Lost Words: Beyond the Page (Nintendo Switch) Review

Starting out as diary, with the story written on the page and spoken by Izzy, sentences are not written in simple straight lines in Lost Words: Beyond the Page. Depending on the tone of the narration, the words can change size and style as they appear. Once a page is written the words act like platforms, which must be traversed by the little character to unlock the next part of the story which takes place in the imaginary world in Izzy's head. The words themselves need to be moved or have the cursor move over them for them to change size so they can be used for platforms to reach the page's exit. Sometimes words are missing and they have to put into the right place so that they make sense. At several parts in the story it is completely up to the player to choose which words they want to fit the sentence: several options are given and whichever is chosen will be used and does affect the story in a small way, creating options for replaying the game and choosing a different path.

When the story flips to Izzy's imaginary world, instead of using an ordinary diary as the main platform it looks more like a traditional platformer, with words appearing on the screen and also spoken as Izzy narrates them. There are spells which, when deployed, help the protagonist get around impossibly tall walls, crawl underground and protect themselves from harm. Some of the spells can be used countless times, even when they are not required, others only appear when they are needed, unable to be used out of context for the sheer fun of it. It can take a bit of time to work out how to activate the spells, it is not always explained what needs to be done and what they are for, but once the knowledge is learnt it becomes easier to progress through that fictional world.

It can be infuriating having the story then switch back to the diary because it almost always happens at a crucial moment when finding out what happens next is of vital importance. The diary entries can be positive but more often they deal with a lot of difficult emotions; with Izzy's grandmother getting ill, how Izzy feels about the situation and also how her mother reacts to it. The type of animation in the diary matches the mood of that scene, which due to the nature of the game is often sad and confusing.

The exploration of emotions is so important and could well help those who are going through similar difficulties in real life, or prepare them for it when it happens. As both Izzy and the other protagonist discover, loved ones are not invincible, nor will they always be around. Creating a fictional story as a way to work out her emotions helps Izzy cope with the trauma she faces, which feels so raw and at times overwhelming. During those moments Izzy's fictional tale sees her character go through a similar experience, getting rather bleak and hope definitely vanishes for a while. Both colours and soundtrack are crucial in creating dramatic atmosphere, working in harmony to make intense scenes that may mean some have to take a break from the game if the emotions strike close to home. However, the advantage of the story being in her head means that Izzy has the power to give the fictional character a happier ending than she has. Izzy can not turn back time or magic happy solutions from thin air for her own life, but she learns to hold on to wise words from her family which give her hope and help her forge forward and regain hope in what is a trying time.