Stories: The Path of Destinies

There is a lot to love about Stories: The Path of Destinies; clever craftsmanship of the branching narrative; vertically intricate level design; and being able to see events unfold differently as characters relationships shift is a compelling and original experience. Unfortunately it is let down by, while not uninteresting, monotonous gameplay with no real substance or relation to the broader story.

83%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

grinding, optimization

88% User Score Based on 3,145 reviews

Critic Score 73%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

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About

Stories: The Path of Destinies is a single player role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Spearhead Games and was released on April 12, 2016. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

In Stories: The Path of Destinies, play as Reynardo, ex-pirate and accidental hero, as you defend your world against a mad Emperor and his ravens. Each choice you make leads to a unique narrative, with diverse and action-packed scenes ranging from light-hearted to dark and Lovecraftian. With multiple endings, you'll need to learn from past mistakes to find the one true path. The game is now powered by Unreal Engine 4.1.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Stories: The Path of Destinies screenshot

+10

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88%

Audience ScoreBased on 3,145 reviews

story1.1k positive mentions

grinding185 negative mentions

Engaging and well-written story with a charming narrator that adds humor and personality.
Fun and fluid combat system that allows for creative playstyles and combos.
High replay value with multiple branching paths and endings that encourage exploration.

Repetitive gameplay due to limited enemy variety and the need to replay the same levels multiple times.
Unskippable cutscenes and dialogue can become tedious, especially during multiple playthroughs.
Combat can feel simplistic and lacks depth, leading to a lack of challenge as players progress.

