In 2016, Fishing Cactus studio released an unusual role-playing adventure Epistory – Typing Chronicles , where we performed all actions by typing words on the keyboard. I wrote more about that game in my review . And now, five years later, a sequel came out:Nanotale – Typing Chronicles . How interesting and original was it?
Speedone
The magic of life versus the magic of dissonance
In general, this is still the same mixture of RPG and adventure with a touch of Metroidvania and The Legend of Zelda . We play again as a girl riding a fox. True, the girl is already different, and the fox is dead. Rosalind (this is the name of our heroine) found a dying fox (rather, he brought her to himself), protected him, and then he turned into a ghost that, at the first call, grows up under her soft spot and helps her escape from enemies. And sometimes even in battles he comes to the rescue, if you learn the appropriate skill.
I wonder if this is the fox from Epistory or not?
At the same time, history has changed not only in content, but also in concept. If in Epistory there were philosophy and metaphors mixed with symbolism, then in Nanotale we see a plot that is more classic for the genre. Rosalind, being a newcomer to the ancient order of chroniclers, sets out to collect knowledge in the Forest of the Ancestors, which (well, of course!) Turned out to be infected with something bad, namely the magic of dissonance.
Not all the words here can be trusted.
Rosalind needs to cleanse the forest of filth, and for this she communicates with its inhabitants and their rulers (some of them fell under the influence of vicious magic), visits colorful locations (even the Blue Desert is available), studies flora and fauna, solves riddles, fights and unlocks new spells. Gradually, she becomes stronger and stronger as a sorceress, which not everyone likes. And then there’s the ghostly fox talking to the girl, saying something about her purpose. In general, there is nothing special in the story, but it is generally interesting to follow it.
After the Blue Desert we go down to the caves.
Want to know everything!
Since we play as a professional chronicler, in Nanotale – Typing Chronicles a lot of attention is paid to the exploration of the world and the collection of information that Rosalind carefully records in the journal. Fortunately, here, as I said, there are different regions with their own biomes and a lot of space for exploring.
She explores flowers and plants, more or less funny animals and stones with notes, typing words related to them in context. In order to collect all the information about a particular plant or animal, you need to meet it several times – only after that the corresponding entry will appear in the journal.
Descriptions are always interesting and sometimes funny.
In the same way, typing words, the girl communicates with the locals, who can remember an interesting story and give out a side task. It is clear that these are not the coolest quests in the world – collect all the sheep, learn about a rare flower, and so on – but there are many of them, they are accompanied by new knowledge about the world and, in general, create the feeling that this world lives on.
Dialogues are also conducted through a set of keywords.
The magic of words and physics
In the process of research, you have to solve mainly physical riddles in order to overcome an obstacle, get to the next flower or beast, and also get where you could not before. Spells help in this, which Rosalind gradually learns and then fills with words. So, a magic ray can attract or repulse, be long or large – we ourselves choose the right words. And then with its help, for example, we push aside the sheep, which lay down in the sun and block the passage.
These sheep do not understand simple words and cries.
Next, we will learn the ability to add heat to the beam in order to set fire to enemies vulnerable to fire or to ignite bushes and trees that interfere with the passage. Some opponents themselves are walking or crawling bombs – by detonating them, we can start a chain reaction. Then the magic of life will become available, allowing you to remove poisonous obstacles.
Some plants explode too.
All these are, of course, the simplest examples. There are also more intricate situations when you must first set fire to something, and then have time to kill the enemies, from which water pours out and the bush sprouts right there – so we will conduct the fire to the right place. Or you come across opponents who, being in their environment (for example, in water), regenerate – you need to contrive and take them out of this “comfort zone”.
Chain reaction in action.
This is important to consider during key battles, which, like in Epistory , take place in arenas where you need to hold out for some time, destroy all opponents, or, say, set fire to the infected roots of a huge tree. As before, we destroy enemies by typing the words that appear above them – at first longer, then everything is simpler and shorter. And it’s one thing if it’s a “bastard” or “fifa”, and quite another, if you have to print “Arkharovtsy” or “conformism” at a frantic pace, surrounded by a crowd of opponents.
Fingers hurt after boss fights.
And these are not the most difficult words – here you can break your tongue and fingers, typing and reading all this. So without touch typing skills in Nanotale – Typing Chronicles will have a hard time. Although, on the other hand, the game itself teaches these skills.
I wonder what Alexander Sergeevich has to do with it?
Well, we make the situation easier during the exploration of the world and battles ourselves, when we get levels for new knowledge, victories in battles and completing quests and learn useful perks – they strengthen spells, allow you to deal more damage to certain types of opponents, speed up mana recovery, and so on.
Skills, as you can see, come across from different areas.
You could say that if you liked Epistory – Typing Chronicles , then Nanotale will come. Here is about the same essence – research, battles, pumping, physics puzzles, a quick set of words. Only the story is new, the puzzle mechanics are somewhat different and the picture is more juicy. But you don’t really have to like the previous installment in the series – you just have to love good adventures. Well, and be able to type quickly, of course.
Pros: interesting plot; a world that you want to explore; unusual and addictive gameplay in the spirit of classic adventure RPGs, but with the mechanics of typing words; various locations; many skills and spells; bright picture.
Cons: many tasks are monotonous; optimization problems and long downloads.
