EDIT: For those wondering about ***game length*** I’m now about six hours into my first playthrough (with the Mage), and still have plenty left to explore. Based on the map I’ve been working my way through tonight (which I believe is the final map), I suspect that a methodical playthrough of each role (Mage and Warrior) is meant to last around ten hours (and will probably be about right for me, as I try to pursue every possible path and read every bit of offered lore). So I think that the game description’s “20+ hours” of playtime is a combination of those two playthroughs (ten hours per role), in addition to any other playthroughs you may choose to undertake fresh (or via save scumming) to fiddle around with the consequences of different choices.

Also, I’m continuing to have the best time! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve never played a physical gamebook, nor a virtual gamebook, and I’ve only played about an hour of Veritas Tales so far, so I am not the most qualified person to be weighing in on this game! But I fear that it’s going to fly under the radar of many people, so I wanted to help get a little visibility on this very special game sooner rather than later.

In browsing niche indie releases this month, I came across Veritas Tales, and was immediately taken with the description of Yoshio Nishimura (a 30-year gaming industry veteran) spending “six years in a remote Japanese mountain village crafting this game on his own.” Veritas Tales is entirely handmade: “Every single one of the 300+ illustrations was drawn by his own hand. No generative AI was used at any stage.” There’s even a lengthy interview with Nishimura, about his creative process, posted to the News section on the game’s Steam page.

I’m a sucker for handmade art, and for the “Neverending Story” inspiration behind this particular game.

But, I was nervous starting out, again, having zero experience with gamebooks. (Though I did voraciously consume “Choose Your Own Adventure” books as a kid, which are *super* simplified versions of gamebooks, I suppose.) If you’re like me: Do not fear! The onboarding is fantastic. At no point did I ever find myself confused as to what was happening or what I should do next. The Game Master (Storyteller? Narrator? Mister Wizard?) guides you though the rules, and reminds you of those rules along the way (e.g. battle mechanics in particular). The tabletop includes a pencil and eraser that magically update stats as you progress. A three-minute pocketwatch is deployed when necessary. There are multiple save files available if you wish to save scum.

With my (and maybe your) trepidation out of the way, I was able to sit back and enjoy the story. And I’m thoroughly entertained! I won’t spoil anything, as Nishimura made clear in his interview that he was deeply hopeful that each person wishing to enter into the pages of Veritas Tales would be able to have their own unique experiences and discoveries. Suffice is to say: You can choose to be either a Warrior or a Mage (I chose Mage). I quickly felt immersed as a member of this world. The events unfolding are mysterious and I kept wanting to turn the next page, like any good bedtime story (the purpose for which I bought Veritas Tales, which was to replace some of my audiobook bedtime ritual).

Choices! I’ve made many in my first hour of playtime, and as I sit here now, I’m already contemplating whether I made the wisest choices at particular moments, and what may occur differently during a second play-through. One particular character who I chose to help is weighing heavily on my mind right now. ^.^

The artwork is gorgeous. There’s an array of styles. (Snoop my profile page screenshots; I write my reviews on my iPhone and it’s just too difficult to embed screenshot links here.) I felt transported back to the 90’s seeing “Mister Wizard” as I’m calling him, as well as some of the opening cover art. The gamebooks look and “feel” so realistic, and the tabetop components look crisp and tactile. The artworks within the gamebook range so far from oil-painting-esque, to sketches, to metallic emblems. The storyboards likewise rage from earthtone-saturated frescos (my favorite) to soft full-screen oil paintings. It’s all mesmerizing and kept me hooked, wondering what sort of artwork would appear next.

The music is absolutely beautiful. As a girl with 2/3 Irish heritage, I dearly appreciated the Celtic style introductory track. But it’s not all Celtic. Like the variety of art, there’s a variety of music. Some feels Disney-inspired (cheerful and whimsical). Some feels like snippets from action movie sequences. All feels appropriately chosen, and absolutely complements the experience. As do the really satisfying sound effects. The scritchy-scratch of the pencil and the course scraping of the eraser make the tabetop come to life.

There’s also Japanese voice acting for quite a lot of the moments I’ve played so far. While I do not know any Japanese, I can say that the enthusiasm with which this narration is done is spectacularly exciting. XD

If you’re like me and like a dose of humor in your games, that’s here too. I laughed aloud multiple times so far. One decision I made was CLEARLY the incorrect one, and without the narrator or gamebook explicitly telling me this, I was left to slowly realize how poorly my decision was panning out—in the most passive-aggressive of ways that a gamebook could reveal this—over the course of a three-minute countdown timer that I was working against. I’m still chuckling about this as I write and hope to be able to eventually find a friend on Steam who makes the same humorous mistake so that we can commiserate. Also, I’m not entirely convinced that Mister Wizard isn’t pursuing a stand-up comedian gig as a side hustle.

For those of you who bed-game like me, this ran out of the box on my handheld device (Legion Go with SteamOS; functions identically to my Deck). Note that the buttons aren’t mapped on screen, so you’ll need to trial-and-error a bit. I also adjusted the right joystick just a bit in Steam’s controller settings as a matter of personal preference. But this is to say: it’s a *very comfy* experience on handheld after you give yourself a few minutes to memorize the controls.

Yes, this is an incredibly long-winded review after only an hour of playtime. I KNOW. But that’s the impression Veritas Tales immediately made upon me. This released at 11pm my time, and I was planning to purchase, queue the install, and go to bed. But I decided to open it for “a couple of minutes,” and then an hour later I was trying to pry myself away from the virtual pages of this gamebook. And then I stayed up another hour to write this review in hopes of helping to get a little more attention onto this very special game.

I highly recommend Veritas Tales for anyone who loves gamebooks, choices-matter games, visual novels, good bedtime stories, or even those simply with an appreciation and curiosity for truly handmade passion projects.

I hope that many people choose to adventure into the pages of Veritas Tales! ♡