Red Hare Studios has just released for the Playstation 3 a unique platformer called Page Chronica that will have you using your brain to search for words. The story starts off with a librarian named Topez who happens to be bored. She opens a forbidden book which fees an evil spirit known as The Big Bad. And so the game begins as you guide Topez to chase down him down from one book to the next in hopes that you prevent him from getting into further trouble that he already brought to the world.
Page Chronica is populated with elements of nicely-designed characters against a colorful backdrop. Although you shouldn’t be expecting any blasting effects, it’s still a decent presentation nonetheless. You’ll see letters that show up throughout the screen, but it’s faded enough that they don’t obstruct your view. The animation is well executed with all the cute characters running about. And the frame rate seems to run at a consistent pace.
The sound department also has quite a bit to offer. Along with the light-hearted music, you’ll hear the cute little chimes and jumping sound effects which helps to maintain the adorable and friendly feel behind Page Chronica.
As you guide Topez throughout her journey, you’ll be helping her perform attacks and other magical abilities including healing. This is accomplished by taking the floating letters on screen and forming words. If you make use of the glowing letters onto the words you form, you’ll be rewarded during the game with special perks. Additionally, if you have a longer word, your attacks will be more powerful and plentiful in variety.
Where the task of forming words becomes challenging is when you consider the time limit. Inn normal stages, you’re given ten minutes to complete and that’s fine. If the time runs out, you’ll just simply be taken back to the last check point. So you better not be spending too much time thinking up words.
So moving forward in the game, you’ll be avoiding projectiles, killing monsters, and avoiding death traps while using the power of words. Furthermore, Page Chronica is packed with quite a bit of content considering you have a number of challenges to unlock. And at the end of the level, you’ll be graded according to how you perform.
The controls in Page Chronica straight forward and easy to get used to, which is important for maintaining a worthwhile experience. Choosing the letters is as simple as moving your cursor around. The game does slow down so that you’re given time to get to the needed letters. Otherwise, you have to worry about enemies coming at you while you’re making words.
Page Chronica can get frustrating with its significant increase in difficulty when you encounter bosses. During this situation, you’ll find yourself panicking to create words while dodging attacks that the boss throws at you. On top of that, you’ll need to land an attack yourself! So you’ve got quite a bit of multitasking going on here. For those who aren’t patient enough, this can lead to very discouraging sessions.
A nice additional feature included in Page Chronica is the local co-op mode. Specifically, you can get another friend to join in and play as a little sheep. Here, you will never get harmed but you still provide a defensive cushion whenever monsters are coming to attack Topez.
There are some very good ideas incorporated into Page Chronica. As well, the whole visual and audio aspect has been implemented quite effectively. There are some potential drawbacks though. The game does seem a bit too cute and wordy for certain gamers’ tastes. In addition, some of the boss battles can be very unforgiving. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a different spice in your Playstation 3 library, give this one a try.
