Mothergamer Plays The Tale Of Bistun

 I received the game for free on PS5 for my unbiased review. Thank you to Keymailer for the PS5 game key!

I'm not really into rogue lite games, but there was something about The Tale Of Bistun that stood out for me. I was intrigued by the fact the story for the game is inspired by the 12th century Persian epic tragic romance poem Khosrow and Shirin. The story itself is set during that time period and right away I was drawn in by the beautiful artwork and landscapes. There was also the fact that the narrator for the story is Shoreh Aghdashloo which is honestly the perfect choice for this game. Her voice is so distinct and I was really excited to dive into the game. 

You play as a stone carver who has amnesia. He can't remember who he is or how he got there. This is where the story for The Tale of Bistun begins with the stone carver trying to unravel this mystery with the help of several allies some of them magical like a talking guardian tree. 

The stone carver chats with a guardian tree. 

It's very clear how much thought, research, and care went into the cultural elements of the story which I genuinely appreciated. There are two environments that are explored; Earth and a kind of astral plane dream realm of sorts. There is some combat, but not so much that it's overwhelming. In the dream realm there isn't a lot of fighting with the exception of some story driven boss battles. I was able to adjust the difficulty of the game which is really nice as I prefer casual story settings. The battle system is pretty standard rogue lite with clearing a bunch of enemies, use special skills with your weapon of choice, rinse, and repeat. I didn't mind because it was actually fun and the story itself kept me going, wanting to find out more about the stone carver and figuring out the mystery of his lost memories. 

In the dream realm. 

The story hits on a lot of themes about love and hate as well as trying to do the right thing even when it's difficult. However, the biggest one of all is hope. Throughout the story and at the end there was the important message of holding onto hope especially in the face of adversity. The Tale of Bistun isn't an overly complicated game and that's okay because it tells a story beautifully through the artwork, landscapes, and some of the combat. It's not a very long game. I was able to finish it in about four hours. Short isn't bad and I enjoyed an appreciated the great job they did with the storytelling, the artistry, and the game as a whole. It does quite well at pulling you in and keeping you interested from start to finish which for me made this indie game stand out in the best way. 

Another trip into the dream realm. 

*The Tale of Bistun is available to play on the following platforms: Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Epic Games

*Join our community on Twitch where we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer