An Untitled Story is a Metroidvania-type platforming adventure game for PC. It was created by MattMakesGames in 2007, and is freeware. You begin as an egg, and in a bout of curiosity, fall from your nest. The rest of the game sees you exploring the entire world.
And "the entire world" is not an understatement. The scale of this game is absolutely grand. There are at least 20 different areas, and each is large, unique, vibrant, and full of secrets. Your adventure takes you everywhere, from a quiet night field, to an enormous tree, a mysterious town of birds, a strange underground castle, a festering lava pit, a sprawling beach, and a reef deep beneath the ocean, to name only a scant few. The boss battles are also as varied as the lands: a big stone head, a revived mummy warrior, a giant floating eye, a laser-spitting sea dragon, and more. It's very diverse, and almost humbling, in a way.
As is typical of a Metroidvania, littered throughout the game are various upgrades that you need to progress. Among these are:
- some ninety-odd hearts, which increase your starting health of 100 by 10 points each
- a double jump ability, as well as jump height augmenters
- the ability to cling to ceilings
- an upgradeable fireball shot
- a ground-slamming power
- the ability to speak
- ten mysterious golden orbs...?
Their modes of collection, however, are quite trying. Many of the upgrades, once you know when to find them, require either the defeat of a boss, the navigation of a particularly trying platforming area, or passage through what I call a heart barrier. These heart barriers are small red walls that are only dispelled when touched at full health; given the danger and frequency of the enemies and traps that litter the paths between save points and heart barriers, and the fact that you cannot graze even a single one, this can be quite the challenge sometimes.
The game art is endearing, as it looks as though drawn in MS Paint, but still seems to fit in with itself to a startlingly real degree. The music is similarly simplistic, with an odd choice of instruments, but is very catchy and always fits the mood. The challenge will make you want to rip your eyes out in delight, at times. The unimportant minigames, ranging from a shells game, to tiny beeping arcade games, to sliding puzzles, are fun exercises for the fingers and mind.
As for the title? I think it represents that it is a game about mystery. You do not need to be sold on a premise or taught an epic mythos to have a meaningful adventure: the drive to find out the truth about a new, big, scary world can be enough.
[IN12#22]