Game of the Month #43 (August 2018) - Stories: The Path of Destinies

Stories: The Path of Destinies is an action-RPG set in a vibrant fairytale universe filled with floating islands, majestic airships, and colorful magic. Reynardo, ex-pirate and unintentional hero, suddenly becomes the last line of the defense against the mad Emperor and his countless ravens. Can he come up with a plan that won�t blow up in his face, for a change?

We may have defeated Bubsy the Pretender, but this victory is nothing if not Pyrric--for, although we move forward, we do so in the knowledge that the diabolical bobcat came within a hair's breadth of triumph. And for that we shall be haunted by sleepless nights and nightmares of low-poly Woolies dancing their eldritch shuffle.

Can't wait to start Stories though!

I started Stories a few days ago. It seems quite a bit like furry Bastion. There's both good and bad points to it I would say, so far. Without getting spoilery,
Good:
-storybook format is charming
-artwork is nice when it's being shown
-easy achievements
Bad:
-buggy
-not a fan of the 3D model graphics
-not being able to skip the voice-over is annoying
-combat is too simple

That's my feelings about it so far, but they may change depending on the story and whether the difficulty ramps up.

My first run was fun. It took only 1h20m, but in the end, I understood why. I'll keep playing for sure. The game is fun and feels ok. The narrator is fine and not invasive in my opinion. Visuals are nice and simple. Combat is not hard and the gameplay mecanics are well done. Can't wait to get more pieces of the story ! Great entertainment so far...

Warning ! Big spoilers ahead !

My first run ended up being Story #11. To get there, I made these choices :
1 - Save Lapino
2 - Find Zenobia
3 - Reject Lapino's Plan
4 - Don't trust Zenobia

Right just had my first hour of the game so first impressions.

I like how the story is told like someone is narrating a children's books to me with the silly voices and quips here and there gives some nice character to game but still i feel it's trying to much to be like bastion in it's narration and narrating everything you do when it only really needs to narrate the story.

The game play is simplistic but solid and plays more like a arkham game in a isometric view point. I can't say yet whether it is going to hold the game fully throughout the whole game but it is sufficient for now.

The game seems really prepped for multiple playthrough's with branching paths and locked doors you can't access just yet.

I completed it about a year ago when it became free on PS+. While I enjoyed it at the time, it didn't leave much of an impression on me afterwards. Even now, I'm struggling to recall story and gameplay details which I can do easily for other stuff I've enjoyed.

I'll probably have to play it again to give some proper thoughts.

Got ending 5. The fighting was fine, but I really wished there was more enemy variety. The enemies introduced in the later chapters are interesting, but they are very seldom used and just for the final stretch of the game.

For people that have done several of the endings, is it worth it going so many times through the game? The locked doors seemed to lead to very small areas and I'm not sure if so small variation can keep the same levels interesting multiple times.

Got ending 5. The fighting was fine, but I really wished there was more enemy variety. The enemies introduced in the later chapters are interesting, but they are very seldom used and just for the final stretch of the game.

For people that have done several of the endings, is it worth it going so many times through the game? The locked doors seemed to lead to very small areas and I'm not sure if so small variation can keep the same levels interesting multiple times.

On balance I'd say yes, but only because it's relatively short. I think it took about five hours for me to get the true ending.

While there's a lot of repetition, it's worth noting that different choices usually lead to different areas for you to explore.

Do you have to play through something like 26 times for the platinum?

25 playthroughs (don’t worry they are short, 45mins each!) + Additional Grinding

So far, I got through stories #11, #21 and #4.

It's very interesting to see that even if you startup with a path you've already done, some levels end up being different. The very first chapter was way different the second time I started the loop again.

Also I got lucky I guess since my three runs were enough to help me uncover three of the four truths. I might not get so lucky next time. I wonder if I could get the 4th truth right away ?! ;) No cheating ! I know it's possible to find all 24 paths online, but it would spoil all the fun ! 3h30m into it and I'm liking it so far...

