Wonderbook: Book of Potions brings new J.K. Rowling prose to bear on the PlayStation’s most engaging controller for young players.
Although Wonderbook titles may not have been as forthcoming as they might, the news that J.K. Rowling has penned a new title for the PlayStation Move MOVE -0.04% peripheral goes a long way to righting these wrongs. Wonderbook: Book of Potions builds on the experience and technology that London Studio pioneered with Eye Pet and their previous Wonderbook title, Book of Spells.
However, unlike the original where Rowling had written a set of poems under the guise of Miranda Goshall here she takes on the moniker of a brand new character Zygmunt Budge with more ambitious narrative and storytelling — a distinction sure to make both PlayStation and Rowling fans excited.
As the title suggests, this time the player is learning how to find ingredients and concoct various potions with magical effects. This means that not only is the Move controller put to more use but also the Wonderbook itself. As in Diggs Nightcrawlers there are some clever mechanics around the rotation and orientation of the book.
In our hands-on session with the game there was a moment when the player had to search for a particular fruit on a tree. However it’s winter time and the tree is bear. They soon discover that rotating the book not only lets them look around it but also changes the seasons. As they turn it round they move from Autumn to Winter to Spring and then Summer, where they can find the fruit they need for the potion.
The Move controller also has a wider range of uses, being called upon to mix, bash, stir and magnify various elements in the pursuit of the perfect potion. It makes the experience feel more tactile and engaging and is likely to draw in a wider audience.
The game also makes more use of hidden objects and secrets than in the Book of Spells. Using the PlayStation Move controller as a magnifying glass (like we saw in Diggs Nightcrawlers) means that players can find collectables in each chapter, and have more reason to replay the game once they have finished the main story.
But more than the clever technology or the novel controls it is the art style and Rowling’s magical writing that really makes Book of Potions stand out. Seeing these stories come to life on the page and interacting with them in real time is spine tingling stuff. More than once during the demo the hairs on the back of my head stood up.
Although I’m still keen to see more titles coming to Wonderbook, and the peripheral making good on its “one book, many stories” promise, adding Book of Potions to the library is a big step in the right direction. Fingers crossed for commercial success here to tempt in more third party developers to have a stab at something on Wonderbook.
I’d love to see the likes of Giant Sparrow apply their creativity to the Move-Book combo.This could nudge the peripheral from family novelty into a real game changer of gaming experiences for all ages. Beyond that there is real scope for other big brands to get on board. A Disney Infinity or Skylanders Swap Force experience would be a fascinating proposition as they could mix up their toy figures and the Book controller to create a totally new game-play experience.
I’ll leave you with a play through of the first level:
If you can’t wait for Book of Potions to be released, why not check out the Pottermore area in PlayStation home where you can explore Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express EXPR -0.77% and take on a variety of mini-games. The experience is slowly growing to add collecting and sharing games like the Pottermore Trading Cards, not to mention a liberal helping of Book Herding — something my kids seem to have become mildly addicted to.
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