Decent cartoon adventure
If ever there was an award for the most obviously titled videogame, this would have to be in the running. A title should always give a good idea of what a player can expect but in this case, it's more of a description than a title and which is like calling Doom 'Shooting game about lots of monsters'. Anyway, whatever the quibbles over the name, this is actually a reasonably charming little adventure which is worth a look, especially if you have younger players who enjoy the likes of Broken Sword. Like that game, it's a point-and-click cartoon-style adventure that tells the story of, you guessed it, two young Russians who find themselves caught up in a sort of mix of Cinderella and Red Riding Wolf. Nastya is the poor but honest girl who lives under the thumb of her cruel stepfather, while Ivan is the bold but vain hero and shortly after they meet and fall in love, they become separated in a spooky wood. Ivan starts to be punished by the spirits of the wood for his past deeds and it falls to the player to alternate between the two characters as they start to look for each other. Fairy Tale certainly scores some points for its interesting and well-told narrative which does a good job of recreating some of the darker fairy tales, with its bizarre characters and strong sense of morals. The visuals too are well done, with some striking environmental and character design and some effective animation. Voice acting is a little bland and wooden though and while the puzzles aren't staggeringly inventive or overly challenging, they are entertaining enough. This isn't going to please die-hard fans of Monkey Island or Discworld but for younger gamers or anyone who just enjoys a good adventure, this is solid stuff.
