A Twisted Tale

Disclaimer: I am going to be brutally honest here. First off, this is a truly remarkable feat for a solo developer. In fact, any young developer with a passion for point & click adventure games should be applauded for making more of those good old games, in my opinion. For that reason, I also supported the Kickstarter campaign. There are lots of nice things to say about the game, such as the good voice acting (in two languages no less), charming graphics, pleasant music and sfx, serviceable animations. However - and I cannot make this point clear enough - these things DO NOT MATTER in a point & click adventure game! Who said "yeah Monkey Island is good and all, I just wish that there were more special case animations." or "Indy is a great game, I just wish there were better sound effects"? Nobody, that's who. Adventure games are about story, and puzzles. Everything else is secondary. Not entirely without merit, but secondary. That's why it is such a shame to see so much time and energy wasted on these things. And that's even more true in solo dev productions, where resources are particularly sparse and need to be managed even better. Granted, this also happens with big productions. Best example of this is Tim Schafer's Broken Age, which spend an extraordinary amount of resources on shiny coating (to a great success, admittedly), and needed to cut substantial parts of the game, story and puzzle-wise to prevent running even further out of time & budget. To be clear: I don't MIND having good graphics, voice acting, animations, sounds and music in an adventure game. Quite the contrary. However, what I do mind is if they seem to take precedence over the more important aspects: The story and the puzzles. Which brings me to the problems with this game. First and foremost there is the STORY. This is really what an adventure is all about, what should give meaning to all the puzzles. Yet, there is practically no story in the first chapter. Granted, this is, so far, just the first chapter. But that makes it EVEN MORE important to kick things off with a compelling narrative that draws the player in and makes them look forward to the next chapters. Here on the other hand, the main character, which you have literally no connection with and no knowledge of, is sucked into a some sort of parallel dimension and needs to get back. In between, nothing exciting happens; no interesting characters, no challenges, no conflict, nothing. It's not even made very clear what your goal is. It is implied that you want to get back home, but never really stated (at least not with any sense of importance or urgency). Which brings me my last, and most crucial point: The PUZZLES. The puzzles in this game are some of the worst I have ever seen in an adventure game. With most puzzles, you end up reaching the solution without actually knowing why you do it or what the problem is you're trying to solve. Look at this part of a puzzle chain: [spoiler] You need to acquire a turkey, give it to hungry construction workers so you can nick their shovel, dig a hole in the forest to reveal worms, take those to the fisherman so he can catch something, so his wife leaves the house to congratulate him, so you can take some glue off her table, that you use to repair a bottle, which you use to mix a drink in, poison that drink with detergent, to make an elderly woman die (she fortunately turns out to just be sleeping), so you can cut off a piece of her hair, to make a paintbrush, to paint a symbol onto a plant.[/spoiler] Not kidding. It is completely bonkers. Literally none of the players doing all of this know why they are doing any of that. 90% of the time they run around and do things just because you CAN do them, not because they know WHY they would want to do them. That is NOT how you design puzzles. This is not how good adventure games work. This is basically everything that's wrong with bad adventure games. Just writing this down makes me realize just how bad the puzzle design actually is. I'm really sorry, but there is just no way to sugar coat this. Back in 1989 Ron Gilbert wrote a really good and influential article called "Why Adventure Games Suck" (https://grumpygamer.com/why_adventure_games_suck). More than 30 years later, "A twisted tale" ticks almost all boxes of what NOT to do in an adventure game. I'm still hopeful that the first chapter of the game is more of an extended tech demo, where the developer was learning how to make a game. With that out of the way, maybe the next chapters will have a stronger focus on the actually gameplay (i.e., puzzles and stories).

