated game you should also know that Hannie recommends it too!
I really recommend playing this game
The elf girl is my DnD character which my lovely friend Jenny drew.
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Video Game Review: Epistory #BooksandTeaBC Epistory - Typing Chronicles by Fishing Cactus Genre: Adventure | Indie Released: 30th March 2016 Gifted to me on Steam from a friend…
