If you could enter a world where a town was abandoned and it was up to you and others to help build it up into a town for the ages, how do you think you would do? What would be your skill in order to contribute to the town? I mean you could be a carpenter and build things, a cook so everyone could eat, what about a blacksmith? But outside the town, there is still the unknown of what could be out there. Would you try to embrace it on your own or work together to face the uncertainties? These are all very good questions. So does developer Alta show what it’s like to build up a town all while bringing the social aspect to it all? Let’s find out more with A Township Tale for the Oculus Quest/Quest 2.
A Township Tale allows you to band together with friends and/or strangers to explore a forgotten world filled with adventure, danger, and ancient secrets as you discover an abandoned town that you and others will turn into a sanctuary in an untamed land. Using a variety of skills, journey and explore dark caves where terrible monsters and great treasure await.
But before you go right in trying to claim your stake in this land, there are just a few things that you will want to remember. One, you will have to craft, two, there is a social aspect to this, and three, have fun. As I started to do this review, I thought about the different ways I could go about it. I could do the technical side of things, I could point out everything, but that is hard considering how much you can explore, or I could just go with what I experienced. I decided to do a little bit of each, but keep in mind, due to this having that social interaction, each time you play and depending on who is in the game and if they are really into it all and everyone clicks, it can be a blast and a different experience each time. So with that said, let’s continue.
I will say when you first start A Township Tale, you are greeted with the customization for your characters. You can select from the different body types, face, eyes (at the time there were only two sets of eyes to select from), nose, hair, and even the ability to pick a variety of colors for your selection. So for each server, you go into, you can create your character’s avatar. There is even an option to purchase more using in-game purchases, but you do get a lot with things like earrings, hats, vests, and even eyebrow and eyelash styles.
After you have your avatar ready, it’s time to enter the world aka tutorial. And I say tutorial because this is not the main part of the game. You actually have to complete different quests in order to gain access to the main game servers. Some of these tasks are as simple as discovering different areas, creating a pouch, crafting different objects together, chopping wood with both hands ( I mean you could try chopping wood with one hand, but it might take more effort), and even moving 5 of an item between pouches. But if you are in the tutorial, some things may not be as clear as some would like and that is when some might have frustration kick in. But what does Alta do, they allow actual live people to enter the same tutorial as you where you can talk. So it’s really kind of smart on their part of putting strangers together in a tutorial to work and figure things out.
But it’s not until you really get past the tutorial and into an actual server where things start to pick up the fun. Once you get into the server, you will have to figure out how to craft your own weapons like swords, work together to gather food, fight monsters together, and well, really build up the abandoned town to make it a town for everyone. At one point in my adventures, someone had some raw meat, but me trying to be helpful though if I used my torch, just for a few seconds, the person I just met whose health was low because they needed to eat (you will need to eat to keep up your health). Well, my torch with fire was used and it did cook the raw meat until the meat was no more and a bone was left and that person could have been so angry, but they turned it into humor with just the sound effects they were making and questioned why, the new person who just visited this town, would do such as a thing as I watched them die. Then I felt sadness and guilt. Way to go Alta…way to go.
But when you die, depending on the server rules, your backpack which you easily put on and take off by reaching over your shoulder may be gone, and then you would have to go back to find it. Hopefully, your items are still there. I mean, they should still be there unless you get someone who just wants to take everything or someone who is new who may not know any better, take the items. Sorry random person on the server, I was new at the time, but that was an awesome sword you had. I will cherish our time in this town always. I even witnessed one person take something in front of someone only to jump to a different server with that person’s item. I felt bad, but it was kind of funny. Note to all, don’t steal other player’s items. Remember, though shall not steal. But if you are wondering if you can attack other players in the game…yes you can. I mean I had to try it and see if it was actually part of the game. I do not recommend doing this as the person you want to see if you attack just for the fun of it, maybe the one with the most knowledge in making your town and you a success.
Let’s talk about the graphics and sound. Playing on the Oculus Quest 2, everything was clear, full of detail, and looked really good, and seeing things like lighting a torch at night time with the stars out really is awesome. Some of us just sat and talked under the night sky just for the fun of it and even some of the other players started to use renaissance accents to really get in the spirit of things. Sound-wise, the voices were very clear even at distances. Things like chopping wood or hitting metal sounded like they should, which is always good for the immersion of Virtual Reality.
If there is anything I would like to see added is the ability to add more players instead of the max cap of 8. I know this helps with the server-side of things, but more the merrier. Second, I would love to see the ability of raids with other players and then having a jail when a player is captive or just needs a time out. There are just so many things that could be added here, that I can’ wait to see what comes next.
A Township Tale shows us how much fun it can be when you add others to the mix and allow others to have fun. It shows that even though there are times when we may be shy, the opportunity to speak to others and others to speak to us and to be heard is there. We all have a story to tell. It just takes one person to listen to hear what someone has to say and to show that we don’t have to go on this journey, that we call life, alone.
A Township Tale is out now for PCVR and for the Oculus Quest/Quest 2 on the Oculus Store.
To learn more about the game please visit the site, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, follow them on Instagram, join their Discord, join their Reddit, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
Also, check out A Township Tale interview.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy.
