So I’m a bit of a book nerd, meaning, when I stumbled across Death Pages: Ghost Library, I was pretty much instantly hooked. I can’t think of a better storyline than people getting sucked into literature and having to find a way to make a sad ending happy. It sounded perfect, so I hit download and waited to have my fun.
So the premise of Death Pages: Ghost Library is pretty awesome; I love anything involving literature. I also thought the character design and general look of the world was pretty nice. The bad guy was sufficiently creepy, and there were a lot of little things that I thought were neat. But for some reason, this game just did not do it for me; it failed to grab my attention.
While playing, I kept getting distracted from the actual plot of the story, most notably by a tiny owlet you get to rescue and then keep in your inventory. From the moment I saw that little guy in his cage, I felt my real mission had become to save him. And best of all, once he was rescued, he went in my inventory, and I was able to use him to collect things that were high-up! Huzzah, baby owl! (Look at him in my inventory, he’s so cute!)
Ahem. Sorry, got a little distracted there. But I guess that’s kind of my point; with three teenagers trapped in one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, why was I getting side tracked by an owlet? (Besides the whole biology major thing. Let’s not blame science here.)
I sat staring at the screen for a while, wondering why I wasn’t interested in playing, and the only thing I could come up with was the pace of Death Pages: Ghost Library, which I found to be quite slow. There’s a loooooot of running around (back and forth and back and forth), and I felt like it was there to extend the length of the game, not because it was necessary.
I also wasn’t thrilled with the scripting, which at times was a confusing mix of rather formal English and some pretty modern slang. I’m not sure if Death Pages: Ghost Library is supposed to be set in Victorian England, which makes the slang stand out, or if it’s supposed to be modern, which makes the stiffness of the language stand out.
And let’s not even talk about the little popup thoughts, some of which were downright offensive. I almost quit outright when I read the one below. I’m sorry, I’m not willing to pretend to be an elitist snob, not even to muck about in a Shakespeare story.
I will give Death Pages: Ghost Library props for its hidden object areas, though, which were absolutely delightful and so refreshing. Instead of finding an endless list of trash, you actually have to match items you’ve been given to something in the area.
It was very interesting and kept me thinking about what could go where. I’m not usually a fan of hidden object areas, but these were a lot of fun.
Like the rest of Death Pages: Ghost Library, I’m just blah about the puzzles. They were pretty simple (although for a few, it took me a bit to figure out what the point of them was), but to be fair I was playing on the lowest mode (Casual).
I’m not sure how some of them could be made more difficult, but there you go. The dragon one was super fun to look at, anyhow.
I guess when it comes down to it, Death Pages: Ghost Library just didn’t tickle my interest.
I didn’t care for all the running around, the strange script, or the rather simplistic puzzles. I did, however, enjoy the look of the game, the interesting hidden object areas, and that darling little owl.
I suppose I can see how Death Pages: Ghost Library could appeal to some people; it’s just not in my top ten. Why don’t you give it a try and tell us what you think?