''Tales'' is a point-and-click

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

developed by Ape Marina and published by Screen7. The game was released DRM-free on

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizat ...

, Humble Bundle and GOG for Microsoft Windows and

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...

on November 14, 2016. Since its release, it has been met with mostly positive reviews. Reviewers praised the story, puzzles, voice-acting, and humor, noting it's great to play something suitable for the whole family.

Overview

''Tales'' is a 2D point-and-click

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

adventure video game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-base ...

in which stages are based on myths, legends, and fairy-tale books. Each stage takes place within a different book. The player can move from one book to another in a non-linear way. The goal is to progress the main quest by solving puzzles, riddles, and mini-games in each of the specific books. Central to ''Tales'' is the magic bell item. This is a magical item that allows you to travel from book to book and is available in all stories. When the player travels into a new book, he leaves behind everything he had in the library and builds a new inventory unique to that tale. The player can return to earlier books and replay them, possibly progressing the main quest. The game is suitable for kids & adults, containing no overly explicit adult themes and playable in 6 different languages, English, Italian, Russian, French, German and Spanish.

Plot

Story

When mysterious darkness is released from a forbidden book inside the library that he has inherited in unknown circumstances, a young man named Alfred Walsh must venture into the stories that have become affected by its power, assisted by none other than the sorcerer Merlin from the legends of King Arthur. Developed by Ape Marina, a small development team inspired by the works of Sierra and Lucasarts, Tales is a point and click adventure that gives us a whole new way to experience some of the world's most treasured literature. Along with the many heroes that inhabit the books affected by the malevolent magic, Alfred must rely on his wits and puzzle-solving abilities to ensure that the darkness is vanquished, and the stories reach their intended endings.

Characters

''Alfred Walsh'', a young librarian, is the main

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of the story. He is voiced by British comedian and creator of

Nelly Cootalot ''Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy!'' is a point-and-click adventure game by British developer Alasdair Beckett. It was created as an indie game using the Adventure Game Studio game engine and released for free on the Internet on March 6, 2007. The ...

, Alasdair Beckett-King. All the other characters are based on

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

s like Merlin the Wizard, King Arthur and others from classic stories from

Mesopotamian Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

Norse Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nor ...

and

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of ...

. *

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

: The wizard from the legend of King Arthur acts as your guide to the literary worlds. Merlin is voiced by actor Dave Lanzafame. * Urshanabi: The ferryman of the dead is voiced by actor Vincent van Ommen and is part of the

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins wit ...

, in which he is a companion of

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. His equivalent in Greek mythology is

Charon In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (; grc, Χάρων) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of Hades, the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the wo ...

. * Loki: Is known as a trickster god. His origins are based in

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern peri ...

, in which he sometimes assists the gods and sometimes behaves maliciously towards them. Loki is voiced by Klemens Koehring. *

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing ...

: Thor is the hammer-wielding

god In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

associated with

thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...

, and storms. He's the protector of mankind. Thor is voiced by Jesse Lowther. Other notable characters in the game are

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

, Ninsun,

Enkidu Enkidu ( sux, ''EN.KI.DU10'') was a legendary figure in Mesopotamian mythology, ancient Mesopotamian mythology, wartime comrade and friend of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. Their exploits were composed in Sumerian language, Sumerian poems and in t ...

, and

Bellerophon Bellerophon (; Ancient Greek: Βελλεροφῶν) or Bellerophontes (), born as Hipponous, was a hero of Greek mythology. He was "the greatest hero and slayer of monsters, alongside Cadmus and Perseus, before the days of Heracles", and his ...

Development

''Tales'' was developed by Ape Marina, a small development team inspired by the works of

Sierra Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...

and

Lucasarts Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game licensor that is part of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as a video game development group alongside his film company; as part of a large ...

. The project was led by creators Andrea Ferrara and Giovanni Ottomano. Mark Lovegrove functioned as executive producer. An early version of the game was awarded an AGS Award for ''Best Demo'' in 2014. On November 4, 2016, the official launch trailer was released on YouTube. November 14, 2016, release date was announced in early October 2016.

Soundtrack

The ''Tales – Original Videogame Soundtrack'' is created by musician Luigi Di Guida. Each tale within the game has its specific musical influence, from the

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

. The soundtrack contains 23 tracks with 50 minutes of original music and is available in MP3 format. A copy of the OST is included with each version of the game.

Reception

''Tales'' received mostly positive reviews from critics, with praise given to its humorous depiction of classic stories, its use of puzzles and its non-linear gameplay. Aggregating review website

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

rated the videogame at 80%. In 2017 the game was nominated for 7 AGS Awards, including ''Best Game Created with AGS'', ''Best Gameplay'', ''Best Puzzles,'' and ''Best Voice Acting''. AdventureGamers awarded it 4 out of 5, specifically praising the graphics and artwork, saying "Every pixel has been crafted with care, making for lush, detailed backgrounds and nicely animated characters". The review also praises the fun gameplay with the dialogue puzzles, minigames, and riddles, while noting the handling of the inventory can be quite frustrating at times. Despite small technical issues AdventureGamers recommends''Tales'', saying: "If you like myths and literature, meaty puzzles, or even just playing with Thor's hammer and Jack's beanstalk, this game comes heartily recommended". FutureSack praised about the story-line and humor of ''Tales'', writing: "There are plenty of jokes for all ages to enjoy" and "It's great to see something suitable for the whole family".Tales Review by Futuresack.com
futuresack.com ITC scored the game 4 out of 5 stars, praising the mythological basis of the plot, non-linear gameplay, and voice-acting, saying "Tales is a recommendation to all fans of classic adventure games". Testiversum scored the game 8.1/10, the reviewer wrote "Tales is a clear recommendation for all point-and-click friends. An interesting story, exciting gameplay, and challenging puzzles hide behind a slightly too typical sounding title", noting the technical aspects of the picture are slightly blocky and the resolution quite low.

References

External links

Official website
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''Tales'' on IMDbRead more on Steam
2016 video games Windows games Linux games Single-player video games Indie video games Adventure games Point-and-click adventure games AGS Award winners Adventure Game Studio games Video games developed in Italy