Jamie Pauls
Over the past few years, I have reviewed many games for AccessWorld. Many if not most have been games designed specifically for blind people, often by blind game designers. Some have been games created originally for sighted players, with accessibility for the blind coming later. Often, the accessibility of these games is a mixed bag. Some elements of game play might be accessible to those using screen readers, while other elements are more difficult for blind players. It is a pleasure to be able to review a game developed for sighted people that really takes advantages of accessibility tools that can make game play not only possible, but also a real pleasure for players who are blind.
One such game is Untold RPG, a role-playing game made playable on iOS for those who use Apple's VoiceOver screen reader. Unlike games that are self-voicing, this game takes advantage of VoiceOver itself and allows for a really great gaming experience. In this article, we will take a look at some reasons why this game is great for blind players who may wish to enjoy the same gaming experience as their sighted counterparts.
Playing the Game
In Untold RPG, you are a character who finds yourself on a beach. You have only fragmented recollections of how you got there, along with a strange brooch in the sand that somehow brings back a flood of associations, many not good, regarding your previous experiences. Through the course of the game you meet another person who has also shared your experiences of being imprisoned on a ship and forced to do unspeakably bad things. Something has happened to your mind, and you must try to put the pieces of your memories, no matter how painful, back together again. You also would like to seek vengeance on the crime lord who enslaved you and others, forcing you to do his bidding. You travel strange lands, are caught in the crossfire of warring tribes, and save a few lives in the bargain.
A rich musical score and sound effects flow through the entire game, but never get in the way of VoiceOver as you play. Battles, sailors at work, and conversations in taverns are all enriched by sound and music. As the story progresses, VoiceOver reads new screens automatically, allowing for a smooth playing experience. You can always read text again if you missed something, or simply want to better understand the unfolding story line as you progress through the game.
Most actions in the game are determined by selecting from a series of buttons. You may see choices such as "talk to the merchant," "explore the forest path," or "turn back." Once you have taken an action, the word "used" appears next to that action to let you know you have previously acted on it. You can generally still take the same action again, but it is harder to wander around in a circle while playing this game than it might otherwise be if the "used" indicator wasn't present. Sometimes, there is only one action to be taken in order to move the story along.
At the bottom of your screen are a series of tabs including character, quests, inventory, and notifications. Along your journey, you will collect many items such as gold, food, weapons, clothing, and medicine. It's a good idea to take a look at the clothing and armor you possess, as you may want to put on better armor or clothing as you acquire it. Parts of the game actually require you to disguise yourself by wearing certain attire. Gold, food, and medicine are pretty obvious as far as their importance is concerned, and not having enough of any of these can cause you to get stuck in the game and possibly may even require you to start over. The game allows you to save multiple versions of your playing experience, and even autosaves your game play from time to time. It can be difficult to recall which saved game state contains what items of inventory, and where you are in the story at that particular state. Sometimes, simply starting over is the best course of action.
Your character receives a number of attribute points at the end of each level of game play that can be spent in various areas. If you spend all your character's attribute points on strength, you may be able to rip a gate off its hinges, but your low number of perception points may cause you to miss a secret passage you would find if that number were higher. A higher number of charisma points might allow you to talk your way into a building rather than needing to kill the guard to enter. Be prepared to do a lot of fighting in this game. Also, be prepared to die! Fights, once they begin, take place in real time. Your opponent attacks you, and you must manually fight back. Because the action happens in real time, I found it difficult to quickly look at the screen in order to determine my health points versus those of my enemy. Your character will collect many weapons from fallen opponents, so you will want to play around with various configurations of armor and weapons to see what works best. Fortunately, you can suspend fighting at times in order to change armor and weapons.
There are parts of this game that move in a linear direction, requiring you to take only one course of action. Other areas of the game allow you to explore a number of possible solutions to a problem with multiple outcomes. This is definitely one of those games where you can find yourself at a dead end. Sometimes you can backtrack, and sometimes you must simply start over. At the writing of this article, I have not yet completed the game although I believe I am close. I played so many hours, and restarted the game so many times, I eventually became tired of game play and needed to step away for a while. I have only recently picked the game up again.
One of the things I particularly like about this game is the ability to quickly move from one location to another using the game's map. Travel is restricted to your current location. In other words, if you have sailed across the ocean to get to an island of interest, you can move to different locations on that island but to explore elsewhere you must go back to the harbor, board your ship, and travel back across the ocean (if that is allowed during the playing of that particular level of the game).
Another thing I particularly like is the ability to interact extensively with characters in the game. You can ask them questions and they will provide meaningful answers. Sometimes they will travel with you on part of your journey and help you fight the enemy. Be prepared, though. People you learn to care about in the game can and will die suddenly. Consuming the wrong foods or medicines can negatively affect your character as well.
The Bottom Line
Untold RPG is a well-crafted game with a rich plot and highly developed characters. VoiceOver accessibility is excellent, although some areas of the game, such as the inventory tab will take some exploration. You may have to look around a bit to figure out how to expand and collapse various inventory groups such as clothing, weapons, and armor. Once you get the layout of the screen, you shouldn't have any problems.
The game is huge, both in terms of the plot and the number of places you will travel. You may find that you need to start the game over a few times before you really get the hang of game play and start developing the right inventory and character attributes that serve you best.
At $4.99, I highly recommend this game for anyone who doesn't mind a few references to magic and quite a bit of fighting.
This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.
Related Articles:
- Vintage Games Series, Part 4: Immerse Yourself in the World of Shades of Doom by Jamie Pauls
- A Review of A Hero's Call, an Accessible Role Playing Game from Out of Sight Games by Aaron Preece
More by this author:
