In this review we are going to talk about Book of Travels, TMORPG based only on our personality and dedication to travel.
The current world is dominated by sociality: by now the major social platforms have merged and remixed, incorporating with them the whole society, which orbits around them to take care of most aspects of people’s lives. Video games have also expanded more and more towards a use strongly marked by socialization and sharing of videogame experiences with friends and strangers. This is done through cooperative and multiplayer modes, with titles that have ever larger game servers, reaching unimaginable figures just a few years ago.
This prevailing presence of MMO titles, often with extremely traits common to each other, that differ just as regards the videogame genre they belong to, makes you feel the lack of something new, which can somehow get you out of this loop of suffocating frenzy, often at the min-max of levels, equipment farming, obsession with statistics. We are not talking about wanting a singleplayer adventure, as the market is saturated with them too.
We are talking about an experience that reveals a feeling of sharing the world, without damaging it too much with an excessive, if not harmful, presence of others. Hence, the idea of Might and Delight in developing Book of Travels, a work that they define as TMORPG – Tiny Multiplayer Online RPG -, has won our interest, leading us to play the Early Access on Steam, in order to create a first review.
Men of the world
From the start of the game, it is immediately made clear that this is not a conventional RPG or MMORPG. Moreover, it is not even referable as a hybrid: Book of Travels is a work that points to exploration of the game world, leaving their own in the hands of the player narrative choices and possibilities, in every possible aspect, making the gaming experience totally personal, and therefore more complex to define objectively in a review. This is because it will be up to us to decide our origin, our nature, the directions and objectives to take.
The quests they will not be automatically recorded in some diary, so we will be able to determine ourselves whether or not to feel interest in the pursue the various rumors and rumors, wandering carried by the winds through the vast areas of Braided Shore, the first playable region of the five planned. The roleplay is the key to everything: even those who have never carried out this type of activity within a video game, will find themselves involuntarily involved in the world, thinking in a similar way to their character, resonating with it and living the most disparate situations almost as if he had entered into symbiosis.
The lore, and consequently also what should be the “story” of Book of Travels, is exposed through numerous fragments of dialogue and information scattered around the game world, thus giving the feeling of truly traveling within a world yet to be explored slowly, thus learning its customs, habits, society and economy.
A New Life – Book of Travels Review
Our Book of Travels review will start from the very beginning, from when the game starts building birth of your character, indicated as a traveler. The birth derives totally from the concept that we would like to formulate to begin with: we will have nothing to do with complex statistical and mathematical numbers. The options will be exclusively focused on the vein of the roleplay, therefore on our capacity of imagination towards what, through our origins, could affect the gameplay.
Twelve “Forms” are introduced, for example “the Joker” or “the Veiled”, in which the character predisposition and the physique it will assume. In this last aspect, it will not be possible to modify it in the traditional way of the RPG, at least for now in the Early Acess version. Or rather, the only selectable option will concern eye color, which will determine the lifestyle we will dedicate ourselves to.
The choice of your own will then follow background, which will shape us and our own future. We will be able to observe thirteen different origins, such as Isolano, Slave, Noble, Poor, Religious and so on, one of which will be the one we are going to get. The ability for the player to further develop their past has also been added to the game, allowing them to write in his own hand the description of the character within the game.
Unprecedented Statistics – Book of Travels Review
The personality you are going to use is defined as crucial for your own esperienza role-play, and the traits will affect a wide variety of situations. Positive ones will benefit some aspects of their travels and often, if used intelligently, can bring an advantage. Negative traits, on the other hand, will sometimes give you disadvantages, even leading to impediments along your path. In the version currently played, most of the effects given by traits have not yet been implemented. Traits available include Fear of Death, Loneliness, Grumpy, Picky, Fussy, Insensitive.
