Stories Untold review

Stories Untold is a narrative-driven gaming experience that features four short stories using various gameplay mechanics such as classic text-adventure, point-and-click; among others. Each story is a different narrative than its predecessor and gives players a different and creepier experience than the previous to enjoy.

Each chapter of Stories Untold features a different gameplay mechanic; for example, the first episode restricts players to typing in two-word commands into a computer with pre-set terms such as “Go” “Outside” to be able to leave the car. It’s ok and it matches great with the first episode’s creepy, 80s horror movie-like context. It’s a nice diversion from typical adventure games, shooters or any common genres that is currently overflooded with games.

Further episodes also add point-and-click mechanics where you’ll have to move around the cursor in between command/number inputs. You’ll need to juggle between different tools in order to either obtain hidden information to allow you to proceed further such as a code or figuring out what’s next to do in an experiment that feels all too real.

The main problem here is that the point-and-click mechanism doesn’t work well on consoles; it doesn’t feel as easy friendly and intuitive as using a PC mouse for obvious reasons. It also makes the simplest thing such as moving from one device to another more tedious than it should due to the slowness of the cursor’s movement. This could’ve been replaced by a navigational drop down menu to ease movement. Another nuisance is the questionable font color which is white, but sometimes it’ll be over a white item on-screen meaning you won’t be able to read the pre-determined words.

Another problem with the game is that it brings an old school mechanic back as it won’t give you too many hints or clues as to what to do. If you’re looking to grab all achievements and avoid randomly trying wording combinations or randomly fiddling around with the available devices without spending too much time, a walkthrough will be required otherwise, you’ll get bored of trying to figure out what to do given the very limited gameplay appeal of this game.

Stories Untold gives off that unique, creepy vibe from 80s b-series horror movies. The episodes all have their own unique creepy factor; the second episode will make GTA V’s Trevor interrogation feel like a cake walk. The soundtrack is also synthwave inspired with a little creepy flair added to it; most of the game’s sound effects are annoying and ear-grating akin to going on the internet through a phone line.

Truth be told, Stories Untold is an interesting, fun and well-thought-out concept which brings a different type of creepy to the gaming universe. The core problem is the point-and-click mechanic which doesn’t work all that well on consoles; I would recommend this to PC players as the mouse is perfect for point-and-click games, but it’s hard to recommend for console players unless you’re willing to test out your patience.