Lost Words: Beyond the Page

 Switch
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 16
  3. Negative: 1 out of 16
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  1. COGconnected
    Mar 30, 2021
    74
    Sketchbook Games have created a truly fascinating experience that sensitively deals with trauma. Even though Lost Words suffers from a few gameplay issues, its narrative carries the game to incredible heights. For those looking for an emotional, grief-ridden title, look no further.
  2. WellPlayed
    Apr 2, 2021
    60
    Playing through the thoughts and emotions that Izzy's feeling during a difficult time in her life is confronting and heartfelt in equal measure, making it all the more disappointing that Lost Words' core mechanic lets it down so much.
  3. Game Rant
    Mar 30, 2021
    50
    While Lost Words portrays the experience of loss from a younger perspective with a stunningly talented voice actress, but in the end, what's left is the story of a girl traveling through the five stages of grief. Though Lost Words: Beyond the Page attempts to reach beyond that is still a touching story, most of the depth in this gorgeous indie game is blocked by rudimentary symbols and adolescent cliches.

Awards & Rankings

96
#96 Best Switch Game of 2021

User Reviews

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User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 11
  3. Negative: 1 out of 11
  1. Pastel1360
    Dec 22, 2022
    5
    Lost Words: Beyond the Page has received plenty of praise: awards in 2021 and 2022, favorable reviews here and in other game stores... oneLost Words: Beyond the Page has received plenty of praise: awards in 2021 and 2022, favorable reviews here and in other game stores... one would imagine this is a gold nugget, and for many people I am sure it is. For me, it wasn't.

    The game is two-layered: there's a girl writing in her journal and creating a story, so you participate in both activities. The story she creates is heavily influenced by what she's going through in real life (she faces loss and has to learn to process grief), and I found the narrative nice, but fully predictable after the first half hour of playing.

    Gameplay-wise, there isn't much. The game is based on moving words around and seeing how they impact the world, in a way not too dissimilar to Max and the quest of Brotherhood and its magic markers. However, where Max adds a bit of a challenge in terms of puzzle and sometimes a bit of skill and timing, I felt that Lost Words: Beyond the Page didn't require any skill to play, and found puzzles obvious and repetitive.

    There are large sections of the game where the pace is imposed: there is text appearing as you move, so you are forced to move at a certain pace to read it, sometimes you need to press a button to advance a dialogue. There are sections where you advance fast, which should be exhilarating, but there's absolutely no control as the game does it for you and reuses the same animations that feel repetitive quickly.

    I am not sure what audience this game targets. It could be teenage / pree-tenage gamers going through a similar story as the protagonist (in that case, I would argue that there might be better media to help them process their feelings), but even for them the gameplay side of things would be too basic. The gameplay could work for a younger audience, but in that case they might be lost on the wider message.

    For me, a "mature" (euphemism for older) gamer, this was not a satisfying experience. I believe some of the reviews I read before buying were saying "we don't want to spoil things by going into much detail", and so I have tried to remain spoiler-free but still provide as much detail as possible.    … Full Review »
  2. tonyozhelev
    Feb 1, 2023
    6
    The story is very predictable. It will probably move people who lost dear ones, as it did for me, but even though I was emotional I didn'tThe story is very predictable. It will probably move people who lost dear ones, as it did for me, but even though I was emotional I didn't really like some of the writing. While the journal parts of the game are fine, the story writing parts made me feel cringy and confused at times. Puzzles are kinda easy, but I enjoyed them. What I didn't like was that in the story there are some moments that can leave you confused and if I didn't know the game is like 2 hours long I probably wouldn't have kept on playing. It all makes sense in the end, but I guess I kinda didn't like the way it was writen an presented. It's a decent 2 hour story, with a little bit of bad writing here and there. It's free on PS Plus Extra right now, so I'd say go for it if you want something really casual.… Full Review »
  3. b00lpr0p
    Dec 11, 2022
    3
    The game is boring, the story is boring, the puzzles cannot even be named "puzzles" because they are so obvious, there is no challenge at all.
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