Stories: The Path of Destinies or What’s That?

There is a strange trend happening in the PSN Store lately – without much PR or most gamers noticing, lots of different and interesting games are being published; from the simulation space faring of Rebel Galaxy, the Viking themed RPG The Banner Saga to the intriguing Layers of Fear, PSN offers considerably more than just AAA games and pixelated shovelware – but it becomes harder and harder to notice these hidden gems buried under piles of rogue-likes and twin shooters.

One of these well-hidden gems is this week’s barely noticed release of Stories: The Path of Destinies, an action RPG with a narrative twist – finishing the story about a pirate fox fighting an evil toad emperor while trying to rescue his love, a kitty he went to sword fu school with who happens to be the daughter of the villain, only takes one hour or so, but there are more than 20 different ends to the narrative, including 4 truths (big twists to the story) that stretch the game to easily more than 10 hours.

While you will need to replay parts of Stories: The Path of Destinies quite a few times, it still stays fresh because there are new paths to discover thanks to previously locked paths, and going through levels with different experiences and the quite often sarcastic narrator commenting on new insights never gets old.

Furthermore, gaining new moves always add to the fun in the hack ‘n slay style battles. Plus you can switch between 4 different upgradeable swords in Stories: The Path of Destinies, and you can get additional bonuses by implementing gems into your gauntlet. Experimenting new ways to slaughter keeps you motivated easily.

Rabidgames can’t stop playing: Oh yes, Stories: The Path of Destinies is a fine game for a discount price of 9 pounds, and it also feels a bit different from the rest of games you can usually buy for that price. But why Sony seems more proud of all the shitty 2D pixel galore, remains a mystery. Why not focus on gems instead?