Combining the fighting mechanics of the popular Batman: Arkham series and aspects of Supergiant’s classic Bastion, Stories: The Path of Destinies is an interactive action tale worth playing.
Published and developed by Spearhead Games (Tiny Brains, Arena Cyber Evolution), Stories is a charming action RPG that flows like a raging river. Players will pick up on the game’s art style first and foremost, which resembles a vibrant storybook come to life. As Reynardo the Fox, a former sky pirate turned reluctant hero, you have many decisions to make on your journey across the world of Boreas. The choices are yours, and they change the storyline as you progress, leading to upwards of 32 endings.
Your actions in Stories are dynamically told via a narrator, similar to the experience in 2011’s indie action RPG Bastion. While also taking place in a fantasy world, Reynardo has to make much darker decisions than “the Kid” ever did. Should you save or slay your best friend? What are the ramifications of waking a god? Much like a Disney-Pixar film, there are a few adult elements bubbling under the surface of an otherwise cheerful exterior. There’s nothing too brutal to alienate a younger crowd, particularly ones that have been exposed to the current state of violence in media, but it’s still something for parents to keep in mind.
Reynardo is a sly fox indeed; a master of Sword Fu (really? *sigh*) who uses his magical swords and pirate tools to tear through hordes of enemies. The simple and seamless combat in Stories may feel intuitive to quite a few players, which should be no surprise as the development team consists of members who have previously worked on the Assassin’s Creed, Dead Space, and Army of Two franchises. Slicing and jumping from enemy to enemy is fun and easy, if sometimes tedious, not unlike the exploits of a certain world-famous Dark Knight. Even with his grappling hook to draw in enemies like Batman, Reynardo acts more like Malcolm Reynolds or Han Solo than Bruce Wayne. If he has to permanently drop a few dudes to achieve his goals, so be it.
Slashing and solving puzzles moves the story forward, as it were, making available gems to increase Reynardo’s stats and abilities as you see fit via simple skill trees. Whether you opt to go more of a good, bad, or ambiguous middle-of-the-road route, you’ll definitely feel capable of taking on the world towards the end of the game.
If you can embrace vivid visuals, fluid fighting, and thoughtfully plan out your skills, then it’s definitely your destiny to play this game.