Epistory: Typing Chronicles is yet another unique indie title that we checked out at PAX South 2016. It has the distinction of being the only typing-based game I've played in the last... ten years or so. What makes it so special? Let's go into detail in my Epistory: Typing Chronicles preview!
agent86 and his couch co-op partner took Episory for a go, check it out on YouTube!
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIDuC440_Wg"
Epistory is all about a mysterious young girl who rides a mysterious three-tailed fox. She's returning from an adventure (spoiler alert: it's mysterious) and comes home to find mysterious bug-things overrunning her homeland. Oh no! Her only weapon against the forces of darkness is rapid typing.
Every interaction in Epistory is a typing challenge. While exploring, you can hit the space bar to switch modes, and then words appear above objects of interest. A log blocking your path might need you to type "wood" to clear it, while you might have to type "loot" to open a treasure chest.
Combat works the same way - a series of words appears over each enemy, and you've got to type them as fast as you can in order to dispatch the enemy before it touches you. At times, you'll encounter "nests" of enemies that will attempt to overwhelm you. It takes a steady hand and careful planning to overcome these word-monsters.
The exploration and adventure elements in Epistory remind me a bit of games like The Legend of Zelda. In the Early Access version of the game, there's currently a "fire temple" and an "ice temple" of sorts. Each has puzzles to solve, and a unique ability. The fire temple gives you the ability to burn objects and enemies, where the ice temple gives you the ability to freeze standing water and stop enemies in their tracks. You switch between these two abilities by - you guessed it - typing the word "fire" or "ice."
Epistory has some great, origami styled art. The world literally unfolds around you, taking shape from blank pages to reveal pop-up trees, grass, and even floating islands. The story is told via stylized text that appears printed directly on the world. Some of the story is told from the point of an omniscient narrator, while some seems to be told from the point of view of the girl riding the fox.
The Early Access version of the game currently has 3 dungeons total, with a pretty big overworld area connecting them. It took me roughly two hours to get from the start to as far as the Early Access version will let me go at this time.