Emma Withington reviews Stories: The Path of Destinies…
Ah, wouldn’t it be great if, in real life, when you simultaneously destroy the one you love and fling yourself into battle and imminent death – that you could learn from this mistake and think, ‘well, better luck next time, eh!’ Stories: The Path of Destinies is a game that encourages you to make catastrophic mistakes to become stronger, find truths, and become a true hero.
From Montreal based company Spearhead Games, Stories: The Path of Destinies is an anthropomorphic action/adventure RPG following Reynardo, a retired sky pirate fox. Time is of the essence and the Rebellion needs a game changer in order to win the fight against the Empire – ‘The Kid’ has one of the books of power coveted by the tyrannical Toad emperor and Reynardo must use this book to forge his destiny and win the war.
As the title suggests, the prime focus of Stories: The Path of Destinies is storytelling. On the surface the premise seems reasonably simple, however, after making my first unwittingly dire decision – which resulted in Reynardo becoming a forlorn hero with nothing left to live for and dying in battle addled with regrets – I soon realised that things weren’t as straightforward as they appeared…
With epic fantasy games such as The Witcher series really honing the craft of storytelling, it seems only natural for developers to continue this trend and play with the idea of choice and narrative possibilities. In Stories: The Path of Destinies, the tales are told through a multi-faceted narrator who voices all of the characters as he reads through the storybook – like a parent reading to you at bedtime; except this story could contain the suicide of your lover and begins with ‘The Kid’ becoming a pile of ashes. So, maybe not a tale for the wee ones…
This narration and cartoonish nature of the game blankets the frequent self-aware and black humour that drives the game, very much in the vein of the Magicka series (another game which I sorely underestimated…) Stories: The Path of Destinies contains innumerous video game and fantasy tropes within the charismatic commentary including: ‘Once, Reynardo had been to a dungeon where all the chests were locked, how awful!’ and, of course, ‘You know nothing, Jon Snow’.
The level design in Stories: The Path of Destinies is pretty vast and has stunning, vibrant art direction that is a feast for the eyes. An isometric game (think Diablo/Magicka) while linear in direction, the path you end up taking, in any location, depends entirely on your narrative choices; sending you down one of many possible branches. Some of these paths you can see from a different aspect of the same level – Ooh look there’s a chest down there! – or you could end up visiting completely different locales from one version of the story to the next.
Stories: The Path of Destinies contains certain features that are increasingly synonymous with RPG’s, such as crafting and skill trees, but these are simple and easily accessible. You are not expected to spend time mastering crafting, or scavenging for various herbs; collecting what you need in dungeon crawl fashion – from chests.
While the combat system doesn’t necessarily present anything groundbreaking, the four craftable swords are the stars in Stories: The Path of Destinies. Here we have the Hero Sword, Void Blade, Winterthorne, and Firestorm. The result when activating their individual powers is incredibly satisfying and turns the functional hack n’ slash combat into a spectacle; weaving your way between fireworks, explosions of fire and shattering ice, as you take down the Ravens in slow motion. Not only do they provide you with your daily dose of badassery, but they have the potential to open sealed off areas within levels, adding multiple avenues of extra exploration.
Stories: The Path of Destinies is an accessible game which is perfect for the casual gamer – or a veteran who wants a game that you can get instantly stuck into and obtain a high level of satisfaction from. The gameplay mechanics enable you to keep your focus on the all important storytelling and increases the enjoyment of the hack n’ slash combat, which is incredibly smooth, satisfying, and visually spectacular.
Experience: Fun effortless gameplay, with multiple possibilities.
Replayability factor: High – If just to see the ‘different ways he could die miserably’. It takes roughly 5 hours to get to the true ending, but there are over 20 other avenues for you to try – increasing game time to 15+ hours.
Game Mastery level (Trophies): Easy (Gotta love the ding!)
Availability: PS4 and PC from April 12th 2016
Rating: 8/10
Emma Withington – follow me on Twitter
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Originally published April 13, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
