Stories: The Path of Destinies, created by Spearhead Games, is a unique game. It’s a game where decision-making and replay value are very important. It tells the story of Reynardo, a fox that fights an evil empire with the help of a rebellion. Sound familiar, right? Well, this isn’t just another story, this is your story.
One game, multiple stories
The story of Stories: Path of Destinies is a hard one to explain since it changes every time you play it. The common thread during the multiple adventures is the fox Reynardo, who is fighting with a rebellion to stop an evil empire lead by a dangerous frog. How the story develops is entirely up to the player. Reynardo seems to have lost his memory and just accepts the choice of the player. After each short mission, you’ll be able to pick one of the two paths. For example, will you save your small rabbit friend during the fight against the evil empire or will you go gather a mysterious weapon that is able to stop the fight once and for all? During your adventure, you’ll be forced to decide between two options a lot. To make things even more interesting, the path you picked is also divided into several different paths leading to one of the two dozen endings.
We can’t stress this out enough, Stories: The Path of Destinies is a very unique game thanks to this. The game itself can be finished rather quickly since there are only five main missions before you reach one of the endings. Stopping after one ending seems useless, however, since every new session still offers something new. It’s incredible to see how the developers made sure you’ll never see the exact same level if you’re replaying the game. During new sessions, you’ll face new enemies or you’ll be able to unlock new doors thanks to the smart weapon upgrade mechanism.
Upgrade your weapons, unlock new doors
The thing about the upgrades is that they can actually unlock new doors in the levels. Your first sword, the hero sword, is able to open green doors while other swords are able to open doors of another color. It sounds easy but thanks to this mechanism, you’ll be able to go where you couldn’t go before. Upgrading your weapons is only possible if you collect a certain amount of ores and other resources. The pacing of the game is just right, when you tend to revisit an environment where you’ve been before, you’ll be able to upgrade to a new weapon, unlocking new paths once more. Thanks to this, the game never becomes boring since there’s always something new to see, even after multiple playthroughs.
The Arkham fox
Besides these new paths and unlockables, you won’t mind playing this game, again and again, thanks to the great combat. Sure, it’s no secret that it’s inspired by the Batman Arkham games, but it really works. Fighting is easy, with one push of the button; you’ll attack your enemies. Reynardo jumps from enemy to enemy with just one push, resembling the actions of the Batman. Countering the enemies is also incredibly easy so you’ll be in a nice flow during combat. Of course, Reynardo can also learn certain skills such as a hookshot-like weapon or dash to get away from attacks. The skill tree isn’t as big as in other games but the four unlockable skills truly add something new to the combat or exploration. As you might have guessed already, skills also unlock new paths and new endings.
Gorgeous art
The last thing worth mentioning is how good everything looks. The game uses a TopDown camera but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t look good. The characters themselves look like they’ve been taken from a storybook and are designed very well. The environments, on the other hand, look more realistic but burst with colors and details. Some of the levels truly are small masterpieces. It’s a shame the frame rate isn’t always as stable, resulting in small skips. It’s nothing game-breaking but it does take you out of the immersion for a second.
Aside from the technical flaws, the presentation is impressive. The narrator tells the entire story in a perfect way. Combining facts with dry humor. The soundtrack itself is also spot on, making this a truly unforgettable game.
| The Good: | The Bad: |
| + Different paths, different endings | – Frame rate issues |
| + Great graphics | |
| + The narrator |
Stories: The Path of Destinies is a very interesting and unique game. Thanks to the different paths and different endings, you’ll be replaying this game a lot. The best part about that is that you’ll find something new every time you play it, which is rather impressive. The graphics and soundtrack are spot on and result in a magical experience, an experience you won’t forget that easily.
4.5 out of 5
