Review: LOST WORDS: BEYOND THE PAGE Pulls Players in With Ease
When playing a narrative driven game, lots of things can make or break the overall story experience. Between voice acting, gameplay interaction, pacing and the story in general, there are many things that can go so right or so wrong. Lost Words: Beyond The Page does a fantastic job of telling a wonderfully engaging story while giving players just enough gameplay to make it fully interactive.
As an interactive story, Lost Words does exactly what a narrative focused game should do, make the focus about interesting characters and a plot that feels both relatable and complex. Even though the story itself doesn’t touch on significantly mature themes, it is a great game for all ages. Younger audiences can enjoy the colorful world and relate to the perspective of the main character while adults can see the impact of life events on a family and a child’s emotions. I was impressed with how well the story immediately engaged me and kept things moving quickly. The pacing of the story was also matched with the great interactive gameplay.
Games like Heavy Rain or interactive visual novels usually seem to be simply a walking simulator with various interactions, choices or clue finding and lots of cut-scenes thrown between gameplay. However, Last Words tells the story as players run through the levels, making each moment about interesting platforming and riveting story. Players won’t continue the story unless they move forward, so there is a great balance and synergy between them. At times, I wish that the gameplay was a little more and deep or difficult, but the game as a whole is a wonderful experience with some simple and approachable gameplay for all sorts of players.
This isn’t a game that will challenge any regular gamer, but it stands as one of the best interactive story games that I’ve played because of its constant delivery of the story along while playing. While I do wish the platforming was a bit more difficult and the puzzle solving wasn’t as straightforward sometimes, the gameplay is still engaging enough for even the most veteran of players. Lost Words: Beyond the Page synergizes gameplay and story better than anything I’ve played in a long time and worth it for anyone who wants a simple and strong narrative experience.