Embarking on "A Twisted Tale" was meant to be an adventure into the unknown, but what I discovered was more perplexing than anticipated. The game's store page promised a full cartoon point-and-click experience, but upon launch, I was greeted with a surprise - "A Twisted Tale: Chapter One." Initially unaware that this was just the opening chapter, I delved into the game with high hopes, only to find myself questioning the praise on the forums. Backers lauded the developer's ambitious plan for a seven-chapter saga, comparing it to the likes of Star Wars and Dune (really, I'm not kidding). However, what I experienced felt more like a prologue than a grand epic. The protagonist, a character I knew little about, lacked the depth and development needed to form a connection. The supporting cast fared no better, serving as mere puzzle pieces in a narrative that felt rushed and disjointed. Graphically, the game had its moments of charm, with a style that was visually appealing. Yet, the lack of animations and the choppy frame rate detracted from the overall experience, leaving me feeling disconnected from the world. Puzzles were plentiful, but they often felt forced and repetitive, as if the developer was trying to cram too much into a limited space. This, coupled with numerous bugs and glitches, left me feeling frustrated and unfulfilled. At $17, "A Twisted Tale: Chapter One" is a steep price to pay for what is basically a lengthier demo. This game, at the stage it currently is, belongs on Steam Early Access, and while the promise of future chapters might be enticing, it's hard to justify the price when each episode seems to have a standalone cost. In conclusion, "A Twisted Tale: Chapter One" shows potential but falls short of expectations. Here's hoping that future chapters address these issues, delivering on the promise of a truly twisted tale worth experiencing.

Graphic adventure game, 2D, full of color, hand-drawn, humor. It is the first chapter of a series of 7 episodes. The protagonist is a girl named VIO who works in a bar, one day by chance she finds a strange cube, and discovers that this object can open a portal to travel to unusual places. But Alas she is dragged into this portal and ends up in a bizarre village built on suspended islands. While her only hope to return home ends up in the hands of an antiques, Vio gets to know its bizarre inhabitants and tries to help everyone. The village is nice but sometimes it is dangerous, there is a risk of falling into the abyss, will she be able to open the portal and return home? Classic short adventure "point and click" where there are no puzzles, but we have to collect objects sometimes join them and use them in the right way. The graphics are cartoons hand-drawn in the old way with paper, pencil and ink, and an animation made on each frame. The dubbing is well done, the various characters speak with the right emphasis making the inhabitants more alive and nice. The saves are free, we can save when we want and reload if we decide to make different choices. There is the possibility in the Options to choose the Retro style, but it is only about the dialogues. The story is nice sometimes gives comic moments, a little short in 4 hours it ends, let's hope in the next episodes..... [quote]For more puzzle game reviews, news and everything puzzle-related, follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/25928931-Puzzle-Lovers/]Puzzle Lovers[/url] and check out our [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/puzzlelovers]Steam group[/url].[/quote]

Alright, so this game is like, totally a blast from the past. You know those old point-and-click adventures that sucked you in for hours? Yeah, this one's like that, but with a modern twist. The graphics are super retro, and the music is straight out of an old arcade. It’s like the devs were really trying to give us those warm, fuzzy feelings. The story is kinda goofy and the characters are hilarious. You’ll definitely laugh out loud at some of the stuff that goes down. Puzzles are a mix of easy-peasy and brain-teasers, so it's not all just clicking around aimlessly. But here’s the thing: some puzzles felt like they were trying too hard to be tricky. Like, really, do I have to combine *that* with *that*? It got a bit frustrating at times. Also, the game is a bit short. I wanted more! Overall, it's a fun little game that'll take you on a nostalgic trip. If you’re into retro gaming or just need a good laugh, check it out. Just don’t expect it to blow your mind. Rating: 7/10 Good for a laugh and a quick trip down memory lane.

