Quick Review: Stories: The Path of Destinies

It’s never easy fighting a despot. At least you’ve got options. Many, MANY options.

Floating islands? An expansive combat system? A witty
narration? Oh, this is gonna be fun.

A creation from Spearhead Games released to Steam on April 12th, 2016, Stories: The Path of Destinies tells the storybook tale of Reynardo, famous robber of the floating isles in a time of turmoil. He laid low after making hearty promises to a good friend, but adventure found its way back to him. He attempts to save a bunny child he was supposed to protect, only to see the kid reduced to ashes by the forces of the Emperor, once a fair ruler, now a monster that disappears entire villages using an army of crow-people. All that remains is a magical book, which Reynardo picks up. The only way to honor his deed is to take down the Emperor. And his daughter Zenobia, if need be.

This game is an action RPG divided in chapters. You move Reynardo by holding down the right-click button of the mouse. When battle engages, Reynardo attacks with the left-click button. Holding the button down after attacking an enemy lets Reynardo grab them and throw them into other enemies. Exploration-wise, he can break pots and open chests for health, crafting materials, or gems.

Ruffle their feathers!

There aren't a ton of different environments or enemies, the
plot as you discover it is more interesting than the

After a fight has ended, you receive EXP. When Reynardo levels up, he gains a skill point, which he can spend at altars to improve his skills or gain new ones. Most skills are specifically useful in battle, but others can be used outside of it, like a hook (activated by pressing the left alt key) to travel across chasms, using lampposts as targets. The skill tree has abilities locked in tiers, with each next one requiring a “secret”. At crafting tables, Reynardo can use the materials he found to craft new swords or equip very special gems he obtained that grant him additional perks and bonuses. Beyond the first, each craftable sword has an element, and can be used to unlock doors of the same element, with better treasure hidden behing said doors. You can switch between swords by pressing the 1 to 4 keys.

The game helps you discover new story beats you haven't
seen thanks to those "!" indicators. Time to find out where
the story takes Reynardo...

The story format: After a chapter ends, you are given a choice between two options to continue. This dictates what you’ll play through next. This goes on for five chapters, after which Reynardo's story will end in tragedy. Gee, downer AND spoilers. However, turns out that everything that happened was more a vision of a future, and a secret truth is revealed about a major character or significant item. You then start the story over at the first choice and can take a different path. A new possibility unlocks the second run onwards, based on the knowledge obtained. New narration bits will be added depending on the truths you’ve discovered!

That glowy thing following Reynardo? It's not good.
That is one of the truths. 

Ah yes, getting cornered, while the fire mage is loading up
a deadly blast. Always a fun time. Like in DnD:
Kill the spellcasters first. If you can get to them, that is.

Enemy encounters will keep up with your progress. As you level up and unlock new perks, Reynardo becomes a killing machine, but you also discover new enemy types that are headaches to deal with, not to mention the growing number of enemies in encounters. It becomes very easy to get cornered into a death trap, surrounded by enemies that often attack, while a wizard opponent is readying an even more devastating move. Reynardo dies at the end of pretty much every run, story-wise, but when he dies in gameplay, he respawns just before the latest battle encounter, so the game is lenient there. Still, those encounters can be annoying, due to the targeting system; Reynardo will attack the enemy closest to where you click, since the base attack is still done with the mouse; activating special sword skills is done with the left Shift key, and the hook with the left Alt key.

Not a lot of proper "cutscenes" in the 3D realm here.
Most of the story is told either through the narration, or
the gorgeous book pictures between chapters.

Not the first “roguelite narrative” I see; Heck, it’s not the first this year! But it’s a different take on the idea. Bit of a Groundhog Day thing going on, which I love. The narration is playful, and has many jokes and pop culture references to make. The true ending requires uncovering the four truths, no way around that, so you must play the five-chapter story at least five times. Getting said true ending grants Reynardo ultimate power to burn through the enemy armies, to speed up finding any stories missing out of the 24(!) possible. The swords give you an incentive to explore, and their effects combined to any Gems found behind the associated doors can turn the tide.

A deep knowledge of blades can open many doors for you.

