Game: A Twisted Tale – Chapter 1
Genre: Adventure, Point & Click
System: Steam (Windows and macOS)
Developers | Publishers: Voodoo Bembel
Controller:Â Yes
Price: US $18.99 | UK £15.89 | EU € 15,99
Release Date:Â March 7th, 2024
A review code was used, with many thanks to Voodoo Bembel.
A Twisted Tale – Chapter 1 is a long-awaited 2024 adventure game developed and released by Voodoo Bembel.
Premise
In A Twisted Tale, we play Vio, a young woman who is taken on a wild journey through a magical and mysterious portal that connects different realms. In the first chapter of her odyssey, we are taken to a crumbling city in the skies, where we meet a cast of quirky characters.
The Gameplay of A Twisted Tale
A Twisted Tale is a classic point-and-click adventure, a quest, as one used to call it. Vio moves around by clicking certain parts on the screen. We pick things for the inventory again by clicking. Usually, the cursor has a miniature hand when there’s an object we can pick up. Clicking the right mouse button takes us to the inventory, where we can take things out or combine things.
All the puzzles in A Twisted Tale require items to be found and made. If you click on everything and talk to everybody, you’ll have everything you need without too much walking around the city. And speaking of it, almost all of the locations are immediately accessible. If something still needs to be opened, walk around and return. Waiting, leaving the scene, and coming back do the trick.
Style
From the start, the developer of A Twisted Tale proclaimed that the game is a homage to the golden era of point-and-click quests. The finished game certainly is that. It’s chockful of Easter eggs and winks to Monkey Island and Broken Sword.
The love for retro gaming and animation can be seen from the opening scene of the game, which features a gorgeous hand-drawn animated journey of a little red leaf throughout a city until it awards us our first look at Vio, the heroine of A Twisted Tale. The only thing that startled me a bit was the animation style for the in-game cut scenes—those somehow did not fit with the overall style of the game.
But that is not to say that A Twisted Tale is just a copy of retro gaming hits. The game has enough heart and wit to stand on its own. It has humor, from how our heroine sees the world to the Steam achievements we win.
I would like to mention that the soundtrack for A Twisted Tale is great, and the game, including all the characters, Vio, and NPCs, is fully voiced in German and English. However, the audio was a bit funky for me; some characters sounded far away, while others were really loud.Â
Some Notes
A Twisted Tale has Steam achievements but no trading cards yet. It also has a short demo to try. The game has some basic audio and display settings. You can also change the font to a more retro-looking one.
Conclusion
A Twisted Tale—Chapter 1 is a fun addition to the adventure genre. The developer has announced plans for six more chapters, each presumably set in a different realm with different characters. I eagerly await Vio’s next adventures.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot. 