story
3,210 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
61%
3%
The story in "Stories: The Path of Destinies" is a standout feature, characterized by its engaging narrative and witty narration that draws players into a whimsical yet dark fairy tale world. Players navigate through multiple branching paths, making choices that significantly impact the storyline and lead to various endings, including a "true" ending that requires uncovering four key truths. However, the repetitive gameplay and lack of variation in levels can detract from the overall experience, making it feel tedious after several playthroughs, despite the charm and humor embedded in the storytelling.
- “The story itself is great; it's superbly written and it's fun to discover the dynamics at play.”
- “The narrator is sharp, witty, and makes every run feel like a bedtime story gone wrong (or right).”
- “The characters, story, and setting are highly memorable and feel like they could've spawned an entire IP, but instead we only have the spiritual successor in Omensight.”
- “The biggest letdown for the story is the true ending, which ends on a cliffhanger, feeling like it should have continued in this game or a sequel that will not be.”
- “The story isn't one to lose sleep over, but the cheeky humor helps.”
- “The story is okay and the characters are memorable, but at some points I think the storytelling mechanic actually impedes the gameplay instead of enhancing it.”
gameplay
1,088 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
56%
9%
The gameplay of "Stories: The Path of Destinies" has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its simplicity and repetitiveness. While the combat mechanics are reminiscent of the Batman: Arkham series and can be enjoyable, they often lack depth and variety, leading to a grindy experience as players replay levels to explore different story paths. The game's unique narrative structure and humor are praised, but the overall gameplay is seen as a secondary focus, making it more appealing for those interested in the story rather than complex mechanics.
- “The gameplay is smooth and easy to grasp.”
- “With its blend of story-driven gameplay, tactical combat, and a unique narrative structure, 'Stories: The Path of Destinies' is a refreshing twist on the choose-your-own-adventure format.”
- “The combat mechanics are solid; it is your usual hack and slash, simple and fun; and as you gain experience you unlock new abilities.”
- “But the issue is the gameplay all around it… a lot of exploring lifeless levels, the combat system is very basic and the enemy diversity deplorable, the progression is paced all wrong and, most importantly… it is so repetitive.”
- “The longer I played this game, the less engaged I was with the gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is very basic and repetitive with borrowed ideas from many similar games, and I found myself disliking the story because of the agonizing amount of unskippable cutscenes.”
graphics
647 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
42%
3%
The graphics of "Stories: The Path of Destinies" are widely praised for their vibrant and stylized art style, which features colorful, detailed environments and smooth animations that enhance immersion. While some users note that the graphics may feel dated or simplistic compared to modern standards, the overall aesthetic is considered charming and appealing, with many appreciating the cartoonish visuals and character designs. However, there are mentions of performance issues and limited graphical settings, which can affect gameplay on lower-end systems.
- “Visually, 'Stories: The Path of Destinies' has a vibrant and stylized art style, featuring colorful, isometric environments filled with detail.”
- “The remaster brings the beautiful art style of anthropomorphic animals with stunning visuals, storytelling that has many replayable elements for a short game, easy controls, and an adventure for people of all ages to enjoy.”
- “The graphics are vibrant and detailed, creating a wonderful atmosphere for the world around you.”
- “The graphics look dated for a modern PC game, the music is not memorable, but appropriate for the environments, the voice-over is great, but the fact that you can't skip him is really annoying because he tends to repeat the same things, and none of the menus react to ESC as a way to close them.”
- “The graphics are a bit intensive for an indie game.”
- “The graphics are clean as hell and the possibilities are as good as me being on Tinder if I were a hot chick.”
humor
343 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
1%
The humor in the game is a standout feature, characterized by witty narration, clever pop culture references, and a mix of light-hearted and darkly comedic moments. Players appreciate the narrator's engaging delivery, which adds charm and personality to the story, although some find the humor can be hit-or-miss or overly reliant on puns. Overall, the game's comedic elements contribute significantly to its appeal, making it an enjoyable experience for those who appreciate a blend of humor and storytelling.
- “The biggest highlight is the humor, which is actually pretty funny; it's a lot of pop culture references to games, events, and celebrities.”
- “The narrator brings the story to life with humorous commentary on Reynardo’s actions and the absurdity of certain choices, while also reacting to the player's decisions in real-time.”
- “The writing is great, with so much witty humor thrown in, and the narrator is perfect for the story.”
- “After I had unlocked three of the four major 'realizations' of the story -- an attempt by the developers to gate off the 'real' ending of the game until you have played certain story branches that make the main character 'realize' something -- what I found was a tedious and unfunny game with too much dead time between the stuff that at that point actually mattered to me.”
- “I couldn't care less about the characters; they proved themselves to be so unfunny, so shallow, and so dull that after about two or three hours I turned the dialogue volume to 0% and the subtitles off.”
- “It seems the game aims for something between the silly irreverence of Trine and the context-driven narration of Bastion, but it tries too hard to force unfunny one-liners and it has no poignancy, so it fails at both.”
music
238 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59%
38%
