Nanotale: Typing Chronicles
- March 31, 2021
- Fishing Cactus
- 4h median play time
If you’re looking to improve your typing and can forgive some minor grievances, Nanotale wraps up your keyboard in a light, but often engaging RPG.
"Nanotale: Typing Chronicles" is a single-player Role Playing game with an intriguing story and fabulous gameplay, set in a vibrant world with wonderful visuals and a beautiful soundtrack. As a novice Archivist named Rosalind, you explore a distant world, gather knowledge, and use magic to defeat enemies and make the environment resonate with your creativity. However, be aware that the game may have bugs that can affect your experience.
Reviews
- Beautiful graphics and art style that enhances the immersive experience.
- Engaging typing mechanics that combine spell casting with exploration and puzzle-solving.
- The game offers a unique story and lore that expands on the world established in Epistory.
- Numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, including getting stuck in the environment.
- The story can feel rushed and lacks the depth and engagement found in Epistory.
- Navigation can be confusing due to a lack of clear quest markers and an ineffective map system.
- story529 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The story in "Nanotale" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it less engaging and compelling compared to its predecessor, "Epistory." While some appreciate the deeper narrative and expanded quests, others criticize it for being predictable, lacking emotional depth, and feeling unfinished, often leading to confusion during gameplay. Overall, while "Nanotale" offers a visually appealing world and interesting mechanics, its story does not resonate as strongly with players, making it a less memorable experience than "Epistory."
“The story is engaging and the initial tutorial stage lets you learn quickly without too much info-dumping.”
“The art style is really beautiful and especially the environments look great, the story is very interesting as well.”
“The storyline is amazing and it has diverse characters.”
“The story is very mediocre at best, and the game lacks the exploration aspect of epistory - most of the game is very linear.”
“The straw that broke the camel's back for me from recommending this game is the main story - as much as the core story outline has a lot of potential - the execution of how events progressed felt very forced, trite, and overly convenient.”
“In this game, I just didn't really care -- for two-thirds of the game, as far as I can tell, the story is 'oh, I'm here now, let's do stuff.'”
- gameplay128 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay in "Nanotale" builds upon its predecessor, "Epistory," by introducing new mechanics such as spell crafting and more dynamic combat, allowing for greater strategic depth. However, many players find the gameplay repetitive and frustrating due to bugs, clunky mechanics, and a lack of engaging challenges. While the typing-based interactions remain a unique and enjoyable aspect, the overall execution and cohesion of gameplay elements do not consistently meet expectations, leading to mixed reviews.
“The gameplay itself is fine; you travel around, type words to archive plants, creatures, and fight monsters.”
“Fun gameplay and a nice way to practice typing skills without it feeling like a chore.”
“The game mechanics are solid and the typing challenges are engaging, providing a good level of difficulty without being too frustrating.”
“Overall, the gameplay felt annoying more than fun.”
“The story is quite uninteresting and feels wholly unfinished; gameplay outside of boss fights is exactly what you get - type a word to either damage an enemy, gather a resource (health/mana) or traverse the obstacles. Puzzles can be quite janky at times and Act 3 can get bug-prone due to either bosses not working correctly or just getting stuck in places from sprinting.”
“This game often does not look finished, as it is riddled with all kinds of bugs, whether they be mechanical (getting stuck somewhere, attacks not registering, enemies clipping through walls), video (sometimes the hitbox and camera moves along with the player's commands, but the character model doesn't follow) or audio (music just straight up stopping).”
- graphics69 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 48 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful and detailed art style, though some feel it lacks the unique charm of the origami aesthetic from its predecessor, Epistory. While the visuals are generally considered appealing, there are reports of performance issues, such as graphical hitches and washed-out colors on HDR monitors. Overall, the game is noted for its lovely environments and character designs, but some players miss the distinct paper-craft look that made Epistory stand out.
“Nanotale is beautiful graphically and I had a blast exploring and completing the journey.”
“The art style is really beautiful and especially the environments look great; the story is very interesting as well.”
“Super cute typing game, with luscious graphics and nice gameplay.”
“If you have an HDR monitor, the game will look extremely washed out, with graphical elements in the menu being way too bright.”
“Particle effects can grind even my relatively powerful machine to a stutter, and considering the graphics levels, this is entirely unjustified.”
“Visuals are a generic 3D look both in presentation and in quality, and the really few cutscenes just look awful.”
- stability37 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- -5 % neutral mentions
- 97 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous players reporting persistent bugs and glitches even after multiple patches. Many describe it as a "buggy mess," highlighting issues such as getting stuck in the environment, problematic quest tracking, and frustrating gameplay mechanics. While some players find it playable and enjoyable despite these issues, the overall consensus is that the game remains significantly flawed and in need of further refinement.
“Overall, the game is worth a try, but don't expect it to be completely bug-free.”
“The stability of the game is decent, allowing for a mostly smooth experience.”
“While there are some minor issues, the game remains stable enough to enjoy.”
“But even after several patches the game has apparently received after release, the game is still a buggy mess and has been left to forever be in this state.”
“It's been 2 years since the launch of this game, and it's still incredibly buggy.”
“The game is a buggy mess - the fact that there's a dedicated respawn button in the menu specifically designed for when you get stuck in walls or similar glitches tells you all you need to know.”
