So, if you're familiar with The Binding of Isaac, you likely know what to expect from The Story Goes On. If you're not familiar with Isaac, it's essentially a strange hybrid of a roguelike and a multi-directional shoot-em-up (shmup). So, how does TSGO (as I'll be referring to it) compare?

Well, it tries, I'll give it that. Drawing comparisons to Isaac is quite easy, but I'll try not to do that for now. To start with, TSGO bills itself as a randomly generated hack ‘n’ slash adventure game with rogue-like elements.

All of this is fairly true, especially the bit about hacking and slashing. It's pretty fun initially to explore and defeat enemies throughout the randomly-generated rooms the game provides you. The game differentiates itself from similar games by having players slash enemies in a direction around them, as opposed to shooting projectiles of some kind. However, by visiting the shop between levels or by finding items, players can increase the range of their attacks. So, what about the rest of that sentence I mentioned a while ago?

Well....here's where things get a bit dicey. See, TSGO is randomly-generated to an extent, but the variety in environments, items, enemies, and secrets is pretty lacking to be honest. Sure, the game will place rocks and trees in different spaces for each room, but who cares really? The environments are the same 5 levels which is fine, but they could use some more variety in their theming. They're pretty basic as is - a desert, some snowy place, a dark "spooky" area, etc. I'd love to see more vibrant and creative ideas for environments, but the game just settles for the most basic of concepts. Additionally, as I mentioned earlier both the items and enemies aren't particularly interesting. The enemies have unique attack patterns which is nice, but they're constantly the same and I'd be interested in seeing some variety in them. Why not have different colored enemies with various attributes (stronger, slower, faster, etc.)? The items aren't much better either, as while some of them have neat uses, such as a hat that lets the player teleport, most are fairly uninteresting or just give a small stat boost. Oh, also there's secrets....but only a few, and they're not very cool or useful, besides the puzzles that unlock characters. Those are neat I will admit.

So, onto the bit about the game being an adventure game with rogue-like elements. Sure, it exemplifies some of the elements that are commonly found in the genre, like permadeath, various items, or whatnot, but the problem with The Story Goes On is that it just isn't difficult for someone of moderate gaming skill. Personally, I initially died 4 or so times and then "beat" (or rather, beat the 5 levels currently in the game) the game an additional 5 times after that. I didn't die at all between those 5 runs, and while I was initially amazed at my supposed skill with the game, I began to realize that it just wasn't challenging at all. The bosses (which by the way, are fairly creative in comparison to the enemies) are easy, the enemies are easy once you learn their attack patterns, and overall the game is just a walk in the park after an hour or two of playing. It didn't take long for me to get bored with TSGO, and that worries me because I enjoyed what I've played of it so far.

You see, the game is still fun. It's challenging initially. The art style is lovely, if a bit unpolished. The potential replay value is there, but the lack of any extended replayability in its current form beyond 5-10 runs or so is worrisome. Partially, this is due to the lack of stuff currently in the game, like levels, items, or enemies, but this is also because the game is just too easy in its current state. Now, however, the game is in Early Access, and while usually this is a curse for any interested potential customer on Steam, I can safely say that the developers are some of the most genuine and caring ones out there. They're all over the forums for the game, and they actively seek out community suggestions and any bug reports. Patches are constantly released for TSGO, and that's great! I love that the developers truly do care, and that's what convinced me to raise my recommendation from a no to a yes,

The game is fun as is, but it's definitely lacking in some areas. The developers seem to truly care about remedying the issues with the game though, and I appreciate that. They're constantly adding new content, such as enemies, items, bosses, or entire levels, in addition to fixing bugs all the time and taking in community suggestions or comments. This to me speaks miles compared to other Early Access developers who just put out a patch every 6 months or so. The commitment put into The Story Goes On makes me hopeful that the game will be pretty good, if not amazing eventually. In its current state though? Well, it's a bit rough around the edges, but if you're a fan of the genre or just looking to try out a new, cheap game, this isn't a bad option.

Due to an undying love for arcade, indie, dungeon crawlers and HnS games I unashamedly asked the dev for a key so I could try this game out and review it. Nobody was hurt in the process. But here's the thread so you know.

Check TL;DR at bottom of review if this is too long for you.

