Verne: The Shape of Fantasy

Review

The war with the Brutal “Nation” is at its peak, and it looks like the land of Hemera will be razed to the ground. Maybe there is the last opportunity, a chance that this will not occur if Verne, Captain Nemo and the entire Nautilus crew can retrieve the Flame of Hephaestus, an Ancient artifact of incredible power that was behind the rise and fall of Atlantis. A true love letter to Jules Verne, where you will play the man himself in a mysterious and intriguing world created in his imagination.

Verne: The Shape of Fantasy is a point-and-click adventure game with puzzles developed by Gametopia and published by Assemble Entertainment on the 14^th of August, 2023, on the Steam platform.

The game consists of seven chapters, where you will be playing in underwater caves, on an island, on a base, but mostly in the famous Nautilus. Despite being linear, the story is well-structured from start to finish. I enjoyed playing this game but found it easier than other games of the same genre. Mr. Verne will acquire an ancient Atlantis device known as the IMAG early in the game. This device can momentarily rewind the past for a certain number of seconds, enabling him to reach areas blocked by debris or rocks. On a few occasions, the device will be used to teleport a large group of enemies, and when that happens, you’ll have to follow the random sequence using the letters W, A, S, and D on your keyboard; you will need to be quite fast when that occurs. Don’t worry if you miss it initially, the sequence will restart until you succeed and move forward into the game.

I find the puzzles good but easy to complete. There are a few stealth sequences where Verne has to hide behind wooden crates and make his way to escape or to get to a specific location, and that was fun, too. I didn’t find it particularly difficult. Yes, you’ll get caught a few times, but it will be straightforward after that. I must say that they have balanced these three mechanisms well enough to keep you entertained and want to keep playing the game. There are collectables to find throughout the game. You’ll also have character bios and Verne logs, which will give you information on the characters and on Jules Verne's life and works, too. I like that very much.

You’ll probably finish your first playthrough within five hours, and unfortunately, there is no replay value unless you are desperate to find all the in-game achievements.

The pixel graphics are excellent, and they have done a great job with the voice acting. Being French myself, it is always funny to hear an English person saying “Mon Dieu.” It was close but not quite there, I am afraid! But what cracked me up was the use of the m-word or s-word in English. When we use these two, it always comes with an intonation that brings the word to life. For instance, you could be scared or surprised, but every time I heard the m-word, it felt like Verne had some crumbs of his baguette (sandwich) stuck in his oesophagus. I am having fun here as I still do the same with a few English words after 30 years of living in Australia. One especially is the word “can’t”; I have to say “cannot” instead, otherwise it sounds too rude and has landed me in hot water more than once . . . Mon Dieu!

The game has been translated into seven languages.

Review written by THE CPT FROGGY for Zeepond.com

Verne: The Shape of Fantasy Steam Store Page