3%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its orchestral and atmospheric qualities that enhance the overall experience. While some tracks are described as memorable and fitting for the game's themes, others find the music forgettable or repetitive, lacking standout moments. Overall, the soundtrack complements the visuals and gameplay well, though it may not leave a lasting impression for all players.
- “The soundtrack and sound design complement the visual presentation beautifully.”
- “The music is orchestral and atmospheric, capturing both the epic and whimsical tones of Reynardo’s journey.”
- “The music is fitting with the scenes being presented and empowers those scenes.”
- “The music provides you with a rather basic level of expectation, being satisfactory yet nothing above that, and you will most likely not remember any of it afterwards.”
- “The aesthetic is a very unreal engine terrain swap, the music is forgettable.”
- “I've been told that there was supposed to be some kind of special mechanic about the music dynamically changing as the story went on, but I've never noticed because the music itself was not particularly memorable.”
grinding
190 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
2%
1%
97%
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it tedious and repetitive, especially when attempting to unlock all endings or achievements. While some appreciate the engaging story and art style, the unskippable dialogue and the necessity to replay levels multiple times detract from the overall enjoyment, making the experience feel like a chore for completionists. Overall, while the game offers fun mechanics and narrative depth, the grind can become overwhelming and frustrating, particularly in the later stages.
- “While the combat and the navigation can be clunky at times, the choices keep you interested in what could have gone differently in an overall compelling story, and the small areas make 'backtracking' not too tedious.”
- “Cool storylines with good replayability potential—there are many ways to beat a level, so playing through the same one several times as you unlock different story routes isn't as tedious as it may seem.”
- “There is a minimal resource gathering and crafting element to the game, but honestly it isn't too grindy; you can focus on the story and still gather the resources you need, even if it is a bit slower than going through every nook and cranny of every area.”
- “The fact that the enemies get stronger with each level you gain does not help, as it just feels tedious to not feel like you are actually becoming stronger and that you have to attack them many times if you do not want to use the overpowered throw.”
- “However, after having unlocked 3 out of I don't know 20 or so stories in this game that basically revolves around you trialing and erroring your way through different story variations to eventually find the 'true' one, I must say that a certain degree of tediousness starts to set in.”
- “The game is repetitive and grindy, and becomes artificially long very easily, not to mention the gameplay, while good in concept, gets executed terribly and has some design choices that I'm surprised nobody looked at and thought 'oh wow, this is trash!'.”
replayability
182 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
55%
3%
The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with many players praising its multiple story paths and endings that encourage exploration and repeated playthroughs. However, some reviewers noted that the necessity to replay levels and the lack of options to skip repetitive dialogue can make the experience feel tedious over time. Overall, while the game offers significant replay value, especially for completionists, it may become monotonous for those seeking a more varied experience after multiple runs.
- “High replay value with dozens of story paths and secrets.”
- “The choose your own adventure style gameplay makes the replayability factor great, as each choice you make yields multiple endings.”
- “Great game with amazing replayability value.”
- “This ends up hurting the game's replayability as the player is no longer incentivized to explore stages and look for chests.”
- “Replayability could definitely be improved; having to start from the beginning every single time you want to get a new ending eventually comes to feel like a chore.”
- “The one issue I have with it is that after you actually beat the game, there is little to no replayability.”
optimization
115 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
53%
31%
The game's optimization has received largely negative feedback, with many players reporting frequent frame drops, long load times, and unresponsive controls, particularly on PC. While some users noted improvements after patches, the overall consensus is that the game is poorly optimized, leading to a frustrating experience despite its engaging story and visuals. Players recommend caution, as performance issues seem to vary significantly across different hardware configurations.
- “The gaming experience on the Steam Deck is quite impressive, as the game runs smoothly with high graphics settings and a stable 60fps framerate without any need for adjustments.”
- “I'd recommend it, especially after the latest patch (patch #4, October 2018) that fixed a lot of bugs and improved performance significantly.”
- “Optimization was good for me despite negative reviews on optimization and bugs.”
- “Since the game is very combat heavy, it is annoying that the game is poorly optimized with frame drops and cannot keep a very consistent frame rate, and sometimes your moves choose not to work.”
- “Poorly optimized game; they even posted there's going to be an update to fix those said issues, and after that so-called update, it's like nothing happened.”
- “The major issue with the game is optimization; you would expect a top-view game with one-button combat mechanics and simple landscapes to run smoothly, but no, the game suffers from frame drops even at low settings, which makes the entire experience a bit dull.”
stability
112 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with players reporting numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, such as getting stuck in level geometry, unresponsive controls, and issues with item detection. While some players find the minor glitches bearable, others have experienced game-breaking issues that necessitate restarting levels or even the game itself. Overall, the consensus is that the game is significantly hindered by its instability, which detracts from an otherwise enjoyable experience.
- “Runs great on Linux.”
- “Combat is simple and effective; all in all, a nice little game that runs great and is worth a playthrough.”