Combat itself can be tricky, but after enough level-ups and perks are unlocked, the enemies struggle to keep up. Thus, difficulty can be a little all over the place on the way to the true ending – however, the small number of different enemies means that combat gets a little repetitive over time, and there are no bosses to break the monotony. Still, overall, a very good game, worth checking out.

Stories: The Path of Destinies is available on Steam for 14.99$ USD.

Quick Review: Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing

Everybody is “CrossWorlds this”, “CrossWorlds that”… I am not nearly as cool. And besides I’ve got, like, three racing Sonic games in the backlog. I might as well start with the first of those, chronologically.

Shadow's bike is fast. We've got to find a way
to slow him down. Rockets or punches,
anything!

Developed by Sumo Digital, published by SEGA (of course) and released to Steam on March 3rd, 2010 (and to many other platforms as well), Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing is… Okay, let’s not mince words. It’s a mascot racer, so it's very close in feel to Mario Kart; however, this one instead features many of SEGA’s franchises put together into a single game. Sonic is the company’s mascot and gets top billing because the roster of playable racers has a large representation of characters from his franchise. Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Shadow, Big the Cat and Eggman can duke it out on the racetracks. Sonic knows he outspeeds everyone on foot, that’s why he prefers to play fair with vehicles. Or, occasionally, on Extreme Gear. But today, it’s cars, bikes, and hovercraft.

Speed boosts are always welcome around here.

Other properties represented with racers and courses include Super Monkey Ball, Billy Hatcher, Samba de Amigo, Jet Set Radio Future, Alex Kidd and The House of the Dead. Many of these I’m not familiar with.

Cups follow the classic system; four courses per cup, with characters getting a score after reaching the finish line based on their position. The player with the highest score after the fourth race wins! Beating a cup unlocks the next, all the way to the sixth (thus, there are 24 tracks to race on). And the cups can be played on three difficulties: Beginner, Advanced and Expert, with the first cup unlocked in all three from the start.

Most All-Star moves boil down to "huge speed boost" with
an extra effect to attack, disorient, or slow down the
racers before the All-Star user.

There’s everything you can expect from this kind of game: Speed pads, item blocks, and courses that often include alternate paths. The base controls on PC are D for acceleration, S for drifting, Space to use an item, A to look behind you, and the arrows to move left and right. Drifting can be very useful to get through tight turns, but it has a second utility; if you hold it down long enough, you will get a speed boost out of it!

This game separates itself from Mario Kart in a few ways; for starters, every character has an All-Star Move they can obtain from an item box if they’re way behind, and that item can help them regain momentum and go up a couple of places. As one example, Tails’ All-Star gives him a big speed boost and releases a tornado that makes the racers it hits spin out.

Alex Kidd I've heard of, but the other two? I haven't the
foggiest.

Second, you receive SEGA Miles when beating Cups, which can be used in the game’s shop. There, you can unlock:

-12 more characters from SEGA’s history, bringing the total to 20;

-New courses for single-course racing or time trials (otherwise, only the first 8 are available out of 24);

-And new songs that can play during races. The music is great from the beginning, but you’ve only got the first 8 songs from the get-go, meaning you must buy the other 32.

The most obvious addition, though, is the announcer. While the overhead narrating voice can make good points and warn players about incoming threats (such as a racer activating their All-Star move), many of the comments unrelated to racers’ actions are jokes that eventually get old, because there are few of them and narration cycles through them quickly. Decent idea, needed extra lines for non-specific banter. At least the voice has lines for each of the twenty racers, which is cool.

A mission about collecting rings?
Yeah, figures that'd be here.

Drifting isn't going to save you here. Only
slowing down so you can do the 180° turn
proper. Yes. Slowing down,
in a racing game. Featuring SONIC.

Still not enough? You can complete the 64 missions in the game, most of which will ask something specific of you or provide a unique challenge. All missions will give you a grade going all the way to AAA, and it is an in-game achievement to get an AAA on every one of them. Speaking of – there are lots of achievements to hunt for here! Not for Steam, though; only within the software itself.

