Stories: The Path of Destinies is a fresh take on the ‘choose your own adventure’ genre that has been taking the gaming community by storm. It arrives at a time the formula was in need of a bit of a change, and while it may be over ambitious at times, it manages to deliver on most of its ideas. Unique story telling and a beautifully crafted world are slightly tarnished by repetitive gameplay and locations, but overall is a great game for those interested in a more traditional fantasy adventure.

One of the most notable things about Stories is that it is a standalone game. Imagine that, player-driven storylines without having to wait for the next episode to come out, 2016 is an exciting time to be alive. Not to say that this way is better, but because of the way Stories structures its’ narrative, it would have been impossible to release it episodically. You play as Reynardo, a hero who is 50% pirate, 50% intelligent and a 100% fox. I mean he’s literally a fox. All the characters in this game  are animals, giving it a very ‘Disney’s Robin Hood’ vibe. Reynardo acquires a mysterious book, through which you make your choices on how the game plays out. The game is broken into 5 chapters. and your choices in these chapters will result in what ending you unlock. For most games of this genre, it makes the game highly replay-able, giving incentive for the player to go back and try different paths after their first play through. This is not so much a choice in Stories, but a crucial element in it’s story telling. Each time you complete the story, you will unlock one of 24 different endings. Out of these endings you will learn four ‘truths’ about other characters or other story elements. To complete the game, you will need to discover all four truths. Fortunately, the game will recommend paths for you to take after a certain point if you are struggling to find the truths. Each play through or ‘story’ takes around an hour to do, with it only taking around 5-6 hours to unlock the ‘true’ ending. By the time I had unlocked it, I had discovered 5 of the 24 endings, so still have plenty more to go.

As you may have picked up from the title, this game focuses heavily on stories, particularly those you may remember from your childhood. Rather than having a large cast of voice actors, Stories uses one person for the narration as well as all the character voices. The voice acting is wonderful and subtly draws you into its fictional world. The narrator has to walk a fine line between making each character sound different, to making sure they don’t sound so different you can’t tell it’s the same person. This performance is delivered to perfection and is consistently one of the highlights of this game. The writing is clever and immersive, referencing pop culture then commenting on Reynardo’s inner thoughts within the same sentence, all to hilarious effect. Thankfully the story is good as well, seeing as you will be playing certain parts of it several times over, despite it adding new elements into the mix each time.

The biggest flaw with these types of games is that even though the story will change on a second or third play through, generally speaking the gameplay won’t. That is also the case with Stories: The Path of Destinies. Games that have the most success with this will have a different choice lead you to a different location or different elements to play through. Even though different choices are made story wise, each will take you to the same location and map to play through. While Stories combat and exploration is both simple and enjoyable, it stays the same through the entire campaign. By the time I had achieved my third ending, I had upgraded every weapon and levelled up every gem that had provided me with the incentive to explore each location. After my fourth and fifth endings, these locations became very routine, with no reason to go anywhere outside of the mission objective. As well as this, the way the choices are laid out depend on what choices you’ve made before. For example, if you chose to rescue an old friend, the next chapter will give you a choice between following a plan he made or disregarding it. If instead of rescuing a friend you choose to hunt for an  ancient weapon, the choices after that will be different as well. To achieve each different ending it will require different combinations of these choices, meaning that you may have to replay 3 or 4 chapters of content you have already done just to make a different choice at the end. If Stories had a replay feature to jump into any stage in stories you had already completed, that would solve this issue, but as it stands you will be replaying 4/5 of a story you have already done, just for a different result at the very end.

It is a shame that different worlds start to become repetitive, because it is one of the more beautiful games out there. If Fable and Ratchet and Clank had a baby, and that baby was cell shaded, it would be this game. Each seperate location is distinct to the last, and each with it’s very unique colour pallet, plant-life and scenery. The only thing in these locations that doesn’t vary are the enemies. Ravens will spawn in predictable areas for you to slash your way through throughout each chapter. While it does add in new types of enemies, they are all exhausted by the third play through, with nothing new to offer. Combat is simple, quick and fun for the most part. Whether you are an experienced gamer or just trying it out for the first time, it doesn’t take long at all to get into the rhythm, with one button for attack and counter and another to dash around. The controls are very accessible, but the game does recommend using a controller, which I did find slightly easier than a mouse and keyboard.

Each story I played through had me thoroughly engaged. The characters are charming and the story never took itself too seriously, meaning it was easy to enjoy and always left me wanting more. Despite the combat being fun and the locations being exciting to explore initially, by the time I had finished my fourth story these factors were diminishing my experience rather than adding to it, due to their repetitive nature. I would definitely say the best way to play this game is no more than one or two stories at a time. I know that I will be going back to see more endings and find out more about these characters and this world eventually, but having to grind through hours of the rest of the game to do that is a bit off putting. In short bursts, the gameplay will continue to be fun and fluid and not overstay its welcome. Overall, it is a charming game that admirably tries to add something new to the ‘decision’ formula. Despite it having some shortcomings, it is still a game that fans of fantasy – or a more light hearted tale in general – would enjoy and would be well worth your time to check it out.

7/10