Stories: The Path of Destinies

Stories: The Path of Destinies

A simple action RPG with an interesting approach to storytelling

Summary

Stories is a PC/Console ARPG. You basically click buttons to kill enemies. As you level up you gain abilities to kill enemies better, but the enemies get tougher. 

Meanwhile, a narrator describes the story. At first it seems like a generic hero saves the world story with a few choose your own adventure options. However, at the end of the story you die and discover that each decision you make leads to a different ending. Each ending will reveal one of four discoveries. Once all four discoveries have been learned, new choices will become available and one path will win the game.

The Action

Action RPG isn't my favorite genre. I love me some Diablo, but 3rd person dodge/parry/thrust games make me want to play an FPS. The action in Stories is simple enough to be fun. There is just barely enough variety of enemies and abilities to keep the action from being boring. Leveling up is fun enough but not that special.

The Story

I am totally jaded to stories. I have seen them all so it takes something special to make me notice. Stories is a little bit special. The basic story is a typical "hero saves the world" trope. However, while most stories are told linearly, the full story is revealed after multiple replays. The narrator does a great job remember your past choices to influence your future choices. For example, the first time you play, the choices might be "save your friend, find the powerful artifact, or contact the rebel base", but after you learn your friend is a traitor, the first choice might be, "save your friend, even though he is likely a traitor". 

Because you see the story from so many different angles, you can't help but become engaged. 

Spoilers or No?

For most games I don't mind reading spoilers if it will save me trouble. If I die to a boss three or four times, I'll check Google to find out the trick. If I'm about to leave a zone, I might read a guide to see if there is anything I should grab now so I don't have to come back later.

In Stories there are 25 different endings but only 5 are mandatory to win the game. After seeing 2 or 3, I knew I was not going to be a completionist so I read spoilers to finish the game after about 7 endings. That was great for me because the game was at a high point for fun. There were plenty more skills to unlock, but none of them excited me. 

I would suggest holding off on spoilers for as long as the game is engaging. You can milk a lot of fun times out of this game. On the other hand, you can cheat and win, and still go back to see everything you missed. 

Should You Buy It?

Yes, if you are looking for an action RPG with a unique style of storytelling.