Developer: Spearhead Games
Publisher: Ubisoft Montréal
Release Date: April 12th, 2016
Platforms: PlayStation 4 (reviewed) and PC
Foxes are clever, swift animals. Preying on the inanimate fruit or vegetable, and the hapless rabbit or bird or frog, foxes survive by outsmarting their victim. Stalking their target, closely watching with the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a bat, foxes are sure to always stay a step ahead of their mark—and two steps ahead of their own predators. Though canine in species, foxes don’t always travel in packs; sometimes found in a small group, foxes seem to prefer the path of the lone wolf, much like their wolf brethren. Reynardo the Fox is, well, a fox. (If his name didn’t give it away.) He’s not that clever of a fox, but he’s a fox nonetheless. However, because he lacks the discernible wit of a fox, he finds himself ensnared in the clutches of an unforgiving, abstruse time loop à la Harold Ramis’ Groundhog Day. All because he let a young rabbit slip out of his sight with some magical, time bending, incomprehensible “Book of Destinies.” Now, to escape the incessant cycle of “live, die, repeat,” Reynardo must live, die, and repeat to find the correct pieces of the puzzle so he may just live. Stories: The Path of Destinies sends Reynardo on a grand adventure to figure out how many paths there are, and what destinies lie at the end of these paths, as well as to uncover truths unbeknownst to him.
The narrative of Stories: The Path of Destinies is simple: Reynardo the Fox swore to look after the angsty rabbit, who happened to carry a magical artifact on his person. As usual, you can never trust children or adolescents with anything because, you know, they may get obliterated: the youthful hare is condensed to ashes before Reynardo’s very eyes. Curiously, the mystical book wasn’t vaporized to a pile of cinders like the poor, unfortunate buck. Instead, this supernatural relic swallowed Reynardo whole, condemning him to reliving the same five chapters perpetually until he figured the right combination of actions producing the necessary results for him to break free. The tale itself isn’t revolutionary by any means; however, its grandeur does fit the verbosity the narrative posits. Its “larger than life” story does enough to intrigue and elicit a feeling of awe and wonder, as the game boasts a number of “truths” (effectively endings) after each playthrough. (24, to be exact.) While replaying the same five chapters grows tiresome and rather stale after its tenth or so time, the game’s characters are all deplorable—in a good way. Lapino the Hare, Reynardo’s old friend and war buddy; Zenobia the Cat, Reynardo’s former sword fu partner and lover; the Emperor the Toad, the man responsible for the damned war in the first place—all of these characters are alive and equally interesting, all with their own thoughts and motivations and feelings. Even if they are all voiced by one person. Speaking of which, the game’s narrator is excellent: Julian Casey—from games such as the Assassin’s Creed series, We Happy Few, Watch Dogs, and others—does a fantastic job at being engaging, facetious, and enlightening, spouting hints and exposition and jokes all in a single sentence.
This brilliance can be attributed to the superb writing. Filled with beautifully challenging, yet whimsically easy language that sounds right out of a 20th century novel, Stories: The Path of Destinies boasts some wonderful writing. (Contradictory, I know, but Stories creates this impressive juxtaposition between complicated and uncomplicated.) From the simplistic dialogue of “he said, she said” to the overly detailed descriptions of the characters’ thoughts to the gloating you are led to believe Reynardo is doing, Stories‘ writing is far from unentertaining. The best part about Stories‘ writing, however, is its self-referentiality: the game is so meta, it understands that it is a game. You could say it breaks the fourth wall. (Much like Deadpool.) The narrator mentions when you’re blindly swinging your sword, when your smashing vases and boxes, when you open chests and doors—hell, the narrator even cites when you’ve gone astray, taking an alternate route, “the road less traveled.” (I think the game knows that’s in a Robert Frost poem as well.)
This intelligence is mirrored in the game’s aesthetic. Taking inspiration from Don Bluth or Studio Ghibli, Stories: The Path of Destinies glistens with an art direction that belongs next to Bluth or Ghibli’s own creations (i.e. something like All Dogs Go to Heaven or Princess Mononoke). Obviously with more 3D rendering and animation than its influences, Stories is alluring in every sense of the word. Lush vistas and waterfalls pop, sunsets and skylines shimmer, crystals and fires spark—the game shows off an immaculate color palette full of reds, blues, grays, purples, and deep blacks. Though presented in an isometric view, the game is tinged with this vitality as ships explode in the background, slain enemies lie incapacitated, and fires sway with a delightful cadence. Stories: The Path of Destinies is charming—and the game knows it to. Sadly, to its detriment: before and after each chapter, the game’s camera either pans around that chapter’s level or zooms in and out on the characters on screen. While attractive, it seems Stories relishes in shoving its attractiveness in your face, like its flaunting its hot bod wantonly.
Additionally, the game is far too easy. In the ten or so hours I played, I’ve only died four times, two of which were the story killing me. (The game has a branching narrative, with choices leading to the various “truths” that will be revealed at the end of the playthrough. Sometimes, making the wrong choice gets you killed. Who’da thunk.) Combat is a feigned, overly simplified impersonation of Batman’s battle system: you have a basic attack that builds up a combo meter, and when enemies are prepared to attack, an exclamation point (“!”) will appear over their head, at which point you can counter and instakill them. The enemies are intelligent, ganging up on and flanking you, causing you to think quick and act quicker. Regrettably, as intelligent as they can be, this intelligence isn’t always on display: sometimes, the enemies stare mindlessly while you slash and chop their comrades up. This level of unsophisticated AI is akin to a Koei Tecmo/Omega Force game (i.e. Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, etc.). Furthermore, the combat lacks any sort of combo system: it ends up feeling like a button masher, a brainless button masher—press square to win.
Stories has some light RPG elements, a progression system, and a hint of Metroidvania mechanics, but none of these are really fleshed out. The RPG elements are as simple as equip this item to “deal more damage” or “increase the chance of rare loot drops”; Reynardo has a gauntlet that allows him to equip up to three gems, but the gems don’t bring forth any palpable differences to gameplay. The progression system is rather deep: Reynardo gains experience through a “combat report” after each encounter, allowing him to learn new skills and abilities such as a dash or a hook or more health. Unfortunately, many of the skills are rather useless, and some of them are merely a means to an end, meaning you’re learning them just to get to the skill underneath. The Metroidvania mechanics are subtle, but they are there. Reynardo can forge four different swords, each with their own skill that consumes sword energy. (Apparently, swords are sentient beings in this fantastical world. Hey, anything is possible.) Though compelling at first, when you learn the swords feel, act, and function the same, any sense of amazement in the potential of different swords is lost. The only reason to craft these swords is to open doors leading to large chests containing materials and/or a gem. It is evident Stories: The Path of Destinies has a lot of inspirations, but it merely scratches the surface, unwilling to do more with the elements it borrows. And because the combat is far too simple and the many aspects it borrows from are only hinted at—which makes the game way too easy—Stories ends up feeling repetitive and, in a way, overstays its welcome.
Nonetheless, Stories: The Path of Destinies is a fun adventure bustling with whimsy and fairytale. Reynardo and pals (or foes, depending on how you “live”) manage to be enthralling long enough to elicit the playthroughs necessary to see the “true” ending. With fascinating writing and a narrator that embellishes the narrative to make it more glorious than it actually is, Stories: The Path of Destinies is both light-hearted and serious, all in the same breath. Living the same five chapters can get old, but there is always a destiny that leads to a story that begins with a path. (And, sometimes, getting killed is mandatory to tell the tale.)
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