We then move on to the Skills, which can be found, purchased or learned from the characters encountered in travels. Among the five categories of Skills that we will have, two will be those that will catch the eye: the first is that of the Nodes. In the world of Braided Shore, the practice of tie Magic Knots: the gesture and the final form of the Node, together with the “reactants” linked in it, give power to the Node. This releases effects when unlinked, and is also used as writing method by the local population. There is also a Skill inherent in Has: its preparation is one of the most important aspects for survival, and is connected to the mystical arts.
These Skills will then contain others mini-skill depending on the type of Node or Tea that will be created, but we are not going to list them precisely in the review, since they are too many and in any case can already be viewed in the Book of Travels. Finally, there will be only one point to be included among the four available Talents, which we will use to overcome difficult undertakings. This feature will be what will drive us to consult with nearby travelers, since we will often find ourselves with the need to have a partner to help us carry out some actions, in case we have not had the opportunity to increase our Talents.
Surviving with the Bassoon – Book of Travels Review
The journey will begin with a few things in your bag, with clothing and equipment. There is no specific currency or currency in the world, so it will be necessary to master the skill of bartering. You will not be able to carry an unlimited amount of items, and you will need to rent storage space at train stations. in addition to the Talents and Skills, the traveler will also have four Cardinal “statistics”, and with a die he can decide what to own at the start of the game. After the numerous random launches, we will finally proceed to decide where we will start, with sentences which will indicate the place where our story will begin.
On the way we will consume some stamina, refillable by eating, drinking tea, resting. Exhausted all the energy (it happens very quickly when running), our traveler will lose consciousness, and one of the three Petals Life that we will have. These Petals are necessary to “be reborn” in the event we die in the course of the adventure. Exhausted the petals, we will die definitively, becoming ghosts able to wander around the game, without being able to do much else. Probably after our review too ghostly look will be expanded, but until then you will need to create a new character to return to playing Book of Travels.
The pacifism of the traveler – Book of Travels Review
By entering the review phase dedicated to gameplay, combat is not a fundamental part of Book of Travels, and we will be able to pass entire games to avoid conflict, if that’s what we want. However, a mechanic has been implemented in this regard: battles can take place in many areas of the map, the less frequented ones, and during the night. We may be robbed, and forced to give away our items within a time limit before being attacked. But we must not despair: we will still keep our peaceful aura fleeing from combat with the appropriate Skill.
The Skills that we will obtain will almost always be required to perform some task that we will discover during our journey, and will allow us to interact with the game world in various ways, as well as giving some advantage to the traveler. They will be obtainable from the numerous types of NPCs that can be found within the map, arranged at teach or exchange them for a certain price. However, these characters will not always be available, but will be relegated to a certain day and time (based on the server time) and place, thus prompting constant exploration.
Trading in Book of Travels will be the quickest way to get survival skills and items. Becoming masters inthe art of bargaining will be another key aspect, and having gods special traits or talents will help for sure along the way. The barter system is based on the exchange of objects based on value, which is “weighed” on a scale. To get a good deal, the marked weight will have to be pretty fair between the parties, and therefore to receive a certain object we will have to offer one or more that reach the same value as what we want.
The intangible side of travel – Book of Travels Review
The style of Book of Travels might initially suggest a side scrolling game, but once the game starts it will definitely feel 3D depth of the view, in which we will be able to move simply clicking on a point with the left button to walk, or the right to run. Accompanying us will be radiant sounds and music, conniving to the relaxing and welcoming landscape in watercolor style, which quite traces the traits of the artistic works of J. Casson, and which will then end up being completely covered by the darkness of the nocturnal darkness.
Sounds define any action, distinguishing themselves at each juncture according to what we are touching with our steps, up to the very sound that is emitted by the eternal vitality of nature, like the rain that signals its presence to the foliage and roofs . Even if there is an absence of signals that direct missions, some points of interest still stand out on the map, being shown through delightful drawings. In addition, the game menus are fully customizable and shrunk to the limit. Sure, it would have been useful zoom in slightly the writings in the …