- “My first playthrough was bug-free, but I did encounter optimization issues in some places, though nothing really bad.”
- “This game has so many glitches and bugs that - and I'm not overdramatizing - you can't go and play this game for a minute without experiencing some sort of issue.”
- “The game is so buggy that it just ruined my experience to the point where I don't want to play anymore.”
- “There are some glitches where you get stuck in the ground which forces you to restart the whole level.”
atmosphere
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
61%
30%
9%
The atmosphere in the game is widely praised for its distinctiveness across various locations, enhanced by an orchestral soundtrack that captures both epic and whimsical tones. Players appreciate the immersive and charming environment, characterized by beautiful graphics and engaging worldbuilding, which collectively create a relaxing and enjoyable experience. Overall, the game's atmosphere is described as vibrant, colorful, and integral to its storytelling, making it a standout feature that enhances gameplay.
- “Each location has its own distinct atmosphere, giving players a sense of adventure as they traverse the world of Boreas.”
- “The music is orchestral and atmospheric, capturing both the epic and whimsical tones of Reynardo’s journey.”
- “The atmosphere is immersive, with charming dialogues and characters, making it one of my favorite parts of the game.”
- “Obviously, I like that kind of thing, or else I wouldn't keep playing it, but I think I was beginning to forget that a game's atmosphere could be something other than lonely, miserable, or spooky.”
- “An interesting art style lends an air of a children’s novel while the narration lends a humorous atmosphere that keeps the mood light and fresh.”
- “Stories has a really warm color tone that suits its atmosphere.”
emotional
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
97%
3%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its touching narrative and character relationships, particularly the bond between the hero and his love interest, which resonates deeply with players. While some emotional scenes may not fully land, the overall experience is described as heartwarming and engaging, with moments that evoke genuine feelings and even tears. The combination of solid writing, excellent narration, and a whimsical yet dark tone contributes to a memorable emotional journey, making it a standout title for those seeking both fun and depth in storytelling.
- “A few in particular about the bond between the hero Reynard and his love interest were really touching.”
- “This was such a tremendous experience playing through it, one of the few games that had an emotional journey that made me tear up.”
- “Fantastic writing and excellent voice acting from the narrator combine for a story that is both surprisingly dark, laugh-out-loud funny, and occasionally touching.”
- “The cutscene featuring the ravens was dull, with a boring story and secrets that required no effort to uncover. The character was uninteresting, which is disappointing given the potential of exploring different timelines.”
character development
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
45%
14%
Overall, the character development in the game is met with mixed reviews. While many players praise the charming and unique character designs, as well as the quality of voice acting, some express disappointment in the depth of character development and narrative resolution, particularly criticizing how the 'true' ending undermines earlier character arcs. The visuals and artistic style are consistently highlighted as standout features, contributing to an engaging experience despite the narrative shortcomings.
- “The character designs are equally charming, with anthropomorphic animals that add a fairytale quality to the story.”
- “Character design, voice work, and of course, the story and how it evolves.”
- “I highly recommend this game if you're into character development and storytelling.”
- “Crafting and character development could be better though.”
- “Also the supposed 'true' ending completely blows all the character development under the rug and just 'wraps' everything up.”
- “I disliked a lot about the characters and character development but that would be a massive spoiler.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users have noted that the game's monetization strategy may be linked to its performance issues, with long loading times and high demands on hardware being particularly frustrating. The advertising for the game has also been criticized, suggesting that it may not align well with the actual experience provided.
- “The monetization strategy feels overly aggressive, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra money.”
- “I find the in-game purchases to be excessive and they detract from the overall experience.”
- “The constant push for microtransactions is frustrating and takes away from the enjoyment of the game.”

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73%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

Stories: The Path of Destinies
There is a lot to love about Stories: The Path of Destinies; clever craftsmanship of the branching narrative; vertically intricate level design; and being able to see events unfold differently as characters relationships shift is a compelling and original experience. Unfortunately it is let down by, while not uninteresting, monotonous gameplay with no real substance or relation to the broader story.
Monstervine.com
60%

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5h Median play time

6h Average play time

5h Main story

20h Completionist

5-10h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 30 analyzed playthroughs

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Stories: The Path of Destinies is a role playing game with fantasy theme.

Stories: The Path of Destinies is available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and others.

The main story can be completed in around 5 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 20 hours to finish. On average players spend around 6 hours playing Stories: The Path of Destinies.

Stories: The Path of Destinies was released on April 12, 2016.

Stories: The Path of Destinies was developed by Spearhead Games.

Stories: The Path of Destinies has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Stories: The Path of Destinies is a single player game.

Similar games include Omensight, Icey, Underhero, Nobody Saves the World, BLACKTAIL and others.

Stories: The Path of Destinies

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