Game EXP: Creepy Tale: Some Other Place (NS)

[Disclaimer:  I received a review key for Creepy Tale: Some Other Place through Keymailer, a third-party website/company that connects publishers and developers with content creators.  The game was given without promise or expectation of a positive review, only that the game be played and content be created through the playing of the game and the experience.  Unless otherwise noted, all content in the following article is from my own playthrough of this game.] 

Creepy Tale: Some Other Place
Systems: PlayStation 4, Windows, mac OS, Linux, Nintendo Switch
Release Date: February 21, 2020
Publisher: Sometimes You
Developer: Creepy Brothers
Time Spent: < 5 Hours 

Creepy Tale: Some Other Place is the latest in the Creepy Tale series of indie point-and-click adventure games from Creepy Brothers, although this is the first game in the series that I've personally played.  Unlike other modern point-and-click adventure games like Thimbleweed Park and Dropsy, or Goetia, Creepy Tale: Some Other Place (CTSOP) doesn't feel like it overwhelms the player with piles of inventory to sort through or a walkthrough to solve every other puzzle (put a pin in that last bit).  CTSOP feels like it is more reliant on atmosphere and creepy/unsettling visuals to tell their story and that is something that I can get behind.

In classic Alice in Wonderland fashion, Creepy Tale: Some Other Place follows the character of Martin who is forced to chase a small hairy creature who steals his bucket of fish, into the hollow of a tree that transports him to another world filled with monsters, gnomes, magical wells, and dark forests.  The majority of the story here is told passively through Martin, who seemingly reacts to events happening around him as he travels from Point A to wherever the next thing is.  The game is made up of 10 individual chapters and it's not always clear what needs to be done or what Martin has to accomplish or who to interact with to reach the next chapter.  On one hand, I really like this approach since it isolates each chapter as its own puzzle without needing to bring anything over from previous chapters, at least for the first two-thirds.  In the back end of the game, you do find a ring that is used to interact with objects and creatures that are used in multiple chapters, but thankfully not as an inventory-specific item.

As far as the puzzles go, I never found them to be too difficult or obscure at least until after I found the ring, which created a second layer to simple puzzles that required you to find an object to give to someone or something else.  It's one thing to find an object and determine where it might go based on the number of items in your inventory and where the game says that an object can be used, but it's another when you have an item that affects specific objects and you have to determine how and when to use said item in order to trigger a specific animation or reaction.  I have had to use a walkthrough for four of the puzzles, one related to the aforementioned ring, and one other because I didn't know that you needed to leave the room/screen where the puzzle itself was located.  In my defense, two of the puzzles included visual elements that were really difficult to see on the Switch's screen.

Only needing assistance for four puzzles in a point-and-click adventure game in fewer than five hours for a point-and-click game I think is an amazing ratio, especially since I feel that the puzzles aren't laughably easy.  They include the kinds of puzzles that make you feel smart when you solve them and wish that someone was watching you solve it just to show off; but we all know that if there had been another person watching over my shoulder I likely wouldn't've been able to figure out demon skull tooth puzzle.  Most of the puzzles are the kind that just make you feel good after solving, while still maintaining the creepy atmosphere that has been established throughout the entire game.

I've really enjoyed Creepy Tale: Some Other Place, and I am pretty excited to have found out that there are three other games in the series that look similar in tone, complexity, and quality. The games are currently on sale through November 4th on Nintendo's eShop and as part of Steam's Scream 3D sale.  I may jump on the rest of the games, if not now, then maybe we'll have a series feature during October 2025.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian

Fear of the Conscious Mind

P.S.  I don't have many end-game pictures/videos because The Squire somehow took out the micro SD card from the back of the Switch this last weekend while we were staying at Conklederp's parent's house and I've yet to find it/get it back.  Let's hope it doesn't get vacuumed up.