Like No Other: The Legend Of The Twin Books Review (Switch)

I’ll solve this legend, even if it kills me!

Like No Other has you play as Dan who is setting out on his first adventure. He took some time off, is off the grid (hopefully that doesn’t mean he left his phone at home), and is not as prepared as he should be. While Dan is playing a dangerous game here, especially when he has a wife waiting, he is setting out to investigate a particular legend he heard. It is said that in Red Pines there was a book, the Spirits’ Book, where someone made a perfect copy. So perfect that you would not be able to tell the difference. Red Pines was abandoned after an earthquake and when evacuating, it’s said that the wrong book was taken. Strangely no one has went back to see if this is true, or to retrieve the book still there, but Dan has decided that he finally is going to find if it was true.

The story is pretty short and lackluster here. There’s quite a bit missing here that could have enhanced it. Like why was Red Pines abandoned? What’s up with the Spirits’ Book and why was it replicated so perfectly? Why does Dan want to see if this legend is true, and what is he planning to do with the real book, so much that he’s risking death? How do we know that the book we’re looking for is the real book and not the replica? Who are the two people that you find in this journey, are they people looking for this book too or past residents? Worse yet, there were opportunities that more information could have been told. Like the two people you can talk to can give you some information, the movie you watch could actually be something you can watch (or played through depending on what it actually shows) as it’s evident that it’s about Red Pines’ history, or maybe the caches could have information.

Throughout the two-ish hours of Like No Other, you’ll be exploring the two main locations of Red Pines. While you don’t click to move, as you have free control with the left stick, you will be clicking to interact with the world. On Switch, that means controlling a cursor with the right stick. It’s a bit awkward, and I wish this had touch controls, but it’s fine and I highly recommend upping the sensitivity. There are a couple items you need to pick up of course and there is an added interaction with you turning a crank yourself whenever you need to turn on a generator or use a lift. Standard point and click stuff.

There are a couple puzzles here which are easy while also not outright telling you what to do. There is one that is a bit vague, but I wasn’t stuck too long on it as the only other option was what the solution was. And I particularly like how in the wolf section there is a way to make it easier (which I tried on a whim and I was so happy it helped me out). However, there was one that stumped me and I felt so stupid while playing until I checked the solution. There is a puzzle where you have to figure out a passcode. The way it was set up it made it look like it was a two number passcode due to no enter button, only two astericks are visibly types, and clicking a third number has the action be like you clicked enter. I put in every two number combination and it does not help Dan tells you the hint a lot (and that the continue button also enters the number you’re hovering over so your next proper guess will activate the hint again). I did find a work around as the solution for a previous puzzle worked to open the safe you needed open, but I was pretty annoyed when I found out it was actually a three number passcode. This really needed an enter button so you know it’s three numbers or at least tell you it’s three numbers.

There are collectibles here in form of caches. These seem to be a callback to the developer’s first game which was a hidden object game. The two main locations have 10 caches each and they are small cylinders that are laying around. They can be hidden behind a tree or a bench or just sitting somewhere that is a bit out of the way normally. I didn’t know this at first, but you do get a hint as a subtle beeping-esque noise will start when you’re in the vicinity. I guess I thought this was part of the background noise, but if you’re intending on finding all of them, you might want to keep an ear out for it as some are pretty tricky to spot.

Sadly, I did have complaints towards Like No Other which all combined lowered my enjoyment. I did feel the writing felt a bit stilted or awkward and I wished the dialogue auto progressed rather than needing you to continue it yourself (unless to skip through it of course). I didn’t like how the majority of the items you can interact with just have Dan say it’s nothing/useless as what’s really the point. There is a case for having interaction dialogue to be too much, too witty, but that’s also the case for it just being nothing. It’s even weirder that there’s one lone box you can open (which has nothing important in it anyway) and it doesn’t look that different from all the other boxes.

Also when you use up an item it stays in your inventory with the value of “0”. I’m guessing this is a side effect of the spoiled milk item, as it’s an item you can get as many as you want and you throw them, but it is weird and a bit annoying (it helps that this is a short game).

Like No Other does also perform well on Switch, but I did have two crashes at the end. The game autosaves a lot, so it wasn’t a problem, but I do wonder if it’s because I used the aforementioned workaround for that passcode puzzle.

Verdict

Despite finding Like No Other interesting when I heard about it, it sadly didn’t turn out to be, well, that interesting. I like the art style, the premise was interesting, and the puzzles aren’t so easy you’re basically given the soltion; however the story was lackluster and there was a lack of quality-of-life improvements that could have helped it turn out better. I just didn’t really enjoy my time as much as I thought. I honestly don’t think the price is worth it for this game, but it doesn’t hide how long this game is on the store page at least. Maybe if you’re not expecting too much, maybe as this is still an overall okay point and click game, but you’re going to leave disappointed if you’re expecting more than this game gives you.