I completed it about a year ago when it became free on PS+. While I enjoyed it at the time, it didn't leave much of an impression on me afterwards. Even now, I'm struggling to recall story and gameplay details which I can do easily for other stuff I've enjoyed.

I'll probably have to play it again to give some proper thoughts.

Glad I came and read this thread. I enjoyed watching the trailer on Steam, but was bummed the game wasn't on sale.
Turns out, I've already redeemed this game free on PS+ so just need to download it on the PS4.

Looking forward to finally participating in a GOTM.

Just completed my 4th run. Ended up being Story #2.

I've noticed that some stories have different versions. Sometimes, the narrator and the cut scenes will make references to truths lea red before. That means that if you do a path before or after learning a specific truth, you might get something different. It's cleverly done.

So far, I don't think this game is the most memorable one I've done, but it's definitely a game that fits with what I like. Battles are a bit repetitive, but I'd still give the game a solid 8/10.

I'll keep playing for sure. I want to know what is the 4th truth I haven't found yet and I wa t to see the ending !! I don't think I'll complete all 24 paths, but I'll do many more for sure !

Right just completed the game in just under 7 hours.

I'll write up a review later but a general view on the game is that it's an interesting story concept held back by a lack of variety in the gameplay

For those interested, I'll be playing live on Facebook tonight. It will be my 5th run. I might do a 6th run too after that... It obviously contains spoilers...

https://www.facebook.com/michel.morand1/videos/1886644824717121/

Edit : It ended up being spoilers alright ! I got the 4th truth and managed to reach the end of the game on the first try. Well, once you know the truths, I guess it's easy to make the right choices... hehehe !

For my final review. I just completed the game in roughly 6h15m. I took me five runs to find the four truths, then I choose the right path for the final and true ending on my first attempt. But I guess that once you know the truths and choose according to them, it's easy.

My final score would be a 8/10. I will be playing a bit more then complete more stories. After all, I have completed only 5 of the 24 availables paths. But I won't complete all 24. It would be too repetitive and long. The story book thing and the choices are really well done in my opinion. The game is fun, looks good and has a good soundtrack.

Stories: the path of destinies is built around the idea of a choose your own adventure where your expected to fail to find the truths to reach the true ending of the game. The whole concept is interesting at times but held back by a lack of variety within the game.

The story itself works well with the game working in very small loops through the end where a truth can be unlocked depending on the choices the player takes throughout the game (there are 24 possible endings with 4 different truths to collect to reach the true ending). Most of this is told through a narrator which is for me a mixed bag, The main story points are well told where the narrator will make voices for each character and it feels like like a bed time story being told to me, unfortunately it is held back by two problems. The first being that it at times tries too hard to be bastion and narrates all of my actions through games which was too obnoxious at times and just didn’t stack up to supergiants efforts in narrating. The other problem is that the humor is all reference based which is just lazy and not very funny and just pulled me out of the game.

The soundtrack though is fantastically done with a gorgeous thunderous chants at time which reminded me a bit of the latest god of war game.

The gameplay unfortunately is the biggest problem with the game. It has a solid base with a arkham-esque fighting style where it is more about rhythm then combos in the fighting but this is all held back by a lack of variety in the game. While you do have a few moves available to you (slash, dash, pull and grab) they are rarely needed as most enemies can be dealt with the standard slash attack, the only exceptions being warlocks and shielded enemies but the shielded enemies can be overcome by a gem which turns them into a new enemy and the warlocks just keep running away each time you slash at them. The game ultimately needed a more variety in the enemy types as all you do is fight ravens, it also could’ve done with a few boss fights thrown in there at times.

The level design is set basically around 10ish levels which are relatively shortish levels which due to the nature of the game means they are meant to be replayed. They tried to get around this by opening paths and changing the path of which the player takes but it doesn’t take away the problem that you will be repeating levels multiple times especially the last level where you at minimum will need to do 5 times without many changes to the path you take.

