"Storyteller" has an incredible gameplay concept that may eventually be realised into an amazing sequel. As it is, the game is a little short and often trivially easy, but the attention to detail and originality on display made it worth the $15 spent. Characters have countless unique animations based on the background, scene partners and the events leading up to that panel.
Causality is the main theme "Storyteller" explores. The game does this brilliantly by giving you a story prompt, and forcing you to work your way backwards such that the ending is properly set up by preceding events. As simple the stories are, prospective writers could definitely learn something about "cause and effect" from this game. My favourite detail is how later panels update instantly when making changes in earlier ones, showing the immediate effect of your action. The game never feels obtuse in its puzzle logic and flows incredibly well from puzzle-to-puzzle. I found it hard to put down in the 4 hours I took to beat it.
The game's difficulty is its biggest problem. Half of the levels can be solved in under a minute, making a large chunk of this game feel somewhat arbitrary. I wish the game left more room to fully experiment within its sandbox. I'd love to eventually see a level editor for this game that allows you to upload prompts to a server and see if players can realise it through their creativity.
I would love to see a sequel that implements some sort of meta aspect where solutions to individual stories are fed into some larger narrative. Since puzzles are often open-ended, this could involve whether you chose to kill off or spare characters, leading to repercussions later. Some of the best puzzle games in recent memory - Can of Wormholes, Baba is You, The Witness - have this sort of meta-puzzle that really elevate the mechanics beyond what you thought was initially possible. Storyteller lacks that sort of revelation, which prevents it from reaching the upper echelon of puzzle games.
Nonetheless, it was a fun couple of hours and I can't stop imagining what sort of games could stem from this concept.
Causality is the main theme "Storyteller" explores. The game does this brilliantly by giving you a story prompt, and forcing you to work your way backwards such that the ending is properly set up by preceding events. As simple the stories are, prospective writers could definitely learn something about "cause and effect" from this game. My favourite detail is how later panels update instantly when making changes in earlier ones, showing the immediate effect of your action. The game never feels obtuse in its puzzle logic and flows incredibly well from puzzle-to-puzzle. I found it hard to put down in the 4 hours I took to beat it.
The game's difficulty is its biggest problem. Half of the levels can be solved in under a minute, making a large chunk of this game feel somewhat arbitrary. I wish the game left more room to fully experiment within its sandbox. I'd love to eventually see a level editor for this game that allows you to upload prompts to a server and see if players can realise it through their creativity.
I would love to see a sequel that implements some sort of meta aspect where solutions to individual stories are fed into some larger narrative. Since puzzles are often open-ended, this could involve whether you chose to kill off or spare characters, leading to repercussions later. Some of the best puzzle games in recent memory - Can of Wormholes, Baba is You, The Witness - have this sort of meta-puzzle that really elevate the mechanics beyond what you thought was initially possible. Storyteller lacks that sort of revelation, which prevents it from reaching the upper echelon of puzzle games.
Nonetheless, it was a fun couple of hours and I can't stop imagining what sort of games could stem from this concept.