The first thing that I noticed upon becoming aware of [i]A Twisted Tale[/i] was the cute looking MC with a darker skin tone, which promptly elicited a cheer in recognition of a developer willing to acknowledge that not every game character needs to be white! This put me in an immediate positive mindset about playing it (and if you're curious after reading this opening line: yes, I'm white 😆) The game opens with an option to select between German or English, a good start and correctly positioned before anything else so you're not subjected to screens in a foreign language before being offered a chance to do anything about it. My only question here, and it's a tiny one in context, is “Should [i]German[/i] actually be 'German' in German?” And if not.. then shouldn't it say “Deutsch”? On to more important matters, and the game itself. ATT is an old-style point & click game presented in a way to appeal to that generation of gamers who remember the originals from the 1980s/90s, featuring bold and colourful graphics with detail restrained enough to look retro and prevent any difficulties in assessing where to click to get a response. The game starts with an animated cutscene which follows a leaf blowing into the cafe where the MC (presumably) works. At the end of her day, she picks up a multicoloured cube just as the leaf blows in, and a portal opens. She follows the leaf towards the portal and... we're away. New world to explore. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3467328227 Gameplay is typically what you would expect, initially click on anything and everything and see what gets a reaction. If you get a hit, Vio, our MC, will make a descriptive comment upon any item you've found. Some of these items can be taken, and this leads me to a gameplay clarity issue that I'd like to raise: there is NO MENTION in-game nor menu of how to access your inventory. I expect that to regular and very experienced P&C gamers, it's stark-staringly obvious – but not [b]every[/b] player of the game will be [i]that[/i] familiar. Mostly due to time constraints, I don't get to play a P&C very often, and admit that I had to Google search to find out how to do this. The answer is to right-click, and a board showing your collected items will appear. From there you can either left-or-right click to manipulate or examine the item; and moving the cursor outside of the board removes it so that you can interact the item with the current scene. It may be second nature to randomly try a right click when using a mouse, but when using a trackpad on a laptop, it isn't. The user experience would benefit by having even simple little control methods like this mentioned in-game. There are several characters to meet and every one of them is fully voiced. Initially the voice for Vio, didn't sound as I imagined she would, but I quickly adapted and was then able to appreciate that her voice actress, along with every other one I came across, did a really great job; making the population of the game believable. Obviously, the biggest aspect of a P&C adventure is the puzzles. Some of them in ATT are quite good, forcing you to engage with characters who are entertaining in their own right, and with the explorable world limited to something like 8 different locations (some of these scroll along to incorporate more than one stopping point), you never have to backtrack too far to find the next step you're looking for, which is a clear positive. However, there are also some for which the logic is “so far out there”, that in comparison, you could reasonably redefine “obscure” to mean “with perfect clarity”. It's possible that the most laterally-minded, uber-experienced player would be able to resolve these without enduring window-smashing level frustration, but for the rest of us, there would be a grave risk of getting annoyed and giving up on the game before completion. There [i]would be[/i]. Had I played this game closer to first release date, this review may not have been written due to incompletion of experience. However, some kind soul has published a guide on Steam, and after playing an hour or so just following my nose, I knew that I'd have to reference it if I really wanted to make progress. If you're interested in trying this game, bear this in mind. There are puzzles within which are so enigmatic, that many players are [b]never[/b] going to figure them out without external assistance. I refer, in particular, to those involving a certain still-life. Pushing this aspect aside for a moment, I did find the experience for most of my time to be a fun and entertaining one. I particularly enjoyed exchanges with an opera singer and a highly strung antique shop owner with whom there are several humorous discussions to be had. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3467328849 There has been some controversy in the game's forum about the clarity with which it is declared that this is only the first instalment of an intended seven part series. If you're considering this one, do bear in mind that it is not the full story, HOWEVER, you could very easily play through this as a standalone game and not feel that you'd been left hanging at the end of it. If you bought it as a single gaming experience, it would function adequately as exactly that. Price wise, this does appear to be within the typical range of the genre, perhaps leaning towards the higher side of the average, so you'd need to judge whether the suggested typical playing time, measured against that of its competitors, works for you. My time with the game will be less than average due to leaning on the guide for progress in order to be able to compile a fair review, and for that reason, should not be seen as typical. In conclusion, especially as the product of a single dev, A Twisted Tale is a remarkable achievement which offers a combination of fun, amusement, and frustration in unequal doses; fully voiced in two languages, with suitable and positive musical accompaniment. The English translation is nailed-on perfect, and despite being only a 'part one', it does work as a full game in and of itself. Otome Lovers wishes to thank [i]Voodoo Bembel[/i] for providing a free review copy for this game. [quote]Please follow our curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/4680120/]Otome Lovers[/url], if you'd like to see more reviews like this one! [/quote]

