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Sure, its creative systems do offer up a few interesting ideas to chew on, such as what makes a story work or fall flat, or how stories can subvert apparently cast iron rules. But those themes are visible in the first ten minutes, as they were in last year's demo, and don't kick on as you advance. In contrast, other brief puzzle games like Gorogoa or Unpacking don't feel cut short because they arc towards a conclusion, which Storyteller never does. For all the core genius of this game about telling stories, then, and the precise execution, the one thing it's missing is a story to tell of its own.

Clash is almost offensively obtuse next to games like God of War, then, while its challenge level oscillates between a breeze and a gale. It also fails to either drip feed small rewards or produce a sense of achievement when you come through tough spots, since success often comes from attritional stubbornness. Yet there’s something to be said for Clash’s refusal to explain its ideas, places and oddball creatures the way God of War would. It’s more efficient in its world building, characterisation and plotting, and thus more generously open to interpretation. Pseudo may be Kratos’ smaller, weaker (and poorer) sibling, but at least he’s got a deeper and more interesting soul.

You could regard the growing emphasis on efficiency as a provocation. How much of this world's diversity, even the less immediately helpful elements, can you preserve in the bodies of the Trebhum as you hurry to survive? But it feels more like the game is succumbing to genre conventions than posing such a challenge. While an often-visionary piece of work, The Eternal Cylinder is a few mutations short of brilliance.

Per Aspera's novel adaptation of nonlinear narrative to fit a strategy game goes over surprisingly well. Combined with a novel terraforming mechanic, slick aesthetics, hard science chops, and classic genre gameplay, this one is definitely worth the time.