Storytelling
Ongoing coverage on Storytelling.
Latest coverage
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave Review
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is an excellent title that successfully blends strategic combat, engaging time management mechanics, and compelling narratives. The game offers a rich and satisfying experience for players.
Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter review: The next one
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter is an excellent, iterative sequel that builds upon the strong foundation of its predecessor. While the storytelling remains a major highlight, the combat system, particularly its real-time elements and enemy HP pools, is criticized. The game is praised for its ambitious narrative and engaging characters, making it a worthwhile adventure for fans.
Diablo Discussion w/Devs: Diablo V, Season of Hell’s Legacy, and The Amazon | Official XBOX Podcast
Developers from Blizzard Entertainment discuss major Diablo announcements at BlizzCon, including Diablo V, Season 15 of Diablo IV, and the upcoming Amazon class. The team highlights the game's evolution, player reception, and the creative process behind new content and future installments.
Where do I start with a Campaign?
This guide offers advice for new Game Masters on how to start building their own tabletop role-playing game campaigns. It emphasizes generating ideas, establishing conflict, developing antagonists, and planning for Session Zero. The article uses examples like 'The Airy Peaks' to illustrate concepts such as history/lore, starting locations, and antagonist motivations.
No more Diablo 4 expansions are planned, but there's 'a lot of room' for more storytelling in the leadup…
Blizzard Entertainment has announced that Diablo 5 is planned for a 2029 release, set a century after Diablo 4. While no further expansions are planned for Diablo 4, the studio will continue to support the game with seasons and focus on telling the 'Story of Terror' leading into Diablo 5. Game director Brent Gibson stated that Diablo 4 will be supported for a long time, drawing parallels to the continued support for Diablo 2: Resurrected.
Zero Company made an old Star Wars fan feel young again - Reader's Feature
A reader's feature praises Star Wars Zero Company for its surprisingly engaging storytelling, which reignited a childhood love for the franchise. The author found the narrative compelling, contrasting it with less impactful recent Star Wars media and games. The game's characters and voice acting are also highlighted as strengths.
Marvel's Wolverine | Critical consensus
Marvel's Wolverine has received mixed reviews, with critics praising its characters and story but criticizing its dated gameplay mechanics and repetitive combat. While the game's combat is described as slick and bloody, it lacks depth and evolution, leading to monotony. The linear structure also drew criticism for limiting exploration compared to Insomniac's Spider-Man titles, though some found it effective for focusing on narrative.
Recension – Marvel’s Wolverine - Arg, hårig och alldeles underbar
Insomniac Games' Marvel's Wolverine is a brutal, visually stunning, and highly entertaining action-adventure game for the PlayStation 5. The combat system is a standout, blending Arkham's control with Spider-Man's fluidity and adding a weighty, aggressive feel. While the narrative and motorcycle segments are weaker points, the game excels at making players feel like the iconic mutant, with impressive technical polish and even realistic beard physics.
WoW Factor: The well intentioned errors of World of Warcraft’s Ula’tek storyline
This analysis critiques the storytelling in World of Warcraft's patch 12.1: Curse of Ula'tek, focusing on the narrative surrounding the Amani Trolls. The author argues that the patch mishandles the Amani's history and attempts to create sympathy for unsympathetic characters, ultimately detracting from the nuance of Troll culture and the game's established lore. While praising the exploration of ancient history and the character Nek'zali, the piece finds the present-day melodrama and the downplaying of historical conflicts disappointing.
CD Projekt Red says Songs of the Past will 'complete' The Witcher 3 story with Dandelion at its center — 'This is part of The Wild Hunt, and it felt like a chapter was missing'
CD Projekt Red has stated that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's upcoming expansion, Songs of the Past, will complete the game's narrative by focusing on the character of Dandelion. Developers from Fool's Theory emphasized their desire to give Dandelion the spotlight he deserves, drawing from the original novels to tell a story that felt like a missing chapter of The Wild Hunt.
Thousand Hells is a 'tactical narrative' feast of infernal storytelling, but its defeats can feel brutal
Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists offers a unique 'tactical narrative' experience with imaginative hellscapes and rich storytelling, reminiscent of developer A Sharp's previous works like King of Dragon Pass. However, the game's randomized challenges and trait-matching mechanics can lead to frustratingly frequent defeats, making some runs feel futile despite the engaging premise.
Tormentum II Review | TheXboxHub
Tormentum II is a visually stunning gothic point-and-click adventure game that draws heavy inspiration from H.R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński. Despite its dark aesthetic, the game features warm characters and surprisingly straightforward puzzles, making it accessible. The narrative offers significant choices that lead to divergent endings, though the writing can occasionally be verbose.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s Combat Is Doing A Lot of Heavy Lifting
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a strong revival with excellent combat mechanics, but its surrounding elements like story and exploration fall short. While the game's combat, including Issen and parrying, is universally praised and contributes to memorable boss fights, the hub world and side quests lack variety and depth. Despite these shortcomings, the game is considered a worthy return for the series, with its core gameplay loop being its greatest strength.
You Are What You Eat: A Non-TTRPG Reading List
This article recommends four non-RPG books that can inspire and improve tabletop roleplaying game campaigns. It details how "Dungeon Crawler Carl" teaches balancing humor and seriousness, "When We Were Real" explores existential themes, "The City of Brass" showcases complex romance, and "Make Me Better" provides insights into creating believable cult motivations.
Dwarf Fortress creator says we have a natural lean towards human-made stories, but 'but we're all going to be very sorely tested in the coming years' by AI
Dwarf Fortress co-creator Tarn Adams discusses how the game's procedural generation has always created infinite stories without AI, contrasting it with the potential of generative AI. He suggests that human-made stories resonate due to shared experience, and that while AI may improve, it will be a significant challenge to replicate the 'human spark' that makes art engaging.
Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest shares Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch release date, new trailer
Trailmark Games and Bamtang Games have announced that Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest will be released on October 23, 2026, for both the Nintendo Switch and the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2. The turn-based RPG features extensive character customization, four distinct clan storylines, and exploration of iconic locations from the Warrior Cats universe.
Star Wars fans say if you love The Clone Wars and Bad Batch, you should play Zero Company
Star Wars fans are recommending the strategy game Star Wars: Zero Company, particularly for those who enjoyed The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch. Players praise its story, worldbuilding, and authentic dialogue, calling it a "labor of love" for the animated series. The game is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword Review
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is an incredible action game that also features an excellent story. The game's narrative depth complements its engaging gameplay.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 director not wowed by GTA 6 – "Two uninteresting sociopaths chaotically…
Daniel Vávra, director of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, expressed his lack of enthusiasm for Grand Theft Auto 6's narrative, calling its protagonists "two uninteresting sociopaths." While acknowledging the game's technical achievements, Vávra believes it lacks the complex characters, motives, and thematic depth he considers essential for good storytelling.
Dune: Awakening's new single-player mode fits perfectly in the MMO because of its strong story, lead says: "I think we have the best story in a survival game that exists"
Funcom's Chief Creative Officer Joel Bylos stated that Dune: Awakening's new single-player mode integrates well into the MMO structure due to its strong narrative foundation, which is an alternate timeline to Frank Herbert's original book series. He believes the game has the best story in any survival game and that the team has balanced the progression for solo players, making it a smoother experience.
