Creepy Tale 2

released on Jul 11, 2021

Experience the creepy tension of a brothers Grimm fairy tale in this puzzle adventure game. Follow the young and brave Lars as he embarks on a dangerous journey to save his sisters mind from the clutches of a mysterious evil.


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The New Year holidays have come to an end, as has my short sabbatical. There were a lot of emotions and impressions that charged me for new achievements. With fresh strength, I climbed under the New Year's tree to start sorting out the gifts and there I came across Creepy Tale 2 - a sequel to the lamp horror quest about carnivorous butterflies and lost children. To tell the truth, the release of the second and third parts passed me by, so I was pleasantly surprised by such an unexpected continuation of the story.

Sometimes Evil is embodied even in the most sincere and kind endeavors. Once you take the path of revenge, there is no turning back and all that remains is the inevitable fall and decay. The heroes of this story did not at all expect that they would become key figures in a large-scale and bloody performance. Living in a remote hut on the edge of the forest, Lars and his family enjoyed peaceful everyday life. He grew up as a strong and strong boy, actively helping his father with the housework and taking care of his younger sister. His mother mysteriously disappeared into the forest several years ago, but the family continued to remember her clear eyes and charming smile. It would seem that the serene routine would last forever, but this was not destined to come true.

One day, a huge monster burst into the house and immediately entered into a mortal battle with Lars’ father, but the worst thing was that the monster came not for the head of the family, but for his young children. Lars could not waste a minute and immediately left his native walls. His further path will be saturated with blood and suffering, but this brave boy is not at all afraid of the upcoming trials. He intends to save his family from the forces of Evil and destroy the root of the disease that has gripped the thicket. Sometimes children have to grow up too early and unfortunately Lars did not escape this fate.

Before us is a quest in the setting of a dark fairy tale, where we have to play the role of a small defenseless boy. Our task is to go through all the trials that the thicket has in store for us and get to the main lair of Evil. Wandering through the forests, we will meet many disgusting and creepy creatures, but we should not forget that we can benefit from everything. This part moved significantly away from the quest component and focused on action. We have to run away from opponents a lot, engage in stealth and backtracking. A few riddles have become more complex and complex, which will certainly appeal to those who like to rack their brains, but here, too, there are some nuances. The late game is completely filled with puzzles, the answers to which will have to be selected manually, which is pretty exhausting, but does not give in return the satisfaction of the work done.

Visually, Creepy Tale 2 has improved significantly and now, compared to its background, the first part looks like a modest student project. The monsters acquired even more terrifying appearances, and the forest itself acquired an ominous atmosphere. Walking through misty swamps, abandoned villages and catacombs will definitely be memorable and will leave behind pleasant memories. The musical accompaniment is wonderfully chosen and it perfectly complements the picture of what is happening with new details. I was also pleased with the expansion of the local lore and the deepening of the details of what was happening in the first part, which can definitely be considered a plus. On the other hand, there are some drawbacks here, especially poor registration of hitboxes in the episode with the drowners, a drawn-out segment with stealth from the kikimora, and an incredibly stuffy puzzle with a door lock in the late game.

In general, of course, I can’t criticize this game for a long time, since I like the local setting and visual component. I adore the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and other similar stories, so I can’t pass up games with a similar setting. The sequel to Creepy Tale does an excellent job of storytelling and skillfully juggles suspense and atmosphere, but at the same time sags in the pacing of the narrative in the late game. The ending seemed rushed to me, although I liked the opportunity to choose the ending of the story myself. In general, I was surprised that the game simply “cut short”, throwing us an important and touching scene in the last minutes of the running time, to which they decided not to devote enough screen time. Many plot holes of the first part were successfully patched, but new ones took their place. I hope that the third part has worked on the mistakes and will provide me with a new interesting adventure. Creepy Tale 2 is definitely not worth missing in the context of studying the plot of this game universe, but it definitely doesn’t make sense to expect something incredible from this quest.

Looking forward to a rather short puzzle plattformer like the first game I just finished last December, Creepy Tale 2 was actually a little surprise. Though I already had expectations that led me to buy the game early and discounted to 7,99€, still a lot as I had bought plenty on sale anyway that I could have played instead, this sequel changed game mechanics to an almost point'n'click adventure, adding depth to a simple left and right scenario.

No longer do you jump or randomly click to check for interactivity, as now there are hotspots allowing specific actions. And there is more than a vague story to Creepy Tale 2, actually even voice acted in English, with an eastern-european accent more or less. It does blend in however, because it is a sinister narration like fairytales before Disney added their formula just like it happened to Marvel and Star Wars more recently. It feels like at the adequate dark medieval place for a deceased mother and a little sister lost to evil forces.

