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Stories Untold
Stories Untold is a compilation tape of four episodes from the now cancelled series of the same name, including a remaster of the original pilot episode “The House Abandon”.
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Stories Untold Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
Stories Untold was released on the Nintendo Switch January 16, and it stands out for me as a front-runner for episodic storytelling. Stories Untold is about
Stories Untold is a chilling adventure that manages to draw us right into its world through the ingenious use of its UI and perfectly realised lo-fi aesthetic. Through the walls of old technology and complicated machinery, it creates a uniquely strong bond between player and narrative, giving you a real sense of place within its world as it slowly corrupts and twists from the comfortingly familiar to something else entirely. It's one of the best interactive horror stories we've ever played and a perfect fit for enjoying alone in the dark on Switch.
Stories Untold appears to be a quiet and inconspicuous game at first. This digital anthology of horror stories is essentially a series of escape-the-room puzzles that take place in different universes, but the tales have gripping and emotional threads to connect them. The unique structure is an effective vehicle to deliver something more nuanced than bump-in-the-night thrills; you confront scenes of death, guilt, and heartbreak. However, even on a moment-by-moment level, both the scares and gameplay are satisfying.
Interactive storytelling when done right is an immersive experience that makes you feel things. There are several games that excel in doing just that: Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, What Remains of Edith Finch, and The Unfinished Swan are perfect examples. So just how does Stories Untold stack up against these narrative masterpieces?
That’s not to say there aren’t problems with Stories Untold. The puzzles aren’t terribly hard, the scares aren’t particularly scary… But for what the game is trying to do, and actually accomplishes in its final act, it’s hard to really care about any of the minor flaws. I cannot recommend this game enough. I can see Stories Untold being one of the best, most unexpected indie gems of this year.
With its retro ‘80s aesthetic and multiple different settings and dangers to deal with, Stories Untold is a very well put together horror game, despite its flaws. Every story is short, clocking in at just around 30-45 minutes each, which makes this the perfect game to pop on during an evening get together where your main goal is to spook your friends. The voice acting is also a high point, as each performance felt believable and different in a way that truly made me sink into each small world as I went. It’s not a perfect game or even a perfect port, all things considered, but if you like…
What could have been something lasting, something real, is instead a two dimensional narrative which brandishes plot twists and visual trickery to camouflage a lack of rich storytelling. Nonetheless, I would still highly recommend Stories Untold to writers and game developers: there are ideas in the first few episodes which are fascinating, and I’m dying to see where No Code’s metafictive experimentation might take the text adventure genre.
It’s a short game, as each episode can be finished in under an hour. Yet the story’s presentation—the dialogue, atmosphere, mystery, and growing sense that nothing is what it seems—makes it work well as a tight, concise package. If you like horror stories and adventure games, Stories Untold is worth a look.
Stories Untold is bleak and disturbing, novel and experimental, and most importantly when doing all that, very clever. It’s smarter than you’ll realise, in fact. And why it's smart is all in the experience of playing, not to be given away in the process of reviewing. A pain in the arse for me, but worth it for you.