Let me preface this by stating that I didn't necessarily purchase Storynth because of the screenshots and features listed on the Steam page. I actually purchased this title because I was curious about the backstory for development given it’s an RPG maker game. I came across a Facebook page where it looks like development started in 2018 by a one-person team. Unfortunately I didn’t see any comments about the game on the older Facebook posts or in the Steam discussions, so I assumed that Storynth didn’t get much attention. I bought the game because I wanted to know the level of quality and passion behind the project and if Storynth could merit a fun experience. This was a world that someone had created and dreamt of over the course of several years and it would be a huge disappointment in my mind if there wasn’t at least one person to experience that vision.
At the start of the game I was initially struggling to get up to speed with the story. It felt like you picked up a novel, turned to the middle of the book, and just started reading. While the game does its best to explain the setting and plot thus far, so many characters and terms were being introduced that it was difficult to keep up. I honestly believe that the game would do well with some type of glossary in-game or on the Steam discussion forums as it would be really beneficial to the experience. I’ll do my best to summarize the beginning of the game to the best of my recollection.
After an introductory sequence the story begins in the Vostinian Empire. You start out playing a girl named Lana who meets up with a man named Antonio. Antonio is a member of a rebel faction opposed to the Empire and accompanies Lana to infiltrate a tower controlled by the Empire to gather more information about the Final Gate, which is from my understanding a gateway to the realm of Storynth that resides literally beneath the territory of Wrytoll. Lana’s initial motivations, at least what is revealed to the player, is to raid Storynth for treasure so that she can leave the Vostinian Empire behind.
At the same time you learn about a character named Elloria, a Paladin in service to the God of Cerulos. Her mission starts off in a temple in Wrytoll, where she discusses plans for a pilgrimage to Storynth with the head of her faction. Her objective is to make her way to a tomb within Storynth where she can prepare to become an Inquisitor. The Inquisitors, I believe, are responsible for hunting fiends that have the capability to travel from Storynth through the Final Gate and invade Wrytoll. My assumption is that Inquisitors are necessary for keeping Wrytoll safe. Above ground, Wrytoll which is controlled by the Vostinian Empire is a very dystopian setting. The Empire is helmed by the Emperor and his Grand Council, which functions as the ruling body of Government.
From here, the events of the narrative play out as the characters make their way through Wrytoll and into Storynth. Along the way you’re given the backstory on the Empire, the player characters, and also non playable characters. There was a specific point in the game where you can view dreams, or cutscenes, for characters you meet. I did enjoy seeing events that happened prior to when the player is introduced to the setting and it did flesh out some of the player characters’ motivations as well.
The cutscenes in the game are extraordinarily well-scripted. The developer did make liberal use of the animations and effects in the engine to draw you into the moment. There’s only so much you can do to embellish a scene, but I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. Characters in a scene would animate, move, and screen and sound effects were sufficiently utilized to craft a drama that was both entertaining and within the realm of believability given the plot. There were definitely moments that caught me off-guard and I did find myself wanting to learn what would happen next as the story progressed.
The characters, while there were a lot of them introduced in such a short time span, I felt were written adequately. I would have liked to see more attention given to their own personal lives prior to the game and I did crave additional lore as it felt some plot points were left hanging. Each character introduced had their own personality and motivations, and interactions between player characters were also a highlight.
The zones of Storynth were fairly well detailed. The game has a variety of biomes and each of them are unique. I especially liked the game’s use of levels and height, where there were some zones split into two distinct interconnected areas. The combat areas were like a maze that you have to traverse to progress to the next plot point. While initially they were fun to navigate and explore I did find myself becoming slightly annoyed with how many random encounters you came across. Sometimes I would step only a few paces before getting hit with a random encounter, which if you’re just trying to navigate to the next part of the plot is a drawback to the experience.
Combat was fun, definitely a classic turn-based RPG style which is a signature of the engine. You’re provided a handful of characters to choose from to make a party, though to be honest I found the first four characters you’re given perfect to take you through the entire game. Each character has different strengths and abilities which synergize surprisingly well with one another. Monster variety was unique enough where traveling to a new zone requires the player to be mindful of new tactics, though I usually did stick to a general rotation for most of the content. The real fun is the boss fights, as some bosses have special abilities and strengths that will require you to think carefully about your next move.
The music, honestly, fit the bill given each scene in the game. Different zones had different tracks, or variations of tracks you’ve heard previously. Boss fights had their own unique music, though I would have liked to hear more variety when it came to random encounters. The random battle music has a familiar tone to it and seems to take inspiration from a certain mainstream RPG series as far as I can tell.
Some criticisms; bugs and glitches encountered were minimal. Sometimes, though, the game’s framerate would drop significantly and there were about three times I experienced crashes which forced me to restart the game. This was probably not a problem with the development itself but more so the engine. However, the autosave function worked so well that I virtually lost no progress. As this is an RPG Maker game, I believe development was more focused on crafting the world, story, and characters rather than unique assets as you’ll definitely see familiar assets in other indie RPG Maker games. I personally can’t fault the developer for this, though, since they worked so well within the game’s context. I would have liked to see more objects being interactable in the world. Oftentimes there was an item or bookshelf that looked like it could be interacted with but was just a static object. Especially in the library, I feel that it was a missed opportunity to expand the lore given how many bookshelves there were.
To sum up, I am satisfied with my 12 hour playthrough upon finishing the game including the additional content after the main story. I did see a cliffhanger that seems to potentially lead into a sequel, which I would be happy to pick up if there was one. The characters are memorable and the plot, though linear, is what I would consider well-written. Though lacking in some areas such as unique assets, I feel care and effort was given to other aspects of the title that the developer could fulfill such as the world building, characters, cutscenes, and storyline. Overall, I can see the dedication that the developer gave to crafting Storynth, and what you have is a very charming experience with a decent amount of content and a world that leaves you wanting more.
