Stories Untold is a compilation tape of four episodes from the now cancelled series of the same name, including a remaster of the original pilot episode “The House Abandon”.
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A really solid collection of varied styles and stories to create one cohesive experience. The first episode was by far the best, but the others have their pros as well. I think the weakest part of the game was when you're in that snowy area and have to use the computer a lot. On Switch some of the puzzle solving was a bit harder to follow. I think in general, having your best moment at the start isn't ideal either.
Still, I really enjoyed it overall. It was short and sweet and delivered on everything it wanted to do.
Still, I really enjoyed it overall. It was short and sweet and delivered on everything it wanted to do.
Moments of atmospheric brilliance ("you" getting closer and closer was clever and genuinely had me on the edge of my seat), but ultimately drives full-throttle down a frame-plot road that's been traversed by many other games, and more elegantly. It's not bad, just... overdone. In the IF genre alone you've got Photopia, Shade, and SPY INTRIGUE, off the top of my head.
Anyway, there are already reviews dissecting the ending, so I'll just talk about my personal bugbear: text parser pastiches need to stop using "USE". Actual parser games don't usually use "USE"; that's a menu-based adventure game thing. You cannot use ye flask. Stories Untold has the aesthetics of a Commodore 64 game, but the play logic is totally unlike any text parser game, in a way that I found outright distracting. I don't mean the verb selection menu--that's a smart way of levelling the playing field for people who haven't engaged with the genre--but things like AROUND being a noun which you can combine with GO or LOOK. You might say (perhaps the devs said) that real parser games are clunky, and nobody actually wants to play one, and the community of people who do play them in the 2020s is quite small. Sure. 100% fair. But if that's the reasoning... why make one? Why set this game in the 80s at all?
Anyway, there are already reviews dissecting the ending, so I'll just talk about my personal bugbear: text parser pastiches need to stop using "USE". Actual parser games don't usually use "USE"; that's a menu-based adventure game thing. You cannot use ye flask. Stories Untold has the aesthetics of a Commodore 64 game, but the play logic is totally unlike any text parser game, in a way that I found outright distracting. I don't mean the verb selection menu--that's a smart way of levelling the playing field for people who haven't engaged with the genre--but things like AROUND being a noun which you can combine with GO or LOOK. You might say (perhaps the devs said) that real parser games are clunky, and nobody actually wants to play one, and the community of people who do play them in the 2020s is quite small. Sure. 100% fair. But if that's the reasoning... why make one? Why set this game in the 80s at all?
When talking about games that use the medium to elevate or enhance storytelling, this should be at least one of the de facto examples. Stories Untold jumps between text adventure and graphic adventure and a brief fling with a walking simulator (not derogatory); a kind of whistle-stop tour of the adventure-puzzle genre(s), with the express purpose of telling four seemingly separate horror stories with an underlying narrative that becomes clearer as you move between episodes.
It's definitely one of those stories and games that surely hits differently on subsequent playthroughs once you see the full scope of what it's presenting. Speaking of which, visually, it's incredibly impressively put together, with an 80s-enthused presentation that somehow perfectly straddles the line between laying the vibes and aesthetics on too thick to the point of parody and paying genuine homage.
The gameplay segments themselves are engaging enough, though they really hinge on how hooked you are on that particular episode's narrative since I wouldn't exactly say that the puzzles themselves are particularly engaging in isolation, though I suppose that's a moot point ultimately since the game is the story and the story is the game and so forth.
Without spoiling, your full opinions on Stories Untold as an interactive narrative experience are really going to depend on how you feel about the fourth episode. While I did enjoy what it was doing and how it tied everything together thematically, narratively, and gameplay-wise, I can definitely see it being a let-down for some compared to the rest of the package.
Still, for a first outing from No Code, Stories Untold is really great, and since they're going to be partially responsible for bringing Silent Hill back into the limelight, it should be comforting to many that Konami will be delivering at least one assuredly good game out of their upcoming roster, going by their work here anyhow.
8/10
It's definitely one of those stories and games that surely hits differently on subsequent playthroughs once you see the full scope of what it's presenting. Speaking of which, visually, it's incredibly impressively put together, with an 80s-enthused presentation that somehow perfectly straddles the line between laying the vibes and aesthetics on too thick to the point of parody and paying genuine homage.
The gameplay segments themselves are engaging enough, though they really hinge on how hooked you are on that particular episode's narrative since I wouldn't exactly say that the puzzles themselves are particularly engaging in isolation, though I suppose that's a moot point ultimately since the game is the story and the story is the game and so forth.
Without spoiling, your full opinions on Stories Untold as an interactive narrative experience are really going to depend on how you feel about the fourth episode. While I did enjoy what it was doing and how it tied everything together thematically, narratively, and gameplay-wise, I can definitely see it being a let-down for some compared to the rest of the package.
Still, for a first outing from No Code, Stories Untold is really great, and since they're going to be partially responsible for bringing Silent Hill back into the limelight, it should be comforting to many that Konami will be delivering at least one assuredly good game out of their upcoming roster, going by their work here anyhow.
8/10
A nice homage to older gaming while telling increasingly eerie stories with each chapter. This is great for someone who loves a good thriller and puzzle-solving.
This isn't an action-oriented game, so if you don't enjoy slow-pacing, I wouldn't suggest this game to you.
This isn't an action-oriented game, so if you don't enjoy slow-pacing, I wouldn't suggest this game to you.
This is a very short and simple, yet engaging game. The vast majority of the gameplay is typing and looking around, but the settings and atmospheres make it quite immersive. There are some really cool moments as a result.
There aren't many jumpscares and most of them occur in the first episode. So if they really bother you, just turn your sound down when playing that one.
Each of the episodes has something different to offer and the story is intriguing through the first three episodes, but personally I wasn't a huge fan of the "big reveal" of the fourth. (That brought my rating score down by 1 point.)
Still definitely worth playing through it all, though.
There aren't many jumpscares and most of them occur in the first episode. So if they really bother you, just turn your sound down when playing that one.
Each of the episodes has something different to offer and the story is intriguing through the first three episodes, but personally I wasn't a huge fan of the "big reveal" of the fourth. (That brought my rating score down by 1 point.)
Still definitely worth playing through it all, though.
foda