The Tale of Bistun Review

The Tale of Bistun is a story-centred game based on the tragic Persian poem Khosrow and Shirin. It follows a sculptor named Farhad, on a quest to regain his lost memories and find his life’s purpose. As the player advances through story sequences and combat scenes, they’ll gradually uncover pieces of Farhad’s past and meet a few mythical companions along the way. Farhad’s tale is actually only a small part of Khosrow and Shirin, which, as its name suggests, focuses primarily on those two characters and their relationship. After reading the original poem after completing the game, I discovered most of The Tale of Bistun’s story is original material built from Farhad’s perspective of the poem’s events.

I jumped into The Tale of Bistun knowing absolutely nothing about Persian culture or literature, and found myself quite engrossed. You’ll spend your adventure split between traversing a massive mountain overworld and a dark dimension called the “Revelations Realm”. Whenever you complete a level, there’s a short cutscene that reveals a portion of Farhad’s memories. Much of the game involves snaking along winding paths while listening to a confident narrator verbalize Farhad’s thoughts and actions. It reminded me a bit of The Stanley Parable, in that your actions are being constantly commentated on. Though, the story here is mostly linear with only one notable decision made at the very end.

It’s often interesting to see how a heavily story-focused game attempts to put together a more complete package. In this case, combat is limited to the bare minimum with a basic attack, special attack, and dodge roll at your disposal. You also have two weapon choices which feel quite similar in battle — dual axes and a pickaxe. Technically there’s a third option that I won’t spoil, but it’s only available for the game’s single boss fight. Battle sequences play out in small, gated off areas where a handful of enemies need to be eliminated to move on to the next zone. I’d estimate there’s only around 30 minutes of combat out of the game’s 4–5 hour total runtime, and it ends up being a frenzy of frantic clicking with little skill or strategy involved.

While combat will surely disappoint many, bashing enemies does successfully help break up the story, which I’d assume was the main intent. Without it, you’d just be roaming around and listening to narration for several hours straight. It’s also worth noting puzzles are completely absent from The Tale of Bistun, which is strange considering they would fit seamlessly in many of the ancient settings you’ll encounter. The vast majority of your time will be spent hiking up sprawling mountain trails or stomping through the underworld zone. There are a few dead ends scattered throughout, but your guide-bird keeps you from getting too off track. I’d say the pace of movement and story keeps you engaged just enough to want to continue playing until the end.

The game’s lush environments look beautiful and are packed with maze-like paths to stroll through. Both the mountain and Revelations Realm offer something out of a classic fairy tale and provide a nice contrast between a magical forest and dark, dream-like dimension. The overhead camera also pans around quite often, providing different views and making the world feel more alive. Even though The Tale of Bistun is a tragedy and violent at times, I felt like it’s pulled straight out of a children’s bedtime story.

As with most ancient tales deeply rooted in symbolism and cryptic messages, The Tale of Bistun’s plot can be difficult to follow at times. While adventuring, you’ll encounter many engravings and vague memories that shine some light on Farhad’s past. The narrator does a solid job of explaining some of the confusing story beats in more detail, but there were still a few gaps in my understanding. Becoming familiar with Khosrow and Shirin helps clarify things quite a bit, so you’ll likely need to read up on its summary before or after jumping into the game.

Overall, I’d recommend The Tale of Bistun to those looking for a pretty mindless adventure with a story you’ve probably never heard before. Everything rolls along quite smoothly and I didn’t notice a single bug or glitch. The game’s basic combat is its main downside, and I feel like there was a missed opportunity to mix things up with better enemy variation and significantly more challenge. In the end, I’m glad I was able to experience a notable piece of Persian culture and uncover some interesting themes tied to Farhad’s quest during my playthrough.