I’m a fan of musicals of all types. From Hamilton to La La Land to Bob’s Burgers, if the characters in your story burst into tune, I’m greater than doubtless on board. For this actual motive, Stray Gods: The Role-Playing Musical caught my eye, thrilling each my interior fan of musicals and my interior fan of video games. Despite some complaints about glitches and awkward songwriting in a couple of locations, developer Summerfall Studios harmonizes these ideas properly, placing on a present I can not assist however applaud.
In Stray Gods, you play as Grace, a girl accused of murdering a Muse, a magical being from historic Greece. In this world, these legendary figures are generally known as Idols, reincarnations of Greek gods which have died and handed their skills to people, granting them immortality and supernatural skills. Because Grace was there when the Muse died, she’s been gifted the ability of tune and may compel individuals to sing their emotions in large, interactive musical numbers. I appreciated that there was an in-world motive for this, and located the worldbuilding as an entire to be easy, however contemporary. Adaptations of Greek fantasy are extraordinarily widespread in popular culture, however Stray Gods tells an authentic sufficient story that the world stays distinctive.
The sport’s title refers to it as a “role-playing” musical, however that time period could be deceptive to some. There is not any gear, expertise, or leveling up – simply position-enjoying within the truest sense of the phrase by making selections as your model of Grace. At the beginning of the sport, you get to decide on one in all three character traits (Charming, Kickass, or Clever) that unlock completely different dialogue choices throughout conversations. Most of the gameplay consists of speaking with individuals and selecting what to say, both by talking, or when Grace decides to activate her powers by singing.
The songs are Stray Gods’ most spectacular achievement. As you hear every character sing, you get an inventory of choices for reply in the course of the tune. And whereas the sport offers you loads of time to choose, this choice course of is timed with the music, so it’s a must to resolve shortly and together with your intestine. At first, this idea careworn me out, however as the sport continued, I grew to like it. I wasn’t plotting out the precise response I wished to have, I used to be really position-enjoying and performing as I assumed Grace would. If that idea stresses you out or you could have another motive to keep away from fast selections, you’ll be able to disable timed selections within the settings menu, however I like to recommend enjoying with the timer for a greater expertise.
As you decide completely different choices, songs department out and evolve into solely new types, and have an effect on the story of the sport accordingly. Depending in your selections, completely different characters seem later within the story, whereas others would possibly dwell or die. In my first playthrough, I made a decision to be Charming and tried to empathize with most characters that I met. But on a second playthrough, I made a decision to check out the Kickass trait, because it was hardly ever a selection I’d have in any other case made. This time, the story was slightly completely different, however primarily altered my relationship with different characters somewhat than the general plot. I did not thoughts this, because it nonetheless makes repeat playthroughs extra attention-grabbing, however every path nonetheless has to information you to hit the identical songs.
However, as soon as I reached these songs, the music was vastly completely different. I anticipated comparable notes with completely different lyrics and perhaps altered accompaniment, however I used to be delighted to see simply how essentially songs can change. Some had been utterly unrecognizable; a tragic, hauntingly stunning tune I’d been wanting ahead to after my first playthrough made a whole left flip and have become a rock tune once I chosen a distinct choice. Experiencing these songs a second time round vastly improved my opinion of the sport. The adjustments are thrilling to find, and I appreciated some songs far more once I picked completely different lyric choices.
Of course, none of those songs or scenes could be gratifying in any respect if the solid performing them wasn’t proficient, so I used to be glad to see they very a lot are. The credit are stuffed with seasoned voice actors, so I went in with excessive expectations, however was nonetheless impressed by how properly it was solid, particularly the aspect roles. Troy Baker does an amazing job as Apollo, however supporting characters like Anjali Bhimani’s Medusa, Erika Ishii’s Hermes, and Rahul Kohli’s Asterion had been highlights each time I encountered them.
The solid is led by Laura Bailey’s Grace, and whereas she by no means drops the ball whereas performing, there have been a couple of situations the place I assumed her skillset as a singer did not precisely match the songs she was singing. In some songs, like in an early confrontation with Persephone, sure alternatives trigger Grace to slide right into a quicker, rap-like cadence. She’s phenomenal at belting and singing extra typical Broadway-style songs, however when issues get too quick she’s undoubtedly out of her factor. It’s laborious to say if it is the lyricism of the part or Bailey’s discomfort with the fashion, however these moments fell wanting the usual the remainder of the sport was capable of obtain. Luckily, the sport’s design lets you pivot away from part of a tune you do not like – simply choose a distinct shade on the subsequent resolution path and listen to a brand new fashion you would possibly want.
My largest supply of grievance, nonetheless, is quite a few recurring glitches. One is the sport’s occasional tendency to start out a voice line a break up second into the primary phrase, making a jarring clipping impact. It occurred most frequently with Freddie’s traces, which additionally diverse in quantity to an odd diploma, talking a lot louder or softer than her scene companions. On a couple of events, I additionally observed character fashions disappearing for a line or two of dialogue, and at one level throughout my second playthrough, I needed to repeat a whole dialog with Pan in a distinct location, instantly after ending the earlier one. Hopefully, these points are fastened sooner or later.
While these glitches did detract from my expertise, they removed from ruined it. Overall, Stray Gods rocks. Between the solid’s unbelievable performances, a enjoyable twist on Greek mythology, and a genuinely novel sport mechanic, it is a sport I did not know I wanted, however one I’m blissful to provide a standing ovation to.
For extra Stray Gods, take a look at our unique reveal of the opening tune, together with our behind-the-scenes have a look at how the music was written.
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