Stories: The Path of Destinies is a game I heard nothing about. It was released in April 2016 on PC and PS4, had a bright, cheerful looking setting, a quippy narrator, and a fun conceit. And then it vanished.
But now, Sony gave it away as part of their PS+ instant game collections, and gosh dang if I didn’t immediately get hooked. So, this review is my way of trying to convince others who haven’t heard about it, or didn’t care, that they should give Stories: The Path of Destinies a shot.
Let’s get this out of the way: the name is terrible. Pictured below is a better name for this game.
It is so vague and unmemorable that I had to look it up several times just to write this review. Once you get past the name though, you’ll find a lot to unpack.
The setting is a fairy-tale type land where animals are anthropomorphized, and they tell tales of a land “where apes walked on two legs and talk”. Think Redwall, complete with lovable rogues, evil emperors, and eye patches. There are only a few different environments, so they don’t feel as fresh your 10th time through, but they are beautiful, and as you unlock new items, more of each island is unlocked. Fun!
You explore these islands as Reynardo, a fox/pirate/rebel/romantic who is fighting the empire to redeem his troubled backstory. You meet plenty of other fun characters along the way, like a rabbit down on his luck, a magical cat with whom you have a history, and frankly intimidating crows. But here is where the game gets really good.
Each playthrough is different, but builds upon the previous playthroughs. That means, if you went to a certain island and blew up reality, well, now the narrator will remind you of that. And maybe you’ll try something else on that island, or go to another island entirely. You decide Reynardo’s path, and the fate of the rebellion. There are 24 different endings, and you’re given the task of finding them all.
The controls are fun but not exactly the most challenging. Basically, you mash attack until you see the “hey I’m attacking you” icon appear above an enemy, and then you counter. You learn more moves, and the combat is amusing, but it does get a bit tiresome as you search for remaining endings. The way I’ve been describing it is “Gauntlet, with a little bit of Arkham Asylum, crossed with one of those 80’s “choose your own adventure books”.
This is not a perfect game. The combat gets stale after about 7 endings. You have no real way of keeping track of what decisions led to what ending, so you might accidentally repeat one. The villain’s motivation is a little muddy. But you know what? None of that kept me from having an amazing time while playing this. The humor is fresh, the controls are tight, and this is in a word: fun.
Total Score: 9/10.
You might not want to COMPLETE the game, but I definitely recommend finding the 5 main story endings (known as “truths”) at the very least. This game is available on PS4 and PC. If you're a member of PS+, you can get it for free during December.