When you start playing the boy Lars at his home, just like in Creepy Tale, there will be an expository, slight guidance at first, introducing the world and controls, but soon you're on your own, away from the house, looking for the remaining family. In case of Creepy Tale 2 though, due to the new hotspot system, I felt a lot less lost in what I was expected to do.

Good thing is, although you could play Creepy Tale 2 as a standalone title, it also delivers kind of an origin story to the build up mysteries from the first game without actually pushing it. It's up to your interpretation on the details found in both games, I guess, as I've read reviews telling there's no interconnection at all. Well, see for yourself.

Occuring in quite similar realms, it's no surprise puzzle design is rather familiar. It's basically a more polished surface with improved artworks reminding of old fantasy cartoons mixed with a beastiary and characters close to Creepy Tale. In the sequel, you find detail elements like glowing butterflies or dreamcatchers included just as puzzles will require a lot of trial and error, frustration and relief after learning patterns to hide from cannibal witches or opening locks.

Sadly the two options for an ending aren't too rewarding. In general I felt that from a gaming perspective it was actually anticlimactic due to the linear design and final decision happening way after quite some dialogue passed the screen. That's probably a matter of taste though, I just had a quite similar experience with The Whispered World. I would have preferred maybe just another little scene added before the credits roll in. It may contribute to the impression that the Switch version of Creepy Tale 2 omits the achievement system.

Technically, there's really just minor flaws to report from the game. I've heard the PC version had some bad freezing glitches that I didn't experience on the Switch. I had about five moments where it felt like the figure is stuck for a few seconds. There was no need for a reboot though. And then there was one puzzle that required me to learn I don't just move a switch back and forth horizontally, I can actually push and pull it vertically as well. That design didn't feel self explanatory enough.

If you don't want to play Creepy Tale 2 in English, you might want to check first, because when I left the default settings on German, the texts read like directly from Google Translate without having a native speaker related to the game looking over it. I could live with few sentences making no sense at all as I was listening to the English dub anyway, but when you read a diary a certain logic is mandatory.
In this case, and I switched to English text then, the month "March" for example was translated to "Marsch" from "the march" like in "marching soldiers" rather than the word "März" required here.

Creepy Tale 2 in a way still is a mixed bag, that you play as a fan of the atmosphere and story rather than looking for intelligent puzzles. Maybe I'm too used to moon logic here, but for instance I'd prefer finding actual solutions to clicking on a lock until it works. I also like to think forward, so stopping me from picking up an already highlighted item, that I will have to actually get, when I found out about it a few steps later does not work best with my way of playing.

I've read critique some walking back and forth is required due to clues being put on walls and other immobile objects, but as much as I understand a journal would help, as an old school gamer, I just rely on the secret technique of taking notes here. In fact, the old fart I am, just having a smartphone since about 15 month, I already moved on to creating a Google Docs file or even take a screenshot with the camera. I know, I could also screenshot with the Switch directly, but neither is the picture as easy to access during play, nor did they make transfer to my mobile device comfortable.

It's also a great addition for Creepy Tale 2 to offer more exploration through interaction, but that plus on the other hand also leads to that you might have to repeat the same combination a second time, so you've proven definitely, to find out you need to do it a third time, just for the sake of it. And then, when it's clear you want to jump on that item you just placed to cross water, you have to click that thrice as well, without anything to disturb you passing. It's nitpicking, but that really could be designed more convenient if there isn't supposed to be a challenge anyway.

But then you're just drawn into nightmarish conditions even forcing the young protagonist to kill sometimes. Creepy Tale 2 has a more than adequate score, I must add. In combination of sound design via headphones and the vibration of my pro controller some scenes literally felt creepy and in those rare moments when it's not only timing but time pressure the adrenaline level rises.

I guess after the blend of different situations in an eerie environment still created an interesting enough game with Creepy Tale, you can count the narrative development of Creepy Tale 2 as an improvement, whilst it's still stuck in the same kind of puzzle design. If that core would have evolved with the sequel, I would have called it a better game.

This way, I sure needed little more than three times the two hours it took me to complete the first game, but a lot of it went for narration I had no influence on other than to click it away, if I wanted to rush. I also wasted some time on puzzles that I possibly just was to lazy to find a clue for, but as they just required me going through a manageable amount of combinations I kept soldiering on.

Having paid a rather high price for me being a cheapskate, the effort put in to tell an actual story was required to balance the difference between the 2,99€ Creepy Tale cost me and the 7,99€ I spent on the sequel. Otherwise the lack of creativity in puzzle design would have felt close to the edge of what I'd be willing to waste on another random indie game, though in case of a then still quite new Creepy Tale 2 it really was the art and ambience I was after and I got that served well.