A minor annoyance: Some versions of the game had Metal Sonic as a DLC, but the Steam version doesn’t. Another gripe I have is that courses are designed with the drifting in mind, featuring a LOT of right angles and other circular turns that cannot be driven properly otherwise. If you don’t master drifting fast, those courses become troublesome. One of the final courses has several 180° turns in a row, and I legitimately hated it. Other than that, it’s very easy to fall off the road in key places; thankfully, the return to the road is quicker here than in Mario Kart, with a quick wipe of the game logo before your racer reappears on the road, so you might not lose your place as a result.

Not as bad, but a late course has an upwards
spiraling path. At least that one makes it easy
to get a couple of drift boosts in.

I got it! All-Star moves are... the Final Smashes
of racing games!

Aside from that? The game has a killer soundtrack (even if you must unlock most of it), looks great (Each franchise’s courses have their own feel), and there is a fun variety of characters. Honestly, aside from a few things, I generally enjoyed it. I do stick to my statement that “if you follow the leader, you stay behind them”, but Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing has just enough things to differentiate itself from a Mario Kart – such as covering multiple properties, being on several platforms, and having the personalized All-Star moves. It’s packed with content, be it the classic mascot racing game staples or the lengthy mission mode. It’s a very enjoyable time all in all, and more than worth it – especially as the first in a series of racing games that’s probably reached its apex with 2025’s CrossWorlds.

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing is available on Steam for 9.99$ USD.

Quick Review: Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove

My shovel is ready! …My winter shovel, because that’s coming. But before that…

Our rival, Black Knight, is all black and red. And we're blue.
This is a really common hero-and-rival color thing, huh?

Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove is a game developed and published by Yacht Club Games, and released on June 26th, 2014. The eponymous character used to venture the lands with his partner Shield Knight, doing heroic feats as a team, until they had to enter the Tower of Fate. An encounter with a cursed amulet within the Tower led to Shovel Knight running away, and Shield Knight remaining trapped. Years later, the now embittered hero must face a new threat: The Enchantress, a rising new villain, and her Order of No Quarter, made up of several themed Knights who have taken over the land. Bring out the shovel – we’ve got heroics to do!

Many of the early boss battles can be cheesed thanks to the
magic relics system.

This indie game takes a lot of cues from retro platformers, with modern quality-of-life changes added in. Controls on PC start out with WASD for movement, and J and K for actions –mirroring a NES controller’s setup. (Personally, I’m not a fan; I switched it back to the arrows and ZX.) The difficulty makes itself apparent early on, with each stage using new tricks to put your skills to the test. As an example, an early level darkens the screen, and the only surefire ways to progress are the occasional thunder strikes lighting the area for a second, and the player remembering where each platform and enemy is.

Hm, how am I gonna get that money back...
I know! Trusty fishing rod, let's go.

To compensate for the difficulty, there is no system of lives; instead, when Shovel Knight dies, he drops some of his loot, and it will be up to the player to reach the area where he died and recover said loot. Every level has orb checkpoints, which are activated when reached; for the reckless, orbs can be destroyed for extra loot, at the cost of no longer being usable as checkpoints. Shovel Knight can dig out piles of dirt, his own campfires, and other areas of interest, to find jewels and money – he can even look for breakable walls, which may lead to chests or even brand new pathways!

A few bonus bosses roaming the land, as well as one or
two non-official "levels" that aren't quite part of the story.

You gradually unlock relics to purchase at the shop, so your
offensive options widen quite a bit over time! Makes the next
bosses equal parts not that bad, if you know what to do, and
very challenging, if you can't figure out a strategy.

Although the system is closer to a classic platformer, with precise stages, there are additional elements at play. As a throwback to Super Mario Bros. 3, wandering travelers can appear on the world map and be fought, like bonus bosses. You can spend your money on new abilities for your shovel, new armors, or a plethora of magical trinkets whose abilities can be activated with a button combination (in my case: Up+Attack), and which can turn the tides of the tougher screens and bosses. Those cost magic points, so use them wisely! Enemies can drop MP refills, so it’s not too bothersome. My personal favorites are the fireball, the bouncing ball of green energy, and the forward dash that can be used to evade pits or get to unreachable ledges! Oh, and there’s the fishing rod, too!

