The Girl of Glass: A Summer Bird's Tale (PC) Review

Girl of Glass begins like a normal point-and-click adventure: players controller a character, in this case Kristal, and guide her around a series of screens looking for collectible items, talking to people and animals, and solving puzzles. It deviates from the formula by having a turn-based battle system, though. Each character in the party can attack, block, or focus in for a stronger attack later on. While some battles are sharply more difficult than others, finding a battle system paired up with a point-and-click adventure is a nice touch, and makes this more exciting, and alive.

The story is the definite strongpoint of Girl of Glass. Immediately the world is foreign and whimsical, not unlike the circus the story starts out in, but it still contains familiar language and objects, like cars and machinery. The narrative asks only for some suspension of disbelief as it takes crazy turn after crazy turn. The characters are likeable, both in personality and design, and the art direction throughout the game is colourful and fun, like something out of a picture book.

Things are never quite as they seem. Here, storytelling is a tool, and while there is whimsy and fantasy throughout, there are also lessons and morals sprinkled in. Things are kept fresh by the various dialogue options; while most don't seem to change much, they do impact dialogue and character interactions, something that manages to pull the player in even more.