I’m going to start this review by being completely honest with you. Lost Words: Beyond the Page is not the game for me, and if I wasn’t explicitly playing it to review, I don’t know if I would have continued with it passed the first few minutes. However, that is no reflection on the game itself, or the story told because offhand, I can think of at least five people in my life who would LOVE the game; it’s just not a game that appeals to me.
Lost Words: Beyond the Page is a simple game with a touching story, accompanied by simple mechanics to match. The game would fall under the “puzzle platformer” genre, but I’d be hard-pressed to call it either. Instead, Lost Words: Beyond the Page is an interactive story perfect for those who want to journey through a world, allowing the story to envelop them without worrying about much else.
You play as two young girls, Isabelle, who wants to become a writer when she grows up and -insert custom name here-the lead character in the story Isabelle is writing. Now going into the game as a jaded 30-year old I never expected to relate as strongly to the two young protagonists as I did, but here we are.
Lost Words: Beyond the Page is a lot of things, but first and foremost, it’s an emotional gut-punch that the cutesy art style wouldn’t lead you to expect. There are no complicated puzzles to solve, no-platforming skills needed, and very little in terms of intricate animation but Lost Words: Beyond the Page makes up for all of this by drawing you into its world and making you feel the emotions of the characters as if they were your own.
Now I don’t want to go into the story too much; all you need to know is that when you play as Isabelle, you play in her journal—moving around words and manipulating the page to progress. And when you play in the story of Isabel’s creation, you play as the Guardian of the Fireflies in the magical kingdom of Estoria and using the fireflies, you find words to use like magic. For example, find the word “Break” and use it to clear your path or use the word “Rise” to list yourself onto a platform out of reach.
Lost Words: Beyond the Page was written by noted game writer Rhianna Pratchett, daughter of famed author Terry Pratchett and her expertise can be felt through every word of the story as it unfolds. The characters you control through the game are brought to life by the storytelling and the fantastic voice acting. The result is characters that feel as childish, naive and real as you could imagine.