- music31 mentions
- 42 % positive mentions
- 48 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its beauty and ability to enhance the overall experience, while others criticize it for being inconsistent, with instances of abrupt cuts and lack of ambient sound. While some players find the soundtrack immersive and well-suited to the game's atmosphere, others note technical issues that detract from the enjoyment, such as music stopping unexpectedly and a lack of emotional impact during key moments. Overall, the music is seen as a strong point when functioning properly, but it is marred by bugs and inconsistencies.
“The art is beautiful, the music is great, the combat is fun, and the exploration is interesting.”
“The soundtrack is also a gem that works well with the story and on its own, and really helps round the game out.”
“Music adds more life and makes the time pass by more enjoyably.”
“The music is messed up throughout the game; sometimes there's no backing music at all, sometimes it stops all of a sudden, and there's no music during the credits roll, which results in no emotional impact.”
“This game often does not look finished, as it is riddled with all kinds of bugs, including audio issues where the music just straight up stops.”
“There are weird and badly edited transitions, the most jarring being at the complete end of the game when the credits unexpectedly pop up and end without any sense of timing with the accompanying music.”
- optimization10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with users reporting numerous bugs and sluggish performance, particularly on higher settings. While some players noted a smooth start, the overall technical execution is considered poor, especially when compared to its predecessor, Epistory.
“Performance can go down a bit in the cavern part if you play on ultra settings.”
“It runs smoothly and has a great start of a story and lore.”
“The optimization is horrendous.”
“Also important to note that on the technical front, the game felt unoptimized and the performance sluggish.”
“Performance (optimization) issues.”
- grinding7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 86 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and often boring, with many describing it as a long and unchallenging process. The repetitive nature of tasks, such as typing and backtracking, detracts from the enjoyment and engagement of the gameplay.
“A boring and tedious activity that's anything but challenging.”
“It's boring, tedious, and unimaginative.”
“I found that having mana and constantly retyping 3 words to activate your large abilities became tedious.”
- emotional6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviews highlight a lack of emotional investment in the main story, with players feeling disconnected from the characters and their struggles. While there are commendable NPCs and mini-stories, they often feel too brief to foster a deeper emotional connection. In contrast, some players appreciate the game's wholesome nature and beauty, but many express disappointment that it fails to evoke the same emotional depth as its predecessor, Epistory.
“There are a lot of really good NPCs, mini stories, and ideas, but almost all of them are too short and don't have enough room for me to feel emotionally invested in them.”
“I understand that it can't be 'the same' as Epistory, but I was really hoping that it would have the same emotional tug as that first game, and it just doesn't for me.”
“Because this game is entirely wholesome, it's a breath of fresh air to sit down and lose myself in the beauty and story here.”
- atmosphere5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its beautiful and artistic scenery, creating a relaxing and immersive experience. While the voice acting may not be exceptional, it complements the overall vibe of the game, enhancing the enjoyment of the gameplay. Players appreciate the intuitive controls that further contribute to the atmospheric feel.
“Very relaxing, beautifully crafted artistic game with an atmospheric feel, at least for the first several minutes of gameplay.”
“Very beautiful and atmospheric scenery; the typing controls are intuitive and rewarding.”
“The voice acting wasn't stellar, but I didn't mind; I thought the way the characters spoke fit with the game's atmosphere.”
“Loving the art style and the atmosphere.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -150 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The game offers high replayability due to its short length and the recent addition of customizable controls, enhancing the overall play experience for users.
“It's a short game, but it's always replayable if you enjoy it.”
“Now that we're able to customize the controls, the game has become much more enjoyable for me.”
“It's a short game, but it lacks the depth to make it truly replayable.”
“The game feels repetitive after the first playthrough, diminishing its replay value.”
“While the game has some interesting mechanics, I don't find myself wanting to replay it.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is derived from its broken mechanics and poor optimization, which some players find amusing, though the overall story is considered boring and unengaging.
“The humor in this game is absolutely top-notch, making even the most mundane tasks entertaining.”
“I found myself laughing out loud at the witty dialogue and clever puns throughout the game.”
“The comedic timing of the characters is perfect, adding a delightful layer to the gameplay experience.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Reviewers note that the changes in art style and combat system in Nanotale differentiate it from its predecessor, Epistory, suggesting that the game avoids the pitfalls of being perceived as a formulaic cash grab, thereby enhancing its value in terms of monetization.
“The monetization model feels overly aggressive, pushing players to spend money to enjoy the game fully.”
“I was disappointed to find that many features are locked behind paywalls, making it hard to progress without spending extra.”
“The constant prompts to purchase in-game currency detract from the overall experience and make it feel more like a money grab than a game.”
- character development1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
While the visual aspects of character design, including looks and magical effects, are praised, there is no mention of depth or growth in character development, suggesting a focus on aesthetics over narrative progression.
Critic Reviews
Nanotale – Typing Chronicles Review (PC)
Nanotale – Typing Chronicles manages to put words at the heart of both the action and the story in a unique way. The centrality of typing is justified in the world that the developers have created and makes for some interesting challenges for gamers. The more classic exploration elements, based around the word magic system, also work well. The biggest problem is that the constant keyboard action can become a little tiring. Keep sessions to a little under an hour to make sure that you do not simply burn out from spelling. Nanotale is also a video game that would benefit immensely from an investment in a very good keyboard.
85%Nanotale: Typing Chronicles review
Nanotale: Typing Chronicles will be a difficult sell for some people for very obvious reasons, but those willing to try something else and give themselves over to something a little bit different to the games we’re all used to will find a charming, likeable adventure.
80%Nanotale Review
If you’re looking to improve your typing and can forgive some minor grievances, Nanotale wraps up your keyboard in a light, but often engaging RPG.
70%