PC Gamer - UK (2021-12)

Book of Travels

EARLY ACCESS PREVIEW

MightandDelight’sMMOBookofTravels

mayseemlikea worldfilledwithsunshine

flowerpicking– andforthemajorityofmy

ten-hourtimeplaying,it was– butthe

serenelandsofBraidedShorealsohasits

dangers.Buteverywandererknowswhat

liesoffthebeatenpathis worth

discovering,andBookofTravels

wantstoexploreeveryaspectof

beinga nomad,evenif perillies

somewhereinthewilds.

Outsideofmyencounterwiththe

ruderobber,mytimewithBookofTravels

hasbeennothingshortofsoothing.It’s

notyourtraditionalMMO– thereareno

insistingstorylines,pullingplotthreads,or

reallyanyactualdirection.Youjustsimply

exploretheworldatyourownpace,

shapingyourjourneyasyougo.

Mycharacteris a Mosswalker,a class

thatspecialisesin‘spirituality’and

‘sociality’.Theavatarcreatoris laidoutlike

a charactersheetfroma TTRPG,and

you’reabletochoosespecifictraits.I

createda meditativemonkwhohasthe

uncannyabilitytoseeghosts,abletowalk

uptogravestonesandacceptmagical

boonsfromthespiritsrestingthere.

There’sa lotofmysticisminBraided

Shore, and the game boasts an intriguing

approach to magic systems.

In Book of Travels, knots and tea

brewing are your main gateway to magical

abilities, but unfortunately I’ve not been

able to access them. Knots are written in a

magical language that someone needs to

teach you, but I have searched

everywhere for them to no avail. I thought

I might try my hand at tea brewing, but it

requires recipes and ingredients that are

way out of my current price range as a

newbie. I understand that Book of Travels

wants to teach you these systems as you

would in a real magical world, but it makes

it pretty unfriendly for beginners.

BOOK SMART

My lack of magical qualities doesn’t stop

my mossy medium though. Since there’s

no main story, you’re just left to your own

curiosity. There are some NPC side quests

but most of them only seem to involve the

humdrum of trading items. Braided Shore

works entirely on this trading system, with

merchants offering differing prices for

your wares. Outside of bartering, some

NPCs will give you cryptic messages that

will lead you to items, others will talk

about the game’s lore that’s currently

shrouded in mystery.

You can also see other players,

but they are purposefully few and

far between with only seven per server.

There’s no chat box in Book of Travels,

so you’ll need to become versed in the

art of emoji. My encounters with other

players so far have been nothing more

than silently walking through lush

meadows and rocky mountains until our

paths part ways, a polite wave emoji

ending our journey together.

These quiet encounters and Book of

Tr ave l s’s relaxing vibe are both something

that I really appreciate. However, in its

current state, there’s really not much to do

even for an Early Access game. You can

see all the ideas that Might and Delight

has, but much of it is just currently

unfinished – which is not that surprising

when you learn that the studio plans for it

to stay in Early Access for two years.

Personally, I’m satisfied with walking

through some incredibly lovely scenery

picking shrubs and the like, but that won’t

be enough for everyone.

Rachel Watts

I

’minhighspiritsasmywandererpicks

flowersina meadow.I’mmusingabout

whatteaI couldpotentiallybrewwith

myfindingswhenI’msuddenly

ambushedbya heinousbandit.Unabletodefend

myselfI makethecourageousdecisiontorunaway,

flowersandbruisedprideintow.

Might and Delight is out to create

a new kind of MMO

BOOK OF TRAVELS

MY TIME WITH BOOK OF

TRAVELS HAS BEEN NOTHING

SHORT OF SOOTHING

EXPECTTOPAY

£23.80

DEVELOPER

Might and Delight

PUBLISHER

In-house

LINK

mightanddelight.com

NEED TO KNOW

PLAYED

IT