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Drag and drop characters and settings to solve story puzzles | First Impressions - Storyteller

2K View2023-03-24

Storyteller is a unique drag and drop puzzle game with fascinating novel mechanics and a cute medieval inspired artstyle. You are given multiple empty panels for a given scenario, plus a multitude of settings and characters to place per scenario. It’s up to you to arrange them in a way that will fit the scenario’s objectives. Be it somebody dying, living happily ever after, or getting revenge; you need to satisfy the objective in order to solve the puzzle.

The panels affect each other chronologically, a character dying early in the story will become a ghost if placed later on. Making two characters fall in love with each other will induce heartbreaks for any additional lover you might want to add… unless the setting specifically calls for an affair. This mechanic is just cleverly made, intricately designed, and it has led me to trying out many different combinations of characters and settings just to see what would happen in the other panels.

These characters have their own personalities built that players should take into account for the story. For example, Isabela is a woman with strong convictions, and perhaps has evil tendencies. While Lenora is easy to get depressed and prone to being sad. Some characters have a tendency to do good or bad actions; and get happy or sad. Other characters will have a starting disposition to one of the other characters, such as the Knight being loyal to his Queen, or a King being in love with his maid, adding a dynamic to the storytelling aspect.

Proper motivation is needed for characters to perform desired actions, you cannot just place a character together with a poison and expect him to drink it. He must need proper motivation — a broken heart or an unsuspecting soul ought to do it.

As captivating the gameplay is, Storyteller doesn’t overstay its welcome having only around 13 chapters with 4 scenarios each. Some puzzles are straightforward, some will require a bit of brain finesse to solve. For the price it asks, which is $15 by the way, it's a tall order.

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