The other characters play VERY differently. As an example,
Specter Knight can climb walls and even wall jump - but
only on rocky surfaces. Grass is slippery, I guess.

Everything I just described? That’s only one game here, Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope. This is called Treasure Trove for a reason; there are four more games to play here. The next three are platformers that tell the stories of the first three bosses from Shovel of Hope: King Knight, Plague Knight and Specter Knight. Each storyline explores these knights’ backstories, and why we eventually found them working for the Order of No Quarter – some of these stories even feature minor characters from the main game! Each character has different combat and movement skills, and goes mostly through the same stages as Shovel Knight did, though with changes to accommodate their new mechanics. King Knight even has a whole card-based minigame!

Still not enough? There’s Showdown, a fighting game with a playable Story Mode for each character – all 20 of them. All four campaigns unlock their own New Game+ when finished, and you can even find a Challenge mode! Achievement hunters will enjoy this one, considering all the bonus tasks one can take on.

A good day for a swell ba- Oh wait, wrong indie darling.

You want to fight an Enchanter instead? That can be done.
You can even randomize every Knight's gender if you'd like.

The final element of note is mostly cosmetic, but significant: Body Swap Mode, available for Shovel of Hope, which allows you to pick the genders of every major character in the game (Shovel Knight, Shield Knight, the Enchantress, and the members of the Order) and how they’re addressed – including nonbinary options. Only downside is that it’s limited to one mode out of 5 (with Shovel Knight being the only character that can be modified this way for Showdown), but it’s the intention that counts.

Final boss, here I come! (I have, of course, already defeated
her, or him. I usually finish the games before I review them!)

I had been looking forward all year to this one, since Shovel Knight is part of the indie pantheon, with quite the reputation. And it did not disappoint. Great platformer. It’s tough, especially in the final stretch, but it was made fair (or at least less infuriating) thanks to modern gaming sensibilities built in. Not having to worry about lives is a godsend. The sprite work is fantastic, and the music is excellent. Despite the silly starting concept of a knight that fights using a shovel, there’s a ton of lore to discover in both the base game and the other knights’ bonus campaigns. Part of the difficulty can be up to the player if they decide to break every checkpoint on the way, or hoard their money by never spending it on extra hit points, magic, or any upgrades. Shovel of Hope is perfectly fine, but the controls and mechanics for the other three campaigns, while interesting, aren’t nearly as easy to learn or master. But hey, they’re there for whoever wants to play them, and so is the Showdown mode!

Shovel Knight is available on Steam for 39.99$ USD.

Quick Review: Road 96

It’s a dangerous world out there, for teens chasing freedom.

This kid's so young his voice still hasn't cracked, yet he is
already driving and building computers and coding games.

Developed by Digixart, published by THQ Nordic and released on August 16th, 2021, Road 96 is the story of Petria, a country in disarray under the iron-fisted rule of the tyrannical President Tyrak. It’s 1996, most citizens have little choice other than to obey, and rebellious teenagers risk everything to leave the godforsaken country behind. For all these young hitchhikers, it goes through Road 96, a bottleneck point that’s the only trusted way out. Those who get caught fleeing are arrested and sent to “The Iron Pits”, whatever that is… if they’re not outright killed. Just gotta make it through, whichever way possible – bribes, stealth, friends, anything. The Black Brigades, rumored to have played a part in a tragedy ten years prior when Tyrak was elected, and seen as terrorists by the regime and part of the population, could help. Then there’s that upcoming election, with candidate Florres that could rise to power and put an end to all this…

Apparently, there is only one way out of the country.
Nothing South, and no other options anywhere on that border.

Of course, this means that you have to engage with the
scenario put in front of you, and the game will force your hand
 if you don't want to. Wanna get away from the robbers? Nah,
they'll hire you whether you want to or not.