Ultimately Stories: The path of destinies is a commendable effort in trying to try something new and it has a great solid base but I felt that the developer did not have enough resources to really make it work and it is held back by too much repetition. The game may of held up much better with a bit more levels and more variety in the enemies but alas the game we got in the ended up being held back ultimately by this lack of variety.

6/10

I completed the game today, I explored 5 other paths before the final one, 4 of them were basically just to get the truths and one I was just curious to see how it worked out. I didn't love it and I didn't hate it.

I didn't mind the combat, I have nothing against the "arkham style" stuff, I think when it is done right that it can keep a nice frenetic pace to the game even if it does lack some variety. I do think however this is one game where the combat gets worse the more you play it, well more specifically, if you allocate skill points into the "Time" branch. The whole time slow mechanic just doesn't feel right, it has this awkward lurchiness to it that I can't remember being an issue in any other game that employed such a mechanic. I'd be bouncing between targets, countering attacks, some slow down would occur and it just ended up feeling like the game was eating my inputs during that. With no way to take points out of the tree or otherwise disable it, felt pretty annoying.

A similar thing happens with the Combo tree, you end up getting a nice skill that pretty much allows you to insta kill enemies after a certain combo chain, it's a really nice idea for late game since if you're doing the same stuff for the Nth time you want to be cutting through these enemies quickly. Then comes the exploding enemies, who completely ruin that by making your swift dispatching capabilities a liability. The magnetic lock on of the attacks, then combined with another skill that makes you target at any range, you will likely end up accidentally getting exploded. It's just unfortunate.

I thought the narration was done just alright as well, but they straight up haven't understood why Bastion worked so well. The Kid in Bastion was a silent protagonist,having your actions described by a third party was novel, literally. It doesn't make sense to me to have a character who is capable of speaking while also having a narrator describe what's going on, and it makes even less sense, when it happens on more occasions than once, where the narrator describes things that AREN'T happening at all. Like saying how Reynardo is dancing around mocking his enemies when he's neither saying, nor doing such.

The writing at times wasn't great. Best example is the intro where the word "kid" is used at least 25 times. We're then reminded constantly about how we have to deal with the Emperor while never encountering him, or even a single toad enemy in the game, and just having to accept for whatever reason that ravens work for them. For all it's unique storytelling potential, it at various times does a really poor job at conveying that story through the medium of the actual game.

Otherwise though I did enjoy it. I like the structure, how the various plots change depending on your choices. I won't ramble on too much here, plus I have things to do, but that's just what I can think of off the top of my head for the time being.

I finally had an opportunity to get started on this today, but when I opened my Steam account, I saw I didn't even have it. I guess I must not have picked it up while it was free after all. Since my pockets aren't exactly overflowing with cash, I'll unfortunately probably miss out on this one. Bummer, but it sounds like it's kind of "just okay," so I suppose I'm not missing out on too much.

I finally had an opportunity to get started on this today, but when I opened my Steam account, I saw I didn't even have it. I guess I must not have picked it up while it was free after all. Since my pockets aren't exactly overflowing with cash, I'll unfortunately probably miss out on this one. Bummer, but it sounds like it's kind of "just okay," so I suppose I'm not missing out on too much.

Check your pm's

Check your pm's

Yooo! Thank you so much!

Well, uh, looks like I'll be returning to this thread in a few days with some impressions.

The game is good! But it was so repetitive. It is as if the idea sounded so good but the execution made the game a bit worse. Kudos to the combat system, kind of unique even though it is not deep.

6/10.

I do enjoyed it, but I also had a very particular problem. In my case, I don't usually play sequels before the first game, but I received a press copy of Omensight and I had to play Omensight for reviewing before Stories. Well, it is not a sequel, it is a spiritual successor as the game is set in the same universe but has its own original story that has nothing to do with Stories. The problem is, it is actually a "sequel" of the concept. It is basically the same idea but polished, and I got to say it works better.

