Like a mirage of a soothing oasis in the desert that disappears when you get closer, KatGames’ fifth game in the Dream Chronicles series, The Book Of Water, sure is gorgeous to look at. But the beauty is largely illusory with little substance behind it, as you’ll quickly speed your way through a barely-existent story and its simple, repetitive puzzles. It’s all set against a beautiful, fantastical backdrop once again, but even then it’s one that returning players will have already seen most of before.

You play the game as Lyra, the half-fairy, half-mortal daughter of Faye and Fidget, inhabitants of the quaint little town of Wish. Lyra is returning home from her journeys in the previous game, The Book Of Air, only to discover that the town has been visited by the vengeful Fairy Queen of Dreams, Lilith. It seems Fidget had hidden the powerful Book of Water from Lilith, and she sought her revenge by descending upon Wish, bringing with her an eternal storm and casting a spell that left Fidget in a coma. Faye has departed in an attempt to stop Lilith, leaving Lyra alone to save both her father and the town.

Lyra’s quest includes little more than tracking down a potion that will cure her father, then locating the Book of Water itself for a spell to defeat Lilith’s storm. This journey is guided by a series of notes left by her mother, which aren’t particularly well hidden, often just sitting on the floor for you to pick up. Why these would escape Lilith’s notice is beyond me. Nevertheless, they help you make your way to fixing your broken airship and traveling across the various lands surrounding Wish. Opposing you at every turn is Lilith, whose disembodied voice warns Lyra away. She occasionally causes some mischief to slow you down as well, but this is merely a temporary inconvenience that helps fill up barely two hours of gameplay.

Your extremely linear travels take you through absolutely gorgeous scenery, with some scenes jam-packed with small animations. Everywhere you turn you’re met with intricate details and stylish swirls and curlicues straight out of the Art Nouveau period. The colors are gorgeously matched, with dark lavenders mingling with velvet indigoes and warm tans swirling with rosy hues. Two toy soldiers bend at the waist, greeting you at the front door of the town’s toy store. The store itself houses miniature camels racing around a track, rocking horses, and planetary mobiles swinging below a starry ceiling. The design is meticulous, right down to the small clamshell cabinet handles in a fishing shop.

While keeping the same fairy-like ethos, each of the different locations you visit has a slightly different feel to it, from the dark coziness of Wish to the floating houses in Barge city to the dry, arid wasteland of the Crater of Time. Unfortunately, many locations are ripped straight from previous games, with return stops at Merrow’s house, the Nexus, and the forge, among others. That’s fine for newcomers, but it’s little consolation for series veterans who have not only been there before but done that, too. Even some of the puzzles are simplified repeats of earlier challenges, like potion-making and repairing broken windmills.

Segueing between chapters in the story, the cutscenes are pans over static, hand-drawn pencil drawings all composed on pages of book as if you were being read a fairy tale. Traveling between major locations involves a large airship (itself returning from the last game, though no longer needing to be minigame-powered), which also contains a beautifully rendered map. This map features delightful animations like a serpent undulating in the sea and a cheerful sun blowing a puffy cloud across the sky. There’s a similar map in your journal, but it’s useless as you can’t use it to quick travel anywhere.

But The Book Of Water isn’t just a beautiful travelogue through fairyland. In addition to the obstacles Lilith throws your way, such as sending a bolt of lightning to knock out power or a gust of wind to shatter an object you might need, the people of this world enjoy puzzle locks. The toymaker won’t allow people to enter his shop until they’ve solved a puzzle first, though helpfully he’s left clues to the puzzle in a note sitting on the ground right in front of the door. Even the town itself is puzzle-locked. Wish is rather insulated, so it keeps its doors shut with an elaborate weight mechanism that you’ll need to figure out. Some of the puzzles are beautifully designed, such as a putting together an intricate model train that lets off a toot of steam as you finish.