Developers often hit below the belt and, as they say, put pressure on pity when they make heroes of children who have lost loved ones, who went in search of a sister or brother, trying to reconcile divorcing parents or save them from alcoholism. We have seen a lot of such games, but not all of them support another sentimental story with originality, freshness in its presentation and the gameplay itself. The good ones are, for example, Among the Sleep and Contrast . Now here in this list, you can add and platformer-adventure of Lost Words: of Beyond the Page , written by Rhianna Pratchett (Rhianna Pratchett), which may be issued a best-case scenario in his career.
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I want to write, let them teach me!
The attitude towards Rihanna Pratchett , daughter of the famous Terry Pratchett , is controversial among many. She is known for her scripts for Mirror’s Edge , Tomb Raider , Rise of the Tomb Raider , Overlord , Heavenly Sword , Thie f , but if Rihanna’s colleagues nominate her for various awards, including BAFTA, then the players themselves always find something to complain about. – then flat villains, then feminism will be found, then they will be reproached for Russophobia.
And from this point of view, there should be the least complaints about Lost Words: Beyond the Page – this is a very personal story about a girl (written off, apparently, from Rihanna herself) who wanted to become a writer. Izzy (this is the name of the girl) tells her diary about this desire, as well as about her life, about her parents and about her beloved grandmother – it is on its pages that we will spend half a game.
It really feels like a vibrant modern diary for girls.
And the test of the pen of the young writer is the adventures of a little guardian in the fantasy land of Estoria. A huge evil dragon attacked her village, and now the heroine needs to go through various tests and fight with him. It is in the three-dimensional Estoria that we play the other half of the game.
We will meet many interesting characters here.
Truth of the life
Soon, the little writer learns that her grandmother was hospitalized with a heart attack, and completely different entries appear on the pages of her diary. For what? Why? And the confrontation with the dragon, which says that sooner or later everything – both her and even him – comes to an end, acquires a deeper, metaphorical implication. The situation is clearly played out when a child first learns that he or his loved ones may die, and he really does not want to put up with it.
Therefore, in Lost Words : Beyond the Page , of course, there are many sentimental situations. The girl remembers her grandmother; wants to do something for her or for her mother – at least clean the room or wash the dishes in order to cheer them up, and does not want to listen to her dad who calms her down, who says that everything is supposed to work out. The girl then falls into hysterics, then is filled with enthusiasm, at some point, when the worst thing happened, and does seem to want to throw out the diary – and in any case, every time you feel with what emotions and pain she goes through it.
A girl can be very emotional!
It is clear that Pratchett presses on pity, but I must admit that this time she does it with really talented and subtle. Including because it pinpoints the sentimental, but so understandable to all reality with adventures in the fictional world, where her heroine finds and loses friends, who seemed to be enemies yesterday, and now they are even ready to sacrifice themselves for her sake.
This evil creature is much softer and nicer than it seems.
We play in the diary
The fact that Lost Words: Beyond the Page is not just another attempt to squeeze out a tear from adults about childhood experiences and personal dramas, but a truly talented and largely original work, is also evidenced by the gameplay itself. More precisely, the part of it that takes place on the pages of the young writer’s diary.
What happens in Estoria as a whole is pretty standard by the standards of the genre. We run, jump, move boxes (where can we go without it!) And use magic to solve puzzles and overcome obstacles. Only here it is not necessary to “cast” it – we just learn different words according to the plot and take them out of the diary, applying them where necessary. So, you can break something or, conversely, fix it, set fire to the fuse to blow up an obstacle, make objects soar up, light your way in the dark and interrupt enemy spells.
This is how we repair the bridge and raise stones with the power of the word on the go.
But on the pages of the diary, everything is done in a more interesting, original and tasteful way. There we control a little writer who jumps over the lines and letters that appear under her feet, assembles phrases from words, rearranges individual lines to use them as steps, draws and erases something, solves riddles, collects puzzles, flies on an airplane and , for example, she recalls the story of her grandmother, how she and her little mother went to the movies on “Star Wars” : naturally, the lines begin to flow through the diary, as in the famous introduction to all the films of the saga. And the girl calls her grandmother in an oxygen mask just like Dart-granny …
What just does not happen on the pages of the diary.
In general, there are many original finds, and therefore what is happening on the pages of the diary looks so fresh and emotional. And this is supported by the ability in some situations to choose what the character of the heroine of Izzy’s story will be, what her name will be, who belonged to the camp that the girl came across – merchants, soldiers or philosophers. This does not affect global things in history, but it changes the surroundings and details. For example, if you decide that the heroine of the story is a smart girl, then she will find books and talk about them. And if they made her a fidget, always wanting to play, then she will start playing with a ball in her hands. As they say, a trifle, but nice.
And here, right in the diary, we grow a tree.
This time, Rihanna Pratchett has almost her best story – it is very personal, and the “cardboard villains” are time itself, life and its sometimes sad laws. So all the enthusiasm that Lost Words: Beyond the Page was bombarded with on Google Stadia, and the prizes awarded to the authors this time are absolutely justified. Do not believe me – play for yourself and see that the girl who dreamed of becoming a writer really became her.
Pros: an interesting and emotional story, which, moreover, is presented in an original way through the pages of a girl’s diary; has its own style and atmosphere; the drawings in the diary are beyond praise; high-quality voice acting and music.
Cons: the game is rather short; the platform part is inferior to the diary part in originality and expressiveness.
