We’ve mentioned countless times in the course of writing in this blog how we’re absolute suckers for games with good stories. The blend of engaging gameplay mechanics within the context of a thrilling story is precisely what helped the video game industry get to where it currently is. We’ve definitely come a long way since Shigeru Miyamoto started experimenting with visual storytelling in Donkey Kong, back in the early years of the arcade platform.

While we love living a good story, we also like challenging ourselves with exciting gameplay. However, what happens when developers drop most of the important gameplay aspects, and instead focus on creating enthralling narratives and stories? This is the basic premise behind the visual novel genre of games, that feel more like reading a book—or perhaps playing a movie—, and which is the main focus of titles like Storyscape.

Now, visual novels are certainly nothing new; they’ve been around for nearly as long as video games have existed as a medium. Nevertheless, they’ve never been quite as prolific as mainstream games, instead occupying a niche with a small, yet very loyal fan base.

Your typical visual novel consists of long-winded story sections with lots of exposition and character-driven narratives, coupled with numerous branching story paths. The player usually makes decisions at certain points of the game, which puts them on different routes depending on what they choose. Some visual novels even have “bad” endings where the story ends abruptly either due to the death of the protagonist, or because the player made a decision that brings the plot to a premature close.

With that being said, visual novels like Storyscape can either be hit or miss. Since we’re talking about what are essentially interactive books, the success of any of these titles relies heavily on whether or not the narratives land with their respective audiences. Luckily, when it comes to a game like Storyscape, this is the definitive source for all things VNs, as there is likely something for everyone within its catalog of interactive stories.

What is Storyscape?

In this blog, we usually talk about the latest hit games, or the very best gacha titles that are dominating the market at moments. However, we wanted to mix things up today and write about something much more mellow—a game that is more both for the soul as well as for the eyes. Storyscape is a collection of visual novels of different genres. From drama and fantasy, thrillers, slice-of-life, or straight-up horror titles, there are numerous stories and paths to discover in Storyscape.

More than just books or movies, however, the narratives presented in Storyscape are greatly influenced by your actions as you, the player, will need to make split-second decisions in the heat of the moment. Like we mentioned above, these decisions will greatly affect the story, and could even result in a premature ending for the protagonists. Though, more often than not, your choices will simply take you down different paths that result in varied, yet equally long and sprawling routes.

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This is precisely what gives these stories their replay value. The design behind these visual novels makes it so that, regardless of the path that you choose, you’ll enjoy rich and engaging narratives. Nevertheless, this just makes us want to experience every possible route, instead of just sticking with one and calling it a day.

If you’re anything like us, and don’t want to miss out on any of the story branches, then you’re going to want to play on BlueStacks. Our BlueStacks tools allow you to experience every single route in these visual novels, without having to completely replay the story every time. Check out our BlueStacks usage guide for Storyscape to learn more about this topic.

What Stories are There in Storyscape?

As we mentioned above, Storyscape is a collection of visual novels of different genres. In its small yet strong catalog, you will many different stories, including the following:

Eternal City

Referred to by many as the flagship visual novel in Storyscape, Eternal city follows the life of a woman from her birth to adulthood and beyond. It’s a dark fantasy story set in a world of magic and mysticism, of intrigue and betrayals, where the protagonist is born into slavery, only to escape alongside her friends from the clutches of the slavers. The narrative follows the protagonist and her companions as they try to build a life after breaking free from their captors.

The X-Files

Yes, this is the X-Files we all know and love. However, instead of the classic Mulder and Scully buddy-cop-with-a-supernatural-twist narrative we’re used to, it follows the actions of two fledgling agents, Jess Daxler and Aaron Fulton. In this visual novel, you’ll have to take control of Daxler and Fulton, and make decisions to help them reach the bottom of every case that they encounter.

Life 2.0

This romance visual novel puts you in the role of a young adult trying to fulfill her dream of having a successful career working in Silicon Valley. The idea of this story is for the player to insert themselves into the narrative as they can choose a part of their backstory. However, the repertoire of choosable characters are only female, so this might be a story directed more towards the female audience. Other than that, most of the terms and choices here are gender-inclusive, which means that you can fully immerse yourself in the story without breaking the illusion by reading a disruptive pronoun or any other similar terms.

Titanic

Based on the James Cameron blockbuster film, this visual novel retells the story and tragedy of the RMS Titanic, but from the perspective of a different protagonist. This story follows our main characters, Adele Carrem and her sister Hileni. As two poor girls raised in London, they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hop on the luxurious Titanic, cross the Atlantic, and try to make a living in America. However, things take a turn for the worse when our antagonist, James, tries to blackmail our heroines.

Aside from the stories we just mentioned, there are also a couple of visual novels in production. For example, Edge of Extinction is scheduled for release this November. Meanwhile, another story, Ageless, is still currently in production with no release date set. Nevertheless, there’s much to explore in all the visual novels that are available so far.

If you’re a fan of a good story, coupled with meaningful decision-making and branching story paths, then Storyscape is definitely for you.

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