Stories Untold Review (PS4)

good
key review info
  • Game: Stories Untold
  • Platform: Playstation 4
  • Show system requirements
  • Reviewed on:
Stories Untold artwork

In a world where people, especially gamers have shorter and shorter attention spans, can a text-based adventure game still be a success? Despite the obvious answer, the Scottish developers of Stories Untold embarked on an almost impossible quest: to turn nostalgia into a modern experience and show the new generations why the old riders from the heroic age of gaming had so much fun with games that in 2020 would be considered nothing more than interactive novels.

The PC version, published a few years ago, showed that their efforts have not been in vain: although it cannot be called a revival of the genre, Stories Untold has received numerous nominations for various awards and finally landed on the current console generation as well. On PlayStation and Xbox, the lack of keyboard and mouse raises the challenge even further, since typing text using just the controller can be tedious at best. Still, Stories Untold surpasses all the theoretical barriers and offers a nostalgic, yet fresh experience.

From the very first look, it becomes obvious that Stories Untold is not your parents' or grandparents text based adventure. The developers understood they cannot rely entirely on the almost extinct genre, so they combined it with point and click elements and even walking simulator segments. Adding the visuals so typical for the 80’s the result is something that reminds us somewhat of the hit series, Stranger Things. Even though at first glance the theme seems supernatural as well, going through the four different episodes will grant a much more anchored conclusion.

Stories Untold
Stories Untold
Stories Untold
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The four short stories although at first may seem unrelated, actually are chapters of the same nightmare. All are built on the idea of how given just a handful of hints the human brain can build up a complex story and take you into a world of fantasy. As you advance through the game the text part takes on a more secondary role and the game targets your other senses to build up not just the story, but the atmosphere full of tension as well.

A big role in creating the eerie atmosphere can be attributed to the excellent sound design. The music itself reminds us very much of the already mentioned Stranger Things and does a great job, but it is worth mentioning the sounds of the game that are placed almost with surgical precision. The sound of thunder accompanied by the light that briefly vanquishes the darkness form the room, the sound of various machines with their synthetic, cold light accompanied by the sound of old keyboards, the constant humming of old screens interrupted by the creaks of the door and the floor – all these small elements add up to an entire symphony that immerses you in the game world.

You feel like you are actually there, in the room trying to figure out the correct sequence. At first, you will have to combine different orders such as go to the kitchen or view the wardrobe or speak to your sister in order to advance the story. The lack of a keyboard is compensated very well by a logical and clear menu, which makes the forming of different commends very easy. In the second episode, you will have to figure out how to conduct an experiment by setting and operating the surrounding machines in the correct order. The third episode will make you feel like a code breaker, trying to puzzle together the messages hidden in radio frequencies and then solving basic computer commands. It all works quite well and you never have the feeling of playing something outdated.

Fortunately, the game is not punishing at all, on the contrary, you are encouraged to discover and explore until you find the correct solutions. The length of each episode is determined by how fast you can solve the puzzles or how much of the text adventure you want to discover. The difficulty increases gradually, but you are surrounded by all the tools necessary to solve the puzzles. If you are smart and efficient you will finish each episode in around 30 minutes or less, but you will miss a lot of the atmosphere and small details the developers so carefully placed in Stories Untold.

The game really immerses you in its atmosphere with one notable exception: the walking part through the snowy fields is tedious and dull. The graphic design works well while you are in confined spaces, but the lack of details is hurting the walking simulator part, which is long and almost completely void of challenge. The lack of running and visuals that lack eye candy brake the pace of the game, which cannot be called fast in the first place, and represents an element that does not fit well with the rest of the game.

Another big disappointment is the overall arch of the story: while the episodes themselves manage to dabble in the psycho horror genre, each having a different atmosphere, the fourth episode that ties the entire narrative together falls flat in the end. The attempt to turn something mundane into something fantastic feels synthetic like the developers were not exactly sure how to tie in the actions from the game with their causes from the real world. The potholes in the logic of the narrative do not help either.

Stories Untold
Stories Untold
Stories Untold
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The Good

  • Great puzzles with innovative elements
  • A very nice approach to old text-based adventures
  • Exceptional sound design and atmosphere

The Bad

  • A humdrum story
  • The walking simulator part
  • Too short

Conclusion

Stories Untold is an interesting experiment, that starts well, immerses you in a mysterious world of puzzles, but ends with a rude awakening. The first three episodes are great until they focus on the puzzles, but the walking simulator part puts the game experience on a slope and unfortunately, it never recovers.

It is unfortunate that Stories Untold builds up such an immersive experience just to ruin it with such a humdrum story. If you are a fan of adventure games you will have to try it, even if in the end you will be left wanting more puzzles and a story that would do them justice.

story 6
gameplay 7
concept 8
graphics 6
audio 8
multiplayer 0
final rating 7
Editor's review
good
 
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Stories Untold screenshots (31 Images)

Stories Untold artwork
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