The past few days have been spent milling around inside this squeaky clean indie game with a handful of baddies and critters, all of us sort of gliding from dungeon to dungeon in a place deemed a maze and called by the rather grandiose name of, The Odyssey. Having realised there must be some sort of lore, it felt essential to plop on my deerstalker cap and produce some yummy Googley searches. The results were thankfully plump lore of where we are introduced to our main protagonist, seven year old Aidan. Of our four diversly skilled characters (three of which you unlock through hidden puzzles), Aidan is the one you're stuck with in the beginning. A trifle "young" for my taste, I only played him a few times before moving onto my favourite and more recent addition to the team, Gambit the Void Slayer (flailing his ninja arms back in true Naruto fashion will confuse your sense of direction in the beginning, plenty of in-game references to many other delightful characters like this). But more on that later since the story goes on (couldn't resist the chance pun). On one fateful night Aidan's brother tells Aidan the tale of their grandfather, a man whose thirst for hidden riches takes him to a mystical place called the Odyssey where it is said treasure buried deep in the dungeon awaits those brave enough to search for it. It is a treacherous maze of the Scar, a gang of thieves operating under a dark leader Staz. Thirty years passed and to this day nobody knows what happened to their grandfather, seemingly lost forever in the depths of this strange world. In hindsight the current EA version of this game at the time of writing this review doesn't implement this lore much and stays bromidic in-game. Where there is a story if you want it, it doesn't suffice as a form of narrative within the game itself. Players are greeted by the trusty shopkeeper, Bob who offers hints and helpful in-game factoids to ease any progression difficulties for the newbie or aid unlocking secrets. This lessens the feeling of emptyness of hearing your own voice echo against the walls of the maze.

First of its developer, this rougelike has been hauled a terrifically long way from the start of its development. Even with the art and music there are videos of how it looked before, the stark contrast hails the constant work the devs are putting in and it was a shame I couldn't find even earlier versions to form a timeline for it. It's wondrous and quite remarkable to be able to see a game progress within a sturdy community of gamers, and even as sorely overused wording, the term "community made" most certainly finds its proper use here as an indie title. Even as a person who hasn't had one awful experience with an EA title purchased before release (which is very rare) I understand and purchase these kinds of games with full knowledge that EA is a blind leap of faith however much content seems to be there or not. Yet this is still an early access game so that is what you get and the current price isn't too shabby at all.

With five levels so far (different theme for each world, very detailed for a first timer's indie offspring) it is difficult to call it a complete experience even though I gave it my all with repeated playthroughs totalling 15+ hours. The current game does not give you over fifteen hours of playtime. It gives you a couple of hours at the most. I spent a long time looking for secrets and mostly going through variations to unlock a certain character that seemed to be bugged so couldn't be found anyway (will probably be fixed soon). There are several secret hidden caves and dimensions to uncover using from the most obvious to the oddest methods. The biggest fun in this game was looking for the aforementioned locations, trying out all the characters you can unlock and unlocking them in the first place. Many of these increase in goodness when you use the guiding hand of achievements if you are interested in those at all. Characters can respectively throw roped hooks, dash, ninja leap around, place bombs and detonate them with good old sword swinging and teleport among other feats. Specific character introductions will be spared since getting to meet each of the characters adds to the lore of the game and should be experienced first-hand by the player.

One of the first games I knowingly completed 100% achievements for on Steam was Larva Mortus. As a person who enjoys arcadey games that make you grind until your bum is sore, it was a happy experience that I never really got again since most games that simple tend to crash and burn because it cannot keep your attention long enough to be completed. The moment I booted up The Story Goes On, it reminded me of a new age Larva Mortus tripping on mushrooms. Indeed there are trippy items in this game such as the mushroom (JUST EAT IT...) and the technicoloured unicorn item that made me dash back and forth like a loopy person watching my rear end fart rainbow coloured dreams (that crush all bad guys crossing its path *insert diabolical fingertip tapping here*). Moving past the simplicity of hack and slash, there are many other things I enjoy about this game. The primary school style of colourful graphics that made me daydream about it becoming cut-out animated game with dimension (gameplay and visuals are very Zelda), satisfyingly fun sound effects (I got addicted to a certain "whip whoosh") as well as the secrets which push you to check everything you can karate chop with your weapon but not to the extent of dungeon crawlers that waste hours of your time pushing every stone on the wall. Plainly stated I had a lot of fun. But only after enduring about an hour of the actual game. It's currently short and I completed the game a few times but during that inital first hour I was worried about what I was going to write because it seemed boring. I was hacking and slashing in a game without an actual true ending as of yet (early access review), and without the end I felt lost. This will go away once the game actually reaches its finale with the narrative but the stable mechanics are smooth sailing and the relatively attentive developers are clearly working on this game with weekly updates where change is incontestably evident as you boot it up one week and then the next to compare.

Conclusion
It isn't all fun and games with bottles of Whey. If progression is your only joy in gaming this may not be the title for you (while in EA) since you can beat it in less than thirty minutes on your first try and move on from its current early five stage state. Difficulty isn't much of a problem and as basically everything is randomly generated you're not going through exactly the same sequence but as the game updates, currently the lack of difficulty is getting replaced more and more by tediousness. Some bosses are tedious to fight rather than difficult (most are plain easy), which is fine and a frequent factor in HnS games but it will not suit a lot of people who just want to be entertained right off the bat. The art looks like a children's pop-up book with fluffy stickers and scratch & sniff, but it is detailed and keeps growing into what I expect will probably be one adorable HnS adventure for Aidan and his friends.

TL;DR -
Only recommended if you: want to see an EA game grow, find HnS/dungeon crawlers or shumps like Larva Mortus fun, find repetition soothing and/or enjoy supporting small indies.

There are few indie games that get released on Steam that have nearly as much potential as "The Story Goes On".

I really enjoy the simplicity of TSGO, a simplicity that gaming nowadays has drifted away from. Nowadays, almost every game puts you through a tedious tutorial and a repettitive start phase. TSGO drops you right into the fray. And it a player is able to pick it up right off the bat due to its engenious simplicity.

Instant action, an arsenal of items, a playful animated art style and an endless randomized dungeon awaits anyone who decides to pick up this game.

The game is only going to get better and better as time goes on.

Enjoy!

-Disclaimer- This preview was written during Early Access. The Story Goes On is subject to change.-

On first glance The Story Goes On is a game you might pass up, the graphics are not flashy, nothing spectacularly here to catch your eye and draw you in. On second glance, if you dig a little deeper you might find a challenging and enjoyable title, especially if you're a fan of roguelikes. The Story Goes On is a Hack & Slash, RPG, Roguelike, with randomized dungeons in the form of the Odyssey and perma-death. The title draws some obvious comparisons to the much beloved and revered gran-daddy of roguelikes, Binding of Isaac. The key difference of The Story Goes On being is that instead of poop demons and tears, we have some good old fashioned swords and magic. If I had to put The Story Goes On in a nutshell it would be a great game to introduce somebody younger or new to the roguelike genre. It has friendly, albeit simple, visuals and for the most part is simple to grasp and play.

The gameplay is rather simple and along the lines of other roguelike titles such as A Wizards Lizard or The Weaponographist. You travel from square rooms to rectangle rooms slaughtering indiscriminately in search of loot, keys, and the boss key. There are all sorts of random powers and buffs that alter your characters basic statistics like range, dash, and weapon speed. The powers or loot can range from a mace you throw at enemies, a trusty parrot that pecks at foes, to a ice wand with limited charges. These items/buffs are all randomly placed including enemies, secrets, and randomized bosses.

The combat is the main draw here in The Story Goes On, and for the most part it works just fine. You mindlessly left click on your mouse until your enemies go poof and the rooms exits appear. Depending on which character you are using you will have some basic abilities. The main character you start with has a dash that makes him invulnerable, a hookshot, and his sword. I couldn't comment on the other characters as I had no indicator or hint whatsoever on how to unlock them. I can only assume it was by completing the first five sections of the game. Which I did not manage due to my issues with the combat.

Like I said, the combat works for the most part and is acceptable and challenging at times, yet there is polish that needs to happen. As an example entering a room sometimes instantly rewards you with damage as enemies spawn on top of you, also the enemies have very strange attack animations that makes it hard to predict when they are going to strike. This lead to my death more then once and left me feeling cheated at times, this on top of the fact it's a perma-death game, as you can imagine, was very frustrating. The main hero's abilities of hookshot and dash, seemingly got me into more trouble then they were worth, hacking away was far more easy and safer. The game currently doesn't really reward you for trying different tactics. Finally the enemies seemingly died from random amounts of damage, one would die from a single swipe and others in two or three swipes. This could be due to buffs and stats changing although this randomness continued in most of my game sessions.

After clearing many rooms and finding the boss key, you will face off against one of the games bosses. These are seemingly randomized but currently there are only about two maybe three per area. This is by far the area that needs the most balancing, as bosses are simply laughable and easy to defeat. Most of the time I felt the bosses were not even attacking me. I had more trouble with some of the mini-bosses that appear randomly while exploring the Odyssey. Speaking of the Odyssey, it was rather an enjoyable experience. The five sections of the game are rather unique in feel and design, despite the fact the game is completely in 4:3 resolution and doesn't support widescreen. You can put the game on fullscreen but end up with giant black bars on the side of your screen. Most of the problems with combat and UI design, I can forgive due to the game being in Early Access. Despite this, I just don't understand why the game doesn't support widescreen in this day and age.

Nonetheless, each of the areas does have a very unique tone, with monsters coming at you from all sides that suit the area and making each area feel unique. The areas come in different sizes and even contain some hazards that you must watch out for as you battle an onslaught of monsters. This I liked very much as it kept me on my toes. There are also some secrets littered about the game that can be discovered by hacking at everything, usually rewarding you with some sort of stat buff. This is again par for the course in roguelikes and works very well, rewarding exploration.

The game is surprisingly well put together for an Early Access title.(Former experiences with other EA games left me wanting) The base game right now is for the most part bug free and I never had any kind of hiccups. The UI is acceptable but does have the tiny issue of where the map that shows the Odyssey is placed. This map can cover up a portion of the map and hence an enemy might be hiding out of your sight. This is something that will hopefully be addressed by the time the game exits Early Access.

Other areas need polish as well, including story, which The Story Goes On doesn't currently have ironically. The music I found was quite enjoyable and one of the areas I felt the game was nicely done, using a mix of fast paced electronica and old style chip tunes. The sound effects were acceptable as well, slashing, explosions, and magic all had a nice oomph to them and never grated on my ears. The enemies did fall quite silent though as all they did was go poof.

Speaking to the other accoutrements, such as options, I was not disappointed, offering motion blur, lighting effects, and fully rebindable keys. Replay value of the game is high of course as the dungeons are randomized, random items, and unlocking other characters. The overall games length lends itself to quick playthroughs lasting anywhere from 20 to 40 mins.

The game is fun and just difficult enough for newer and veteran players, at least for the first couple of playthroughs. I think eventually veterans will find the game a bit on the easy side. I can see myself playing the game a couple of times until all the characters are unlocked, however there really isn't anything I felt to keep the player locked into this game. There are some neat ideas here that need to polished but nothing that is really all that original. This could all be due to the game still being in Early Access, as more features and items make it into the game and add their own unique flair and keep me wanting to play more and more. It should also be noted that the game does come at an incredibly great price of $4.99, that price alone makes this game worth it. Like I mentioned, The Story Goes On a great way to introduce your friends or kids to roguelikes.

So if you are in the market for new and up coming roguelike that you can play with your kids and not worry about religious overtones(coughBindingofIsaaccough). The Story Goes On is a great choice.

I bought this game for only €0,49 on Fanatical. Having played the game a couple of hours, I decided I wanted to buy a few more keys for my friends: impossible, as the game was (auto) removed from the bundle (Bumper Pick & Mix[www.fanatical.com]); limited amount of keys?

This game is a true work of art -- as you can sense here among the updates (since 2015, maybe earlier...) -- and it feels like a 93,87% steal for only €0,49, at which it's definitely worth a recommendation!

93,87/100 Would support Scarecrow Arts' 2nd game with €7,50 -- as a backer.

I love this game so much! Great intuitive secrets with amazing and innovative puzzles along with cute graphics and a good variety of loot. I love that your items can combine to make some really strong new passives! The dungeons differ from each other greatly and I feel like the bosses are interesting. At some points in the game you will end up looking like a rainbow, with your screen exploding and shaking and your character running around like a mad man. Love it, love it, love it! Well worth the price!

*NOTE*
This review was written back in June, months before I was hired onto the staff as an official dev. Everything down below I've written from a non-biased, early-access perspective and will remain unchanged.

