The Tale of Bistun is an action/adventure title developed by Black Cube Games and published by IMGN.PRO. It tells the tale of a mysterious stone-carver in a land beset by a magical blight. While having no memories, we soon learn that the hero is Farhad, who seeks to reunite with his love, Princess Shirin. With this, Farhad attempts to find both his missing memories as well as his beloved, with the aid of several magical friends, such as a talking pomegranate tree and a magical bird that serves as a guide through these lands
PROS:
The story is the strongest element present with this game, being an interpretation of a classic Persian folktale, depicting the story of Farhad’s impossible task of carving a tunnel through the titular Mount Bistun, which houses an evil being of the same name. The story is presented in a linear fashion, with the unique aspect being that the journey is narrated. The narration is wonderfully written and performed, the narrator having a voice that doesn’t get grating to hear or boring thanks to the beautiful language used, which helps add to the connection between the game and the poem. The story itself is a tad out there in terms of scope, but given the origin, as well as the setting, it only adds to the atmosphere.
The design aspects were all extremely well-done, with the art and sound design carrying a lot of the story elements to their full fruition. Being a story about a stone-carver, there are a ton of statues and story elements told through stone carving into the mountainside, with some of the main mechanics involving literally carving a path through the mountain itself. It helps to highlight just how far Farhad is willing to go to reunite with Shirin. Not only this, but there are also several moments in the game where the artstyle will shift to reflect a change in reality, such as when Farhad receives a vision, or when he is amongst an otherworldly realm. The sound and music also do wonders for the game, with a soundtrack that doesn’t get boring and actually adds a lot to the tension and mystery of the game, while also having a wonderful feeling of impact upon performing actions.
CONS:
The only issue that this game has would fall under gameplay, which is the actual gameplay loop. While there are attempts to diversify the gameplay by having different weapons to use and the ability to switch them at your home base, there isn’t much in terms of depth for combat and exploration. The game is linear, perhaps too linear, as the only collectables are small diary entries that give information and background to the story and setting, and the combat is either spamming left click or sometimes pressing right click for a special move. Again, the sound and art helps to cover this issue, but it really isn’t enough to keep it engaging for long. After two or three rounds of the same gameplay loop, it gets rather repetitive, and really starts to sour the experience overall.
All in all, while the repetitive gameplay loop is a rather large issue, it isn’t the focus of the game. The story, art, and beautiful soundtrack and narration are, and those elements work amazingly, so much so that they help to support the game more than they should. I would highly recommend the game on those elements as well, but I would warn for playing for long periods due to burnout. Much like a book, perhaps a chapter at a time would be better than the entire story in one sitting.
Score: 7.5/10
The Tale of Bistun is available for PC for $17.99 via Steam.
Related: Reviews by Matthew White
An avid gamer, Matthew is also an aspiring game developer. Because of this, Matthew knows not only what makes a game great, but also the hard work and artistry required to craft such a phenomenal experience.
More Stories
Echoes of the Plum Grove Review for Steam
With My Past Review for Steam
My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery Releases for PC and Consoles