REVIEW: Storyteller is a charming puzzler

Learn More Storyteller, a game focused on narrative puzzles that will make you laugh and entertain for a short period of time, but that will leave you with a good experience after the game. Check out what you got out of this short, but very fun work:

opening the book

Upon opening a book entitled “Storyteller”, with a very old look, we are faced with a quick introduction: the crown [and the game] will win whoever is able to tell the best stories in this work and, with that, become the master storyteller of Kingdom. 

And the content, in fact, of this curious book is you who creates it. How it works? The main idea of ​​the game is to build mini stories with characters and scenarios predetermined by the game design, interrelated and capable of creating a lot of medieval family intrigue and a somewhat acidic humor. It is possible to create a certain amount of possibilities for these stories, which are limited to small frames (from 4 to 8, as the phases advance) of fitting these two main elements.

The challenge is to fulfill a simple proposal, which will always be presented in the form of the title and subtitle of the book's 13 chapters. As a premise of the story you will create, such a proposal needs to be fulfilled with the elements mentioned above. 

The order of the factors, however, does not change the product. Constructing different situations, truths and conditions in different orders to form the fundamental narrative line of thought for the title's premise to be met will always be a fun factor in Storyteller. Seeing a queen losing her throne to an ill-intentioned baron and, after being saved by a knight, taking cold revenge on him is a normal path for one of the narratives created, but the crown being taken by the knight and the baron executed by him is one of the most amusing exemplary subversions, which are scattered throughout the book.

a unique work

Storyteller has a spectacular 2D art, full of characters and cartoon designs inside an animated and very comical medieval book, encouraging the action of the player with self-explanatory narratives and a humorous tone. Its narrative puzzles are pretty smooth and easy to solve, although there is a steep difficulty curve in the final 2 chapters.

Its soundtrack makes reference to classic songs that are well known and used in the popular imagination, many of which are used in cartoons and modern 3D animation films, including. This attribute ends up joining character vocalizations and comic or tragic sound effects, corroborating for a very hilarious and pleasant final experience.

a beautiful end point

Storyteller has a very fun and unique experience compared to any industry standard of narrative games, which, in itself, already makes it worth it as an essential product for those who appreciate good videogames, especially for those who like independent games. It has charming and very comical narratives, a good soundtrack and it never ceases to be a great pastime with puzzle easy and average, which will last you a maximum of 3 hours (and could put Steam platinum on that count). 

In 2023, it may gain few lights from the spotlight, given so many other excellent current and future releases, but it is certainly one of the best and most curious deliveries so far, even though it has a fast and shallow experience in a certain aspect of its gameplay (nothing against short games). It's worth checking out and building your best narratives!

Storyteller was created by Argentine game developer Daniel Benmergui (of Today I Die e I Wish I Were the Moon) and is available for PC e Switch.

Analysis carried out with a copy of Switch provided by the producers

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Text proofread by: Pedro Bomfim (03 / 04 / 23)