“Stories Untold” is a throwback to a bygone era of archaic, text-based adventures while simultaneously pulling from psychological horror. There’s no longer a need to type commands when all someone has to do is press a button, click the mouse, or move a joystick, but for such an interesting combination of old and new influences, it paints a horrifying yet beautiful work of art that’s worth typing through with no prior knowledge.
“Stories Untold” takes place across four chapters that are stylized like episodes of an 80s sci-fi TV series. Afterward, you’re dumped into a setting with a computer-like device and an interactive environment. Essentially, you’re playing the game from within the game.
Usually, progression demands a specific yet simple command—neither wordy nor complicated. For example, instead of saying “Get up and walk to the bedroom door,” just say the three words: “Go to door.”
A chunk of the fun stems from your immersion within the fictional room you’re in. The further you unravel the plot of whatever episode you’re playing, the more your surroundings eerily adapt to your inputs.
No better can this be seen than in the first episode, “The House Abandon,” which stays true to the adventure game formula but still manages to blow your socks off.
You begin in front of an old computer, playing a game sharing the episode’s name. Halfway in, your character inside of the text-based adventure unwraps a present: the exact computer you’re playing on, only to play a twisted version of what you have just played. The only difference is anything you do in the corrupt game, you will hear it, and maybe even see it. The worst part is you can’t turn around or go check the house.
“Stories Untold” doesn’t follow this exact format for the remaining three episodes. This uncertainty instills dread as you are unable to guess what trick the game will play next.
Episode two, “The Lab Conduct,” places you inside of a testing laboratory and requires you to perform experiments on a subject you can’t quite see. This requires you to move across desks to use lab equipment, receiving your instructions through a computer.
The third episode, “The Station Process,” veers away from the adventure game format in exchange for intercepting radio frequencies and using Morse Code to restore communication between outposts in a blizzard. Even though its gameplay is different from other episodes, it was the tension that held it up.
“The Last Session” is the black sheep of the bunch, but for good reason. Unfortunately, giving any details whatsoever about the episode at all, even the basics, is almost criminal for the sake of enjoyment.
Across all of the episodes, I feared what I was to witness in each conclusion. Each was great, and I was sad that the game ended as soon as it did. However, the length of the game in addition to how many chapters there were made perfect sense by the time I completed it after three hours. Solving the puzzles laid before me was never a travesty except for one moment that required a very specific choice of words toward the very end.
RATING:
“Stories Untold” is one of the only retro-themed games that is a throwback to the adventure game genre, and it’s done exceedingly well. It conveys its extreme message through mysterious overtones, having you unwrap the plot through a slew of different tasks. If you’re wanting something different out of the horror genre, look no further than “Stories Untold.”