The Case

The Book of Unwritten Tales was classic point-and-click adventure focusing around a small crew of characters who varied from magical gnomes, royal elves, a monster, and an adventurer. Noteworthy for the amount of comedy and the character development, Book of Unwritten Tales was a successful enough to warrant a sequel which brings back the characters, continues their adventurous ways, and maintains the classic point-and-click feel. The question is if number 2 is as good as number 1, and if the quality has carried over from the original.

The Trial

Book of Unwritten Tales 2 is the most classic point and click adventure that you'll ever lay eyes on. It's absolutely littered with items both meaningless and key to walk over to, collect, and talk about, along with a cast of characters rivalling Game of Thrones and comedic dialogue lines in every crack.

The most charming part of Unwritten Tales 2 is just how pure the experience is. Within 5 minutes you know exactly what the game is and what you're in for. There's no minigames, no distractions, just pointing, clicking, and puzzles.

There aren't as many environments as other point and clicks but each room has a purpose, and you'll be visiting each room at least 4 or 5 times to collect everything you need to progress, and that's if you know what you're doing.

Don't get me wrong, that's not to say that it feels limited or small in scope, Unwritten Tales, despite its simplicity, feels massive in scope and length without ever feeling overbearing. Each setting and character is completely different and interesting enough to carry an entire game of their own, and even though the all you're ever doing is clicking, you always feel like your actively progressing with each new item collected.

My problem with Unwritten Tales 2 is finding that progress. Unwritten Tales 2, much like many other point-and-clicks, has logic that isn't always...logical. The majority of it makes sense, like finding money to pay for a hippogriff ride or collecting spells so that you can learn how to cast them, but others stop you in your tracks, make you look up a walkthrough, and think "How in oblivion would anybody have every figured that out?" Progress always feels rewarding and each time an item is picked up there's a thrill, but going through the game to find that progression can be absolutely brutal.

Even during some of these brutal sections the characters keep you entertained by sharing in your struggle with 4th wall shattering quips like "Another locked chest. Wonderful." and "Isn't there somebody who can help me for once instead of getting in my way?" The developers know exactly how excruciating fetch quests and finding all the items can be at times, and they're very "in on the joke" you could say.

Graphically, the game stand out as one of the most gorgeous games I've played in recent memory. Granted, there isn't too much to animate other than walk cycles and NPCs standing there to be talked to, but there was never a room that didn't impress with just the sheer volume of stuff put into it. Some rooms are filled with treasures and jewels, others are as empty as decrepit ruins, but it's evident that whoever worked on creating these rooms took great pains to make everything fit in well and look gorgeous while they're at it.

Voice acting (for the most part) is another stand out, especially for a B-tier point-and-click like Unwritten Tales. Nobody sounds particularly awful, some voices even stand out like the arch-mage's, and there's plenty of lines of dialogue for you to notice the quality of each voice.

The Verdict

Book of Unwritten Tales 2 has everything that a quality comedy click-and-point adventure needs. Characters stand out on their own, the story strings you along until the end, and the game looks, sounds, and plays well overall save some of the rougher item-hunting puzzles of the game. Even during these rough times however, the personality and charm that Unwritten Tales 2 carries with it is enough to dissuade the doubts any point-and-click fan might have while playing.

Case Review