Letters – a written adventure from PID Games and 5AM Games is a cozy and heartfelt game about the power of words. Learn more in our Letters – a written adventure review!
Letters – a written adventure from PID Games and 5AM Games is a cozy and heartfelt game about the power of words. You’ll go on a journey back to the 1990s and 2000s as you take on the story of Sarah, who is taking a trip through her beautiful hand-drawn letters and the nostalgic online world from her earlier years. Words will be used to solve the riddles you run into as you explore the worlds that Sarah created – worlds with wacky characters, bad puns, and stories that are easy to relate to since they’re based on what could happen in real life.
On that note, do be aware of how Letters includes some topics that are not for all audiences, hence its T for Teen rating, as well as the following content warning you get before starting to play: Please be aware that this game includes examples of family dysfunction, peer pressure, verbal abuse, and mental illness. There might be mentions of prescription drug abuse, suicidal behavior, and cults.
Once you’re ready to go, you’ll get to customize how Sarah looks. The game presents you with a simple paragraph that goes as follows: I have _____ skin, _____ hair, and my clothes are ______. It’s up to you to fill in the blanks by selecting from the available options. For skin, that includes fair, tan, and dark. For hair color, it’s going to be brown, auburn, black, ginger, and blond. As for the clothes, the options are going to be classic, casual, colorful, comfy. Once you’ve selected what you want, click on confirm, and you’re set!
You’ll start way back in 1997 in Switzerland when Sarah was a young child writing to a pen pal. She’s in fight grade, and her birthday is 02.04.1987. Sarah is ten-years-old and is 142 cm tall. As for her hobbies? She likes to draw, read comics and watch funny movies! This is going to be the tutorial segment for Letters – a written adventure so that you can start to see how you can change some words around to affect the world around you.
Sarah can be controlled with the left analog stick, the right analog stick, or the D-Pad to move around each area. Sarah can jump with the B button and can interact with the A button. To get a better look at things, you can press the X button to see everything around her. And if you’re having trouble finding the hidden words, then you can press the Y button to show them! You can find a word and change it by removing part of it, picking up a word, and then throwing it at a drawing to change it!
For example, during the intro sequence, when Sarah is writing to her pen pal, she’ll run into Ragna, a hero she’s drawn onto the page. Her spear won’t allow Sarah to continue climbing down the letter, but if she picks up the word silly and throws it at Ragna, she’ll jump on her shield and start to ride it, this removing the spear as an obstacle. Ragna is joined by her rat pal Tyr, who seems to be on Sarah’s path. If you pay attention to the words around Sarah, you’ll notice the word situation. Interact with it, and you’ll quick away most of the word, with only sit remaining. Grab that and throw it at Tyr, and you’ll be able to continue with your adventure. Before you can exit the tutorial, you’ll find a bird that is missing a wing. If only you could find a word with wing in it so that you can help the bird fly free…
Letters – a written adventure is an interesting experience on Nintendo Switch. Talking about the story itself past the intro sequence would certainly spoil this for you. Sarah’s journey is one you should get to play on your own as you go through the different story beats and see how her relationships change over time, especially with the arrival of new technology! Letters – a written adventure is out on Nintendo Switch with a $14.99 asking price, and it’s a game offering a heartwarming and relatable experience that you should definitely check out on Nintendo’s console.
Disclaimer
This Letters – a written adventure review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by PID Games.
