The Book of Unwritten Tales: The Critter Chronicles

Not as good as the magnificent parts 1 and 2 of the series, but very nice nonetheless. Interestingly, it plays perfectly in 4k.

The game has the same graphics as the original first title, but it has more puzzles than the original. Sometimes it’s a bit annoying that you can’t solve things straight away, but well… it’s an old‑school adventure game, so I guess that’s how it’s supposed to be. With the bottle in Chapter 4 I was running around for almost two days until I finally understood that I just needed to look at it again. I thought I had already examined it enough — apparently not — and now I finally have the vinegar.

Out of the three games I think this game is the hardest one. For me especially the part in [spoiler] the arch mage's tower [/spoiler] brought my last two braincells to their limit. Very fun game though like the other two.

So there I was, freezing my pixels off in the northern lands for the umpteenth time, watching Nate Bonnett and his insufferably rhyming buddy Critter walk across the same three screens I’d already visited a hundred times before, and I thought: you know what? This is actually a better game than the first The Book of Unwritten Tales. Shocking, I know. The original was so busy trying to be an epic fantasy saga that it scattered itself across a gorgeous map you barely got to explore, whereas The Critter Chronicles—a prequel-slash-spin-off made mostly from recycled assets—has the decency to admit it’s a small, cozy, slightly janky adventure about two idiots and their oddly compelling friendship. Yes, the whole thing takes place on a boat, in the Archmage’s house, and on that one snowy patch of land you’ll grow to hate. Yes, the animations are about as fluid as frozen molasses. Yes, there’s a bug in chapter two so annoying that finding a workaround felt like solving a moon logic puzzle the developers abandoned—and no, they’re not going to patch it, because why would they? And oh, Critter’s rhymes: cute for the first three minutes, then it grows old, meaning you’ll want to mute him by the…

The second part was again a lovely experience. The gameplay feels just as charming, and the characters are still absolutely adorable — it’s hard not to enjoy spending time with them. I did run into the same issue as before: sometimes I skipped through conversations and then realized I had missed important information about what I was supposed to do next. That meant going back through the dialogues again to figure it out. A clearer quest overview would definitely make things smoother for players like me who tend to click a bit too fast. I’m playing in normal mode because for me it’s a relaxing game. Even there, I had to think a bit more on two occasions — but in a good way. It added a small challenge without ever becoming frustrating or taking away from the fun. Overall, it keeps the same cosy, humorous atmosphere and remains an enjoyable adventure.

[h1] Decent Prequel [/h1] In this game we follow Nate and his story before the first game, focusing on how he met the critter and how he went from a mercenary to an anti hero. It is a shorter game compared to the first and the story is ok, nothing that impressive. The gameplay, graphics, music, is all the same as in the first game, so don't expect a lot of new impressive mechanics. It is a good game if you want to get a little more lore about the first game, but it's not essential, buy only if it's on a good sale (75% +). Solid 7/10.