If you like top-down hack'n'slash type games such as the original Zelda games or random maze generated gameplay like in the Binding of Isaac, then this may tickle your fancy. The Story Goes on [Although Currently in Early Access] is a fun-fast paced game with hidden secrets and unique items.
The gameplay goes very quickly and dying is something I may call a feature to the game: it works like losing lives, but as a throwback to old retro Atari/NES era games, you start from the beginning upon game over. This however doesn't depreciate gameplay in the slightest since the levels only get progressively harder and getting back to where you died takes mere minutes.
Regardless of that apparent length, purchasing the game will have you playing it for countless hours (I've already racked up a dozen myself in the last week)! Bugs do come up from time to time, but as an early access game this comes to be expected and I can't really say any have made the game unplayable. The few bugs there are have come and gone very quickly since the team provides updates almost daily.
Perhaps one of my favorite features about this game is that it's community-driven and community-made. No, an entire community is not coding the game, but there are forum threads based in game discussion and Google Docs for players to post bug reports, recommendations, suggestions and sometimes supply their own art assets for the game. The team creating The Story Goes On isn't working alone, and this is one of few Early Access games I feel I actual contribute to in the development process. In fact, a few achievements, graphical changes and items I suggested have already made it in the game!
This game is certainly worth the minor change you need to shell out for it and it's one that you can pick up whenever you want; no save points, no getting stuck on a hard boss(bosses that spawn are completely random).
You'll never experience the same maze/dungeon twice!
I'd give this game 7 lemons out of 2 rotten grapefruits.

A hack n slash with an okay story makes a pretty decent game.

Early Access Review:

I was given a key by the developer to play the game and to give an honest review about the game, good or bad. And review it I shall.

I enjoyed the game, although it is a tad short. You can only play as one character at the start, although you can unlock three other character through uncovering secrets in the game. The starting character has his sword and a hookshot, although I rarely used it (it is used to latch onto something to move you) but no other equipment.

I was able to unlock Sprout, but I do not know what she is like to play, although her description said that she can plant bombs.

There is a definite Zelda-esque feel to the game, particularly with the background graphics and the monsters themselves. The graphics also remind me a little bit of Paper Mario with regards to the characters and background. I don't know if the graphics will change with the full release, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. The graphics are not jaw-dropping nor are they bad by any stretch of the imagination.

Combat is relatively straightforward, and there are not a lot of options when fighting. You basically swing your sword and dash (an ability to rush forward while gaining a very small window of invulnerability. Some monsters are harder to fight than others, and require a little thinking on how to defeat them.

I found combat to be a lot easier when I found the item Mother P'kah. Basically, it flies around and if a monster runs into it, it will either die or be quite wounded. This was quite useful against certain tough opponents, particularly bosses. One boss, Cryos, I found to be a tad difficult with it due to its speed and the fact that I am using mouse and keyboard.

As mentioned above, the game is relatively short, and there are only 6 worlds so far. The levels for each world are random, and the worlds get larger as the game goes along. Each world has different kinds of foes to fight, and they each have a theme. World 1 is forest, World 2 is snow, etc. It gives the game a different feel each level, which is nice. Also, there is different music playing each world, and I feel like I am playing an NES game when I hear it. I like the music for games of the NES era, so the music is a good thing.

I did experience two or three crashes, but they were never during gameplay. Twice it happened after I died, and it went to the Stats page. When I clicked on 'Back', it crashed. I also got the same crash when I exited the game once. Considering how I died numerous, numerous times, the amount of crashes I had is negligible.

In all my playthroughs, I never experienced any bugs, so it looks to be pretty stable for being in Early Access.

I do enjoy this game, and I am glad that I played it. I am also looking forward to trying out the full version when it is released. I should also mention that this game has Achievements (a few are hidden, but I've found some of them), as well as Steam Cards. That is an added bonus as well. I like games that have Achievements, and it is fun trying to get all of them.

My final verdict is that while the game is fairly short, and feels a bit sparse at parts, it is a fun game and well worth playing.

Within the first ten minutes, i've pissed off a scarecrow by ignoring him, doing the opposite of what he says, walked away in the middle of a conversation, not followed him as he tried to teach me, ran into an army of minions against his wishes, been resurrected by him with a quote making me think he hates me now and wants me to suffer more than what a spike pit would do, and gotten him to call me trash, garbage, and a couple other choice names.

11/10 would be a jerk again.