Game: Tales from the Dragon Mountain: The Strix
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam)
Developer | Publisher: Cateia Games | Ocean Media
Age Rating: US T | EU 12+
Price: USD $9.99 | CAD $12.59 | AUS $15.00 | UK £8.99 | EU €9,99
Release Date: July 23 2020
Review code used with many thanks to Ocean Media
Explore by Solving Puzzles
Tales from the Dragon Mountain: The Strix is a unique adventure game that allows the player to progress through the story by finding different items, solving puzzles, and uncovering hidden secrets. It’s a great mix of different gaming types, combining both hidden items with more complex puzzles that you use the hidden items to complete.
Motivated by Daydreams
This game starts out by showing Mina Lockheart daydreaming at her desk about the stories that her grandmother, Kate, used to tell her as a child. These stories focused on the Strix, who was a “dark lord”, and the creatures from the woods that surrounded grandma Kate’s house. On her deathbed, her grandmother gave Mina a medallion that supposedly saved her grandmother’s life several times. The daydreams turn more realistic and Mina imagines seeing her grandmother standing in front of her house telling Mina that she needs to return to the house and do what needs to be done. This daydream plea convinces Mina to pack up with the medallion and get on the first train out to the Pozoj Nest Mountains, where her grandmother’s estate was located.
Mina finds the house in rough condition when she arrives, as it had been abandoned for many years. After some investigating, Mina discovers a creature named Malik who informs her that her grandmother was the protector of the woods; she kept the Strix, who fed on the suffering of the enslaved creatures of the woods, at bay. Mina is now the one who must take over her grandmother’s old job, and work to defeat the Strix and save the creatures in the woods. This is where you come in, as you play as Mina to help these creatures and ultimately face down the Strix in battle.
Multiple Game Modes
You are able to choose from three different game modes: easy, casual, and adventure. Each of these modes provides a different way to play depending on if you want more help throughout the game or if you’d rather figure it out on your own as you go. You can choose to have more hints available through the game, a list of the items you are searching for, and/or a sparkle that shows where you need to go next. If these three modes do not suit you, you can also customize what you want through the settings. I personally chose to play the game in adventure mode.
I was initially worried Tales from the Dragon Mountain: The Strix would fall into one of two puzzle game categories: either way too easy or nearly impossible to figure out. To my surprise, it was just difficult enough to keep me interested without being so difficult that I was discouraged. It also felt like the puzzles became more difficult as the game progressed, which gave me plenty of time to get a feel for the game before jumping straight in. You may want to keep some scrap paper nearby for some of the puzzles!
What This Game Does Right
I absolutely love games that keep me on track without smothering me with constant notifications and alerts. Tales from the Dragon Mountain: The Strix does this quite well. It has a handy task list about what needs to be done that flashes when it updates. You never have to look at it if you do not want to, but it is there if you need a reminder about what you are supposed to be doing.
The different environments that you explore are extremely detailed. I was quite impressed with the amount of time and effort put into the game’s scenes. Nothing looked too unrealistic, despite depicting a fantasy world. In a game that you are going to intently stare at for periods of time, it is important that the scenes are easy on the eyes and this game delivers.
Tales from the Dragon Mountain: The Strix also had more gameplay than I was expecting, which was a nice surprise! I thought I would have the game beaten in maybe two or three hours. I spent a couple of nights fully engrossed in the game and put about ten or eleven hours into it.
The Rough Parts
The one thing I really had a problem with is that the controls are not intuitive at all. Touchscreen capability is available, but those who rather not use the touchscreen will have a much more difficult time playing. Tales from the Dragon Mountain: The Strix does not utilize the left Joy-Con at all; rather, the pointer is moved solely with the right one which was very hard for me to get used to. Selecting things was also difficult because unlike other games, where you select with A button or pressing in a Joy-Con, with this game you can only use the ZR button. This took me way more time to figure out than I care to admit! The controls also make rotating a bit hard as well, as it takes a lot of trial and error to rotate puzzles pieces to get them to fit together. There were a couple of other issues the game had, such as typos and pop-up boxes that covered lines of text, but these do not impact gameplay or the overall story.
An Overall Stress-free Game
Tales from the Dragon Mountain: The Strix is a great puzzle game for those who typically get stressed out by puzzles. The scenery is beautiful and there are plenty of options that can help you get through any puzzle without pulling out your hair. I would recommend this game to anyone that wants to be engrossed in a puzzle game without having to worry about the typical problems that come with them. This is an enjoyable entry into the genre if you want to try it out!
Final Verdict: I Like it.