Sehr nettes klassisches Adventure. Hat mich positiv überrascht. Das Intro mit der schönen Melodie, brachte mich beinahe zurück nach Paris (im Herbst)😉 Gewohnte Rätsel, witzige Dialoge und Charaktere. Nette Erinnerungen zu anderen Spielen. Point & Click Adventure sind leider Mangelware, deswegen verdienen solche Projekte Unterstützung.

Kurz und knapp: Ja, holt euch das, wenn ihr Lust habt auf einen Retro Point & Click Adventure... mega toll, macht Spass

The story of this fun yet short solo-developer adventure game may take a long time to tell, as this is only the first of seven chapters. The tale revolves around Vio, who is not presented to the player at all. The intro only shows someone working in an empty café and being pulled through a portal after solving a strange Rubik's cube. The main character accepts her fate immediately and does not seem disturbed. I believe the intro café scene should be a brief playable tutorial that introduces the character, her personality, and the main concept connected to portals. The interface is modern and does its function. As with many adventure games, you use the mouse to navigate the screen, look for hotspots, and interact with them using the left mouse button. There is no need to choose the right actions because the game handles it for you. However, you must click on a hotspot at least twice since the first click examines, while the second picks it up, uses, or examines again. Scenes contain a large number of hotspots, including little ones that may appear insignificant in the background but nonetheless provide interactivity. The magical button that displays all hotspots is not available, which is a good thing because the appeal of classic adventure games stemmed on discovering something you might have missed the first time. Items are stored in the inventory, which can be accessed by clicking the right mouse button. You can examine, combine, or select them to interact with other hotspots. Because an item does not disappear when you try to use it, you may quickly try it on each hotspot without wasting time. The game has both voices and subtitles. The settings have only a few font options and audio controls. Given the genre, extra options are not really necessary. The voices are excellent and do not sound amateurish, although the volume is a little uneven; the cacti lady at the start is hardly audible compared to the typical protagonist voice. Conversational topics disappear, allowing you to know exactly when someone has something new to say; yet, if you do not listen to it the first time, you may miss out on information about the world and characters. Responses to several questions throughout the game are linked to some achievements that are unattainable because you can only select one choice. Fortunately, you can save and load to collect them all in a single session. By the way, the game contains numerous optional achievements that encourage experimentation. In the end, this is only the first of seven planned chapters. It merely takes you through a few parts of the city and can be finished in a few hours. Although the majority of the game, including art, story, and riddles, was created by a single person, the chapter business model doesn’t always work. First, there is the issue of additional chapters. They will be DLCs, but no pricing information is available. Given the high price of the first chapter for an indie adventure game, paying even half of it for each of the seven DLCs will make the game comparable to a major studio game. The second issue is the speed of release. As far as I know, the Kickstarter campaign was a huge success, so the funds are already there. And, judging by the development images for Chapter 2, the art has substantially improved. However, it all still depends on one person. So, if sales are low, there may be a loss of motivation and, in the worst-case scenario, the project may be abandoned. It would not be the first or last.

This is a fun little point and click adventure game created by a single person in Germany. This is merely the first of seven planned chapters, but I look forward to playing through each and every one of them as the series continues. There isn't much of a core storyline. The main character plays with a Rubik's Cube of sorts and gets shunted through a mysterious portal into a surreal little world full of odd people and places. She then has to navigate her way to re-opening the portal. It doesn't sound like much, but there are a host of interesting characters with a lot of dialogue along the way, and that makes up for it. The music is nice, the game is well voice acted, and it's always a treat to support a game created by a single individual like this. You can tell it is a labor of love and I hope more people find this under the radar gem.

i really enjoyed this game. Cant wait for the rest of the chapters.