The new Steam MMORPG Book of Travels (Windows//Mac/Linux) impresses with features that are uncommon in the genre. Among other things, it has only 30 people on a server. Thus, the “massive” becomes “tiny,” as Book of Travels aims to be a TMORPG.
What is a TMORPG? The abbreviation TMORPG stands for Tiny Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. The developer has thus removed and replaced the “massive.” In Book of Travels, a maximum of 30 players play together on one server.
It is intended that on your journey, you may encounter other players, but they will not be a permanent part of the game if you don’t want them to be. So if you meet another player, you can decide, like in Journey, whether you want to go with them or continue your journey alone.
The reference to Journey is no coincidence, as the interaction between players is also similar. The game does not offer a chat for communication but relies entirely on emotes. The developers hope to achieve a special type of bonding between players this way.
Your characters are also meant to build a bond together, as in Book of Travels you are not just clicking through a world with one character but becoming the character. The emphasis in the game is clearly on RPG, as you can expect a real role-playing experience here.
Here we see the latest announcement trailer for the game:
How does character creation work? The game is supposed to offer more than 20 different appearances and a particularly detailed character sheet. The focus of character creation is on personality and identity. More classic attributes and “classes” are meant to play a lesser role.
The developers place great importance on players experiencing the game as the character they want to be and having a true role-playing experience, where they can immerse themselves in their role and the world of Book of Travels.
Nevertheless, the game features a skill tree that can shine with over 300 skills. You can unlock these as usual by earning experience. This works through exploration, gathering, trading, and combat.
What else is in Book of Travels?
What gameplay features will there be? The game primarily attracts with world exploration and a focus on role-playing, but that’s not all it has to offer. The following gameplay aspects are included in the game:
- Detailed character creation
- The ability to play cooperatively through various talents
- More and more emotes to unlock for interaction with other players
- You encounter far fewer players than in a regular MMORPG, but these encounters are supposed to be more interesting
- An immersive world that tells a story worth exploring
- A refined trading system for better role-playing
- Exciting battles and magical creatures
- The ability to improve your character by trading
Despite the 300 skills that can be learned and the promises of exciting combat, Book of Travels is not supposed to focus on battles. Regarding the distribution of experience points in combat, the developer emphasizes: “Fights can be rewarding, but you learn more from defeat than from victory.”
There is no detailed information on this yet, so we can only speculate about combat at this point. It is also unknown how many of the 300 skills will be intended and suitable for combat. However, throughout his presentation, the developer clearly emphasizes his main focus on world exploration and not just playing a character, but your character. (via Book of Travels)
This is the unique graphics style: Another exciting feature of Book of Travels is the graphics style. It feels a bit like you can play a painting. In fact, the backgrounds and maps of the 2.5D graphics are hand-drawn.
By the way, you will move with the mouse in the drawn world of Book of Travels. And not just left and right, but also up and down. So you have three-dimensional movements on a two-dimensional background.
How does it play? The main focus of the game is on discovering the world and its story. The story is not told linearly but is supposed to be conveyed by the world and function through loosely connected events. The main story is divided into several chapters that are supposed to run over a certain period.
The system works similarly to the Living World Season 1 from Guild Wars 2. Here, a continuous story is told through world events, but this brings the significant disadvantage that players who start later can no longer play the old story events.
The developers are aware of this problem, and they offer a solution for it – as a player who starts later, you can watch the past events in small cutscenes. However, you cannot actually play the events anymore.
A first insight into the actual gameplay of the game is provided by the developer himself in an approximately 30-minute video. You can see how he creates his character and then moves through the world.
Additionally, there are first glimpses into the various systems and menus of Book of Travels. You can already see how the trading works.
When can you play it? There is currently no release date, but the game will launch into the Early Access program on Steam on August 9. (via Steam).
You can still pre-order Book of Travels until the start of the Early Access program via Kickstarter. The cheapest package costs €23.50 and gives you access to the game, your name in the game credits, and a free copy of the game Meadow, which was developed by the same studio.
The most expensive package currently costs €70 and offers 21 games and DLCs from the studio, an invitation to a Discord party with the developers, and some digital artworks as well as the complete soundtrack of the game. (via Backerkit.com)
What does the community say about the game?
How is the announcement received? The developers were able to attract over 7000 supporters on Kickstarter and raise over €240,000 for their game. The reactions were mostly positive, as their previous game Meadow also relied on a similar way of communication between players.
On reddit, the announcement of the game has also been very well received so far. Especially the unique graphics style appeals to many users:
- “The graphics style is so beautiful that I will support the game, even though it’s not personally for me.” – stokastic_variable (via reddit)
- “After playing Meadow, I see that you [developer] really know how to make social interaction in online games unforgettable. Funny that it is a more rewarding social experience in Meadow than being mute animals walking across a pasture and doing nothing than being in a city with hundreds of players.” – YOUR_DEAD_TAMAGOTCHI (via reddit)
- “I think this is exactly the game I have been waiting for.” – TheCanadalorian (via Twitter)
What do the negative opinions say? Of course, there are not only positive opinions about the game, and we want to disclose both sides as well.
- A user named Redthrist (via reddit) writes: “How small are we talking about? How rare should one encounter other players? […] I hope it’s not like No Man’s Sky and you never actually meet other players.”
- The user FUCKDRM has a problem with the transparency of the developers and writes (via reddit): “I have the Secret Cultist rank [a limited-time rank received as a Kickstarter supporter] and I still wonder how it works, and everything you’ve said so far is very vague.”
- Also, the graphics style is not appealing to everyone, as Kyle Jennings (via Facebook) writes: “You lost me with the 2D graphics… Still, good luck.”
However, upon closer inspection of the linked threads on Twitter, reddit, and Facebook, it quickly becomes clear that the overall mood is very positive, and many people are looking forward to the fresh wind that Book of Travels promises.
What do you think of Book of Travels? Do you find the graphics style appealing or off-putting? Did you perhaps even support the game on Kickstarter? Let us know in the comments.
Are you still looking for more to look forward to? These are the 15 currently best MMOs and MMORPGs in 2021.
