Stories: The Path of Destinies Reviews
Some of the more painful and disappointing types of games to play are those that have obvious potential but are unable to truly shine as a result of some preventable blunders. Stories: The Path of Destinies is unfortunately one of those titles.
It's like that easy beach reading book that you enjoyed for a few hours on holiday, and then put back on the shelf never to read again.
Solid action-RPG gameplay is elevated by the meta-puzzle that is the game's branching storylines. The entertaining trial and error of trying to find the one "good" ending channels Choose Your Own Adventure books, and lends itself to a story that you'll love playing again and again.
When you take it for what it is, Stories: The Path of Destinies is a cute, charming isometric action-RPG with a central idea that feels fresh and unique.
Stories: The Path of Destinies may not redefine the way we think about narrative choice in video games, but it doesn't have to: it's just damn good fun. The idea of playing a game repeatedly to experience all its branching paths may bring to mind unnecessary padding and repetition, but the developers at Spearhead Games clearly took the initiative to avoid that. Stories is a lot of fun to play through multiple times, thanks to some thoroughly smooth and enjoyable combat — even though it's snatched its main ideas from the jaws of the Batman: Arkham games — and great level layouts that let you explore new territory even on multiple return trips. From an aesthetic perspective, I really think a lot of players will dig the fairytale-inspired character design and colorful environments, which might help them overlook the occasional technical hiccups. Overall, this is one action-RPG fans won't want to miss.
I enjoyed carving out a hero's path during my time with 'Stories: The Path of Destinies,' and I even entertained a non-gamer with the melodrama inherent to game's branching story. Action game fans will wish for a greater challenge, and everything that the game does well will make players wish that there was more of it.
Most of Stories: The Path of Destinies is hinged upon the idea of discovering the best possible outcomes of its story, no matter how nonsensical it may be at first. It's a clever way to build a narrative, because it's built around the assumption one will fail multiple times while still retaining useful knowledge to apply in a different run.
With its interesting fairy tale feel and engaging mix old and modern gameplay mechanics, Stories: The Path Of Destinies is a love letter to action role playing games of years past. The unique narrative style, the choices system and smooth battle system are quite engaging during the first playthroughs, but the limited amount of content eventually makes the game feel a little repetitive. Even with its issues, however, Stories: The Path Of Destinies is a game that's very well worth the time of action RPG fans.
Stories is a game that has a lot of heart. Sure, there are plenty of things in this game that I have seen before in some form or fashion, but it never stopped me from having a fantastic time with it. The look and stories that are told are fun and exciting to see play out, and the combat works just as well as the caped crusader's adventures.
Stories: The Path of Destinies offers an interesting narrative, unique plot progression system and often enjoyable gameplay. However, it's held back by unfortunate glitches and quite a bit of repetition.
Stories: The Path of Destinies mixes looping narratives, engaging brawler combat, and beautiful scenery to create a compelling indie adventure that should not be overlooked. Not wholly without fault, but even in the imperfections it's easy to find a lot to love in Stories.
Stories: The Path of Destinies suffers from being extremely repetitive, which drags down an otherwise entertaining tale.
Stories looks like a unpolished narrative experiment. The main problem here is an ordinary combat system and a set of situations that never challenge the player. Trying to discover every possible ending, though, you'll discover a light and inspired platformer.
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It's often said that, as a medium, video games suck at storytelling. Stories feels like it's trying something rewardingly different, to do more than just ape the linear style of a summer blockbuster movie. It's embracing tried-and-true hallmarks of action game design and weaving them around interactive fiction elements. The result is both familiar and fresh.
Stories: The Path of Destinies is a decent game.
Stories: The Path of Destinies is quite the compelling curio; a seemingly routine hack and slash affair at first, it soon elevates its calibre with some satisfying ARPG style action, entertaining writing and a wonderfully non-linear multi-faceted narrative. It's just a shame that a multitude of bugs and performance issues tarnish the experience.
The process of learning new things with each playthrough is rewarding, but the repetition takes away from the experience
An inspired mix of Groundhog Day and Choose Your Own Adventure style decision making, combined with a half-broken action role-player of considerably lesser interest.