History VideoGame / StoriesPathOfDestinies

* AnAesop: The purpose of all the normal endings is to show the player some critical flaw that is fouling up their plans for victory. Some morals are outright stated in the narration.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Raven army.

''Stories: The Path of Destinies'' is an action-rpg made by Spearhead Games starring a lot of really badass FunnyAnimals with some heavy visual novel-style influence in the nature of its storytelling.

* Production foreshadowing: One of the platforms apparently has a flyer advertising balalaika lessons. [[VideoGame/{{Omensight}} Ratika]] plays the balalaika.

The breadth of ''Stories'''s gameplay is an action-rpg as Reynardo hacks and slashes his way through the armies of the emperor, powering himself up to become as strong as he can be. At many times throughout the story, you're offered a choice from one of a few options - the path you pick will then splinter off into one of ''twenty-four'' wildly different endings - in one, you may become an all-powerful legend of a man, and in another, you may die alone in a dungeon. Each ending can give you crucial information, key to unlocking the best timeline possible and more upgrades.

* MurphysLaw: Reynardo doesn't quite understand probabilities well, stating that since the Skyripper only has a 1-in-128 chance of destroying the universe, the first try won't count, and that only subsequent attempts would increase the risk. Guess what happens when he uses the Skyripper for the first time...

* ScrewDestiny: Reynardo's ultimate goal is to figure out how to use the knowledge gained from his alternate lifetimes to find a future in which he survives, the Empire falls, and--just ''maybe''--he gets the girl in the end. [[spoiler: To do so, he must make choices that will lead him to four Truths:[[DangerousForbiddenTechnique The Skyripper's truth]],[[FalseFriend Lapino's truth]],[[LoveConfession Zenobia's truth]], and [[PowerAtAPrice The Eye of Iblis' truth.]]]]

* GoldenEnding: What you unlock when [[spoiler: taking the path revealed by discovering all four truths]].

--> '''(In front of an Ice Door)''': Ice doors would only let you through if they know you're cool enough.
--> '''(In front of a Fire Door)''': Fire doors would only let you through if they know you're hot enough.

* TrueEnding: Which can only be discovered once you learn all of the four truths, and following a specific set of choices in a NewGamePlus.

** Once you've unlocked all four truths, the game would sometimes throw you a bone by showing a golden key icon on the story choice that leads to the TrueEnding.

* DummiedOut: The loot system. An upgrade you can equip claims to increase the rare gear drop rate, but it's utterly useless as there's no gear at all.

* InfantImmortality: Averted--not only do you see a young rabbit under Reynardo's protection get incinerated by a Goggler's optic laser, but the narrator's voice-over in later chapters reminds us that the Emperor slaughtered children in dark rituals.

''Stories: The Path of Destinies'' is an action-rpg made by Spearhead Games starring a lot of really badass FunnyAnimals with some heavy visual novel-style influence in the nature of it's storytelling.

* LemonyNarrator: He's somewhat Videogame/{{Bastion}} -esque, in that he comments on the story at hand as well as some context-sensitive actions, like breaking pots.

--> "Someone had told him the odds didnt' change just because you'd had a streak of good luck. His gut told him that was wrong, though. And he always listened to his gut. On the other hand, 128 chances to win, but one of them, he'd destroy the universe. That seemed a bit serious."

--> '''Reynaldo:''' Sure, the first time, the odds are practically nothing. They only go up if I use it a bunch more times--
--> '''Zenobia:''' That's not how odds work! Didn't you pay attention in class?

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: In order to prevent the story from becoming boring if you backtrack through a new path, dialogue is shifted around, newer, harder enemies appear and new shortcuts are accessible, along with the actual path of the level itself being different from path to path.

-> What kind of hero are you?

* MythicalMotifs: Reynardo seems to have some loose references to ''Literature/ReynardTheFox'', a KarmicTrickster from European legends. [[spoiler:In the GoldenEnding, it's clear that he himself has become a trickster, as the ending is focused on manipulating and tricking Lapino, the Hare (a hare was also an enemy of Reynard in the stories) and the Emperor to make sure that they use the objects he knows will cause them harm. In some of the scrolls hidden around the levels, the Emperor's name is revealed to be Isengrim, which is the name of Reynard's most frequent antagonist, though the Emperor is a toad and not a wolf as is the original Isengrim. In fact, Reynard the Fox's first appearance was in a poem titled Ysengrimus]].

The breadth of ''Stories'''s gameplay is an action-rpg as Reynardo hacks and slashes his way through the armies of the emperor, powering himself up to become as strong as he can be. At many times throughout the story, you're offered a choice from one of a few options - the path you pick will then splinter off into one of ''twenty-four'' wildly different endings - in one, you may become an all-power legend of a man, and in another, you may die alone in a dungeon. Each ending can give you crucial information, key to unlocking the best timeline possible and more upgrades.

** The later branches of the upgrade tree are all about finishing combat faster, including an upgrade that makes ever hit and instant kill after a certain combo level, allowing the player to more quickly get through stages and see explore storylines after the combat reaches its upper limit of challenge.

* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: In certain endings, misusing the Skyripper causes a Class VIII destruction of Metaphysical proportions.]]