So, if you enjoyed Stories try Omensight! Takes the idea further and it is a better game.

I probably would have enjoyed Stories more if I'd played it first, though. I'm curious about what they can do in their next game. Don't know if they are going to keep working on that very same concept or if they are going to move to new things.

The game is good! But it was so repetitive. It is as if the idea sounded so good but the execution made the game a bit worse. Kudos to the combat system, kind of unique even though it is not deep.

6/10.

I do enjoyed it, but I also had a very particular problem. In my case, I don't usually play sequels before the first game, but I received a press copy of Omensight and I had to play Omensight for reviewing before Stories. Well, it is not a sequel, it is a spiritual successor as the game is set in the same universe but has its own original story that has nothing to do with Stories. The problem is, it is actually a "sequel" of the concept. It is basically the same idea but polished, and I got to say it works better.

So, if you enjoyed Stories try Omensight! Takes the idea further and it is a better game.

I probably would have enjoyed Stories more if I'd played it first, though. I'm curious about what they can do in their next game. Don't know if they are going to keep working on that very same concept or if they are going to move to new things.

I beat the game over the weekend. It took me six runs, and 5h30m, to complete.

My overall impression of this game is a negative one. I think the concept is pretty smart, and for the majority of the game the discovery of 'truths' helps drive everything forward. I didn't like the true ending much, but everything that came before it story-wise was still good. The music wasn't bad either - nothing spectacular, or memorable, but fitting and enjoyable while it lasted.

The combat, on the other hand was utter rubbish:
-It is shallow. You have one attack button, with a couple of variations on that same button, and 2-3 alternative moves. Button-mashing is viable and sort of encouraged.
-I dislike how minimal the 'incoming parry opportunity' icon is. I missed it enough for it to be annoying.
-I hate the fact that the parry is mapped to the attack button. Numerous times I would move to parry and instead attack an enemy next to the onrushing attacker, losing my combo as a result.
-This is compounded by weird auto-targeting by the ai. It is especially bad with the exploding enemies; more often than not, the game thought that, rather than attacking a nearby grunt after lighting the proverbial fuse, I was really trying to take another swing at the exploding enemy so that it would explode and halve my health...

The combat is all the game really has, so these failings in its systems are much more impactful than they might otherwise be. I gave the game a 5/10. On reflection, this was probably very generous of me.

The grind to do all the stories and hit max level, while easy, is pretty tedious. There are some nice touches here and there but nothing mind blowing.

I beat the game over the weekend. It took me six runs, and 5h30m, to complete.

My overall impression of this game is a negative one. I think the concept is pretty smart, and for the majority of the game the discovery of 'truths' helps drive everything forward. I didn't like the true ending much, but everything that came before it story-wise was still good. The music wasn't bad either - nothing spectacular, or memorable, but fitting and enjoyable while it lasted.

The combat, on the other hand was utter rubbish:
-It is shallow. You have one attack button, with a couple of variations on that same button, and 2-3 alternative moves. Button-mashing is viable and sort of encouraged.
-I dislike how minimal the 'incoming parry opportunity' icon is. I missed it enough for it to be annoying.
-I hate the fact that the parry is mapped to the attack button. Numerous times I would move to parry and instead attack an enemy next to the onrushing attacker, losing my combo as a result.
-This is compounded by weird auto-targeting by the ai. It is especially bad with the exploding enemies; more often than not, the game thought that, rather than attacking a nearby grunt after lighting the proverbial fuse, I was really trying to take another swing at the exploding enemy so that it would explode and halve my health...

The combat is all the game really has, so these failings in its systems are much more impactful than they might otherwise be. I gave the game a 5/10. On reflection, this was probably very generous of me.

What was it about the true ending you didn't like. I wasn't a fan of it either, just wondering if the same things bothered you, plus I only explored one branch of the "true end" path so I'm not even sure if you can fail it. They weren't required endings for the 100% so I never bothered to check them out. So maybe you took a different route than I did and it still succeeded? just curious.