Storyteller Review: Tales As Old As Time

screenrant.com:

There are some stories that become archetypes, heavily reused and seemingly permanent fixtures in popular culture. But exactly how much is remembered about these story tropes, and how easily can they be pulled together based on the restrictions of a puzzle game? , from developer Daniel Benmergui and publisher Annapurna Interactive, asks players this very question.

takes the form of a story book, but its pictures are all empty — for now. That's where the player comes in, taking the title of the story on each page and turning it into something complete through choosing scenes and characters to form something real. These explore some of those aforementioned stories, with the player grappling with how to best map out the plot of plots like within six panels.

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Each page acts as its own puzzle level in its own right, although similar characters and settings carry over for each 'chapter' of the game. The player is given a handful of scenes to help build the plot, such as a cliff face or a throne room, and a selection of different characters to map out the story. Then it's a matter of piecing it all together, either sticking to the expected story arc or (more interestingly) seeing how the story can be completed in divergent ways. It's a unique approach to a fun puzzle game and it works well as a framing device.

The way that handles these stories is also fairly well done. The player will be able to pick up on the hints of exactly what the game is getting at fairly quickly, in particular based around the title of the piece and the characters to select. will have a butler killing a duke or duchess, a nefarious noble usurping a queen, or a true love’s kiss ending a curse.

Within that,