How to describe this one… Imagine a narrative-driven Telltale game à la Walking Dead, with some roguelite randomness built in. You play through your first character’s story, and when their run is over, you are given a choice between three other teens. You’ll never know what to expect… or in which order, really. You interact with the other major characters of the story, and like with Telltale, your answers can influence them one way or another – some answers will cause shifts in those characters, and perhaps even in the wider world. The closer you get to the end (with some of your teens making it through, others not), the more you see the repercussions of your choices.

Why is there a meter rising up about the cab driver's cold
anger? I dunno, how about we ask the soon-to-be-murdered
guy stuffed in the taxicab's trunk?

You’ll encounter one major character in every segment, with each one having several segments dedicated to them (as denoted in the loading screen). You never know who will be the next onemet, or which scene you’ll witness (some scenes can only happen after specific ones have been played). Will you meet the runaway teen that keeps getting herself (and others) in trouble? The well-meaning cop mom who’s unfortunately helping the tyranny? Or her son, a hacking genius? The bumbling thieves? Or the guy who wants to kill the #1 newscaster in the country? Hell, you can run into said newscaster, and she might give you jobs or pick you up as a hitchhiker, even though she’s on board with the tyranny.

No, Officer! I know I look sixteen, but I was born in...
Uh... '42! Promise!

Outside of those where the choice is made for you, after some segments, you have options as to what your next travel method will be: By foot, by taxi, by bus, hitchhiking, stealing a car… I assume that the next scenes you’ll experience are picked based on your choices.

The other element that makes this a roguelite? As a runaway teen, you must manage health and funds carefully. But there are perks!

Me? The worst cameraperson you've seen? Hey, you are
the one who asked me to sub in, lady! I don't even like Tyrak!

-You often lose health due to traveling, but it can be refilled by sleeping, eating, or drinking. Sustenace can be paid for… or dug out of the trash. You’ll often start a chapter with low health, so finding ways to refill it will be necessary.

-Your money will generally be low when you start on a new teenager. Cash is needed for bus/taxi, sometimes for food. Small amounts can be found in hidden spaces. The setting being what it is, you might take on degrading jobs (maybe pro-Tyrak, against your character’s worldview) to have anything to spend. Staying morally upright can only take you so far.

Big John, here, has gien you the gift of life! By which I
mean, the gift of two extra HP for the remainder of the
game. You just had to make, and then drink, a nasty
beverage to obtain them.

-Completing specific segments can net the player new skills, which will stick around for every subsequent chapter. These can involve better odds whenever a luck roll is made, a lockpicking ability, hacking, an easier time dealing with police forces, and a “quick wit” to have the best response in some situations. The sixth skill permanently increases your max health by two points.

Several scenes have their own associated minigame; though there are rarely any significant rewards for victory, they shake up the formula and offer some levity in a game that otherwise doesn’t have much of it. Connect 4? Trombone Hero? Pong? That’s cool.

Yes, Trombone Hero. Eh, why not.

Tension! Action! Horror! This game should be a TV show.
Just need one solid season. One teen per hour-long episode.

The game boasts an excellent soundtrack (there’s even collectibles in the form of tape cassettes that you can play on car radios), and the cel-shaded graphics give it a great style. Your choices can influence some of the details, but there’s only three possible major events that count as endings. And all of them are bittersweet at best, as even the happiest will have at least a few characters dead. Road 96’s colorful look masks its bleak story; there’s always something that goes wrong, or that you can’t make better no matter which dialog option you choose. The most horrible characters have their moments where you may empathize, but never enough to redeem them. The best characters will not always make the best decisions. And those that garner the most sympathy from you might still lose it all in the final stretch. It’s dark, but it’s inevitable considering the subject matter. All to highlight what we all should know, which is that authoritarianism fucking sucks.

But hey, there’s always people out there who need the reminder… Anyway, yeah, very good game here.

Road 96 is available on Steam for 19.99$ USD.

Quick Review: Rakuen

Hey, I know how to make that hat! It's an easy origami model.

Feels a little colorless, but then again, it's a hospital.

Created by Laura Shigihara and released on May 10th, 2017, Rakuen is a game made using RPG Maker XP. That’s my one for the year! You play as a young boy during a long hospital stay. While waiting on a visit from his mom, he is given permission to leave his room and walk around. He realizes that the book his mom reads to him, Rakuen, is missing from his room. He meets the other patients, has a chat with the personnel and any friendly visitors, and finds his book.

