Quick Look – Nanotale: Typing Chronicles

Developer: Fishing Cactus
Release Date: March 31, 2021
MSRP: $19.99

Nanotale – Typing Chronicles is not one of my 100 games for the #JustOnePercent project because it was released more than one year ago, although just barely. It’d been on my wish list since before it was released, but I didn’t actually pick it up until it was given away as part of Prime Gaming‘s April 2022 offerings. It’s available to claim until May 2, 2022.

Although it took me a couple tries to really get into it, I loved everything about Epistory -Typing Chronicles. When I first tried it out back in September of 2016, it didn’t quite grab me, but I went back to it in June of the following year, I absolutely devoured it. When Fishing Cactus announced a sequel in Nanotale – Typing Chronicles, I knew I wanted to play it, but a full library and an almost pathological need to get a good deal meant I never actually got around to buying it.

Nanotale is also an absolutely gorgeous game, but in an entirely different way, which – at least for me – was a bit disappointing. It also seems to suffer a bit from sequel-itis – it holds onto the core of what made the first game enjoyable, but then keeps adding more. Obviously, it’s been awhile since I played Epistory, but I don’t remember too many side quests, or a strong emphasis on collectibles. It’s entirely possible that’s not true, and I just recall the things that made it magical for me.

I’m trying hard to look at Nanotale on its own, and not get overly bogged down in comparisons to a game I played quite some time ago, but considering how unique the series is, it’s not always easy to do. When the game is flowing well, it’s a delight to play. When it’s trying to be a bit too clever for its own good, it’s a chore. More than once, I needed to find a walkthrough to figure out what the game wanted me to do; objectives aren’t always clear, and map markers are almost completely useless. I will say I wasn’t particularly inclined to hunt collectibles, and I ignored a hefty amount of side quests.

I put in about five hours before deciding to shelf it. The third major area is by far the most challenging to navigate, and I probably spent at least 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get where I need to go next, as none of the paths available to me seem to lead there, and I found myself getting physically stuck more often and needing to use the Respawn function. While it’s great that that’s an option, the feeling of being waylaid by bugs so often is discouraging.

In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t rush to get my hands on Nanotale – Typing Chronicles, but I’m happy to have had the opportunity to play around with it. I will probably give it another go eventually, and maybe things will click better for me than they did this time around.