The next day, while exploring the hospital with his mom, the boy finds a portal that leads to the world of the storybook. The two can explore it and talk with the catlike Leebles that inhabit the forest village. Morizora, the guardian of the forest, can grant someone a wish, but he has fallen asleep due to shadowy spirits. Morizora can only be awakened with a song, of which the boy will have to learn the parts if he wants his wish granted. Many humans at the hospital have their equivalent character on the other side. As he explores both sides, the boy will discover the personal stories of the other patients on his floor, and learn the parts of the song.

We're gonna have to earn that wish.

I liked this part of the game, we were playing waiter to get
information on a robber. It was creative and fun.

Although it was designed on software intended for RPGs, this is more like a point-and-click puzzle adventure. You walk around with the arrows, interact with things with Space or Enter, and get prompted to use items from your inventory (from the pause menu, opened with Esc., which includes a save button) onto décor elements to solve puzzles. Though you will be told which item to use when you have it, instead of doing trial and error! This is combined to a complex world you can explore, and you unlock areas as you find new tools and passageways – not to mention more doors leading to the fantasy land.

Interactions you have in one world impact the other; watering a plant in the hospital creates a climbable beanstalk in the village. Vice versa, resolving the issues of a patient’s fantasy land version will have repercussions on said patient. Objects freely travel to and fro. Both halves influence each other far too much for this to be just a dream, but the truth is left ambiguous, like many other elements.

A story of love, not of loss.

Nowhere is that made more obvious than when you investigate the past of other patients on the boy’s floor. Their stories are told through the inhabitants of the forest, with the boy witnessing setting-modified versions of events that get the point across, and yet they are nonetheless brutally clear as to what happened. Stories of racism, estrangement, bullying, or loss of oneself, to name a few.

One example is Tony, the grumpy old man. He and his family are represented by bears in the Leebles’ world, showing through animals the broad strokes of what happened to make him so embittered. Through the magical doors, the boy and his mom access Tony’s old home, which allows them to discover the realistic details… and those don’t leave the player with much doubt. I am staying vague, because it is worth seeing on your own. While you are investigating, flashbacks will put away the boy and switch the playable character to one relevant to the current backstory.

Ohh, I was not looking forward to the moment we play
one of these bears. And I was right to dread. Not spoiling!

Dangit, I'm just coming back for screenshots, re-hearing the first
song... is that tears coming back?? Oh, Laura Shigihara also does
music, by the way!

The music is great (shout-out to the climactic song of every patient’s story). The maps are detailed and beautiful. And the game is programmed to include a ton of puzzles and gameplay twists that make it surpass the average game made with this software. One example is the labyrinthine cave that’s explored early on, with its own mini-puzzles; this “dungeon” provides a handy map. When the boy’s mother is somewhere with him, she can be called with the Q key for a chat or to provide a hint if you’re not sure what to do next. This can be very handy!

Such a lovely space for the child patients on this floor.
We all hope they'll get to enjoy it... No, I'm not sobbing.

My one critique would be that a few side-quests, especially those that involve gathering materials to make new tools for progression, can feel a bit like chores unless you quickly get it into your head to pick up every necessary material as soon as you see it. Another important point is that, the rare times you CAN get a Game Over, you aren’t warned beforehand (since most obstacles instead warp you back to the previous room). Thankfully, the game lets you save almost anywhere, and includes an autosave so that you don’t lose too much progress if you land a Game Over and haven’t saved in a while.

Oh, and if you play this game, keep a box of tissues nearby. This is not a joke; each story will get you teary-eyed. Or, more likely, you’ll bawl your eyes out. This game made me a crying mess, you have no idea. The storytelling is excellent, some of the best I’ve seen in gaming, period. Absolutely. In the realm of incredible RPG Maker games, it’s a little less famous than To The Moon, and yet it’s just as heartbreaking. Need I even say that I recommend this one? Because I do.

Only barely exaggerated.

Rakuen is available on Steam for 14.99$ USD.