Summerfall Studios’ Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is among the most original video games of the yr. Making a musical is already a colossal enterprise. However turning one into interactive artwork altered by participant selection? Much more daunting. Whereas it doesn’t come collectively as easily as one might hope, there’s sufficient promise and payoff to make this a profitable experiment.
Nonetheless, Stray Gods doesn’t make a very robust first impression. Regardless of some nice character design and artwork, the shortage of precise animation makes exchanges awkward as characters simply bounce from expression to expression. It’s caught in an uncomfortable place, the place there are much more transitions than a normal visible novel, however it by no means seems truly fluid. Lack of conventional animation isn’t all the time a nasty factor — The Manner of the Househusband used a ton of fashion to show its restricted animation right into a power reasonably than a weak spot — however this turns into an annoyance you get used to reasonably than a captivating quirk.
Issues get higher as soon as the story kicks into excessive gear. The story mixes Greek gods with a contemporary setting — akin to Fables/The Wolf of Amongst Us — and has a compelling homicide thriller at its coronary heart. On prime of that, there are a wide selection of musical numbers and a solid that options a few of the finest voice actors round. There’s genuinely lots to love right here when you make it previous the offputting lack of animation.
The concept of an interactive musical is sort of formidable and is price celebrating, even when it doesn’t all completely work in addition to you hoped. The music consists by Austin Wintory of Journey fame (the PS3 sport, not the “Don’t Cease Believing” band) and lives as much as his excessive commonplace. The vocal performances additionally impress, with Laura Bailey displaying that she has an exceptional singing voice. All the opposite expertise can carry a tune as nicely — Khary Payton’s Pan and Troy Baker’s Apollo are two specific highlights.
Nonetheless, the songs don’t totally come collectively. The lyrics are fantastic and get the character’s feelings and factors throughout, however they’re not all that catchy or poignant. The world and what characters should say in Stray Gods’ regular conversations are much more fascinating than what’s sung. It additionally doesn’t assist that the songs can really feel fairly disjointed musically because of the interactive component. Gamers can select the tone for various sections of a tune, which doesn’t all the time gel.
When not singing, the sport is a reasonably fundamental visible novel with some mild journey sport components. You’ll choose places to go to as you examine a homicide, select components to examine, and who to speak to. The world-building might be the strongest side of the sport itself, with the historical past between characters feeling fairly fleshed out. It’s additionally simply enjoyable to see these larger-than-life mythological figures in modern-day settings.
There’s additionally a whole lot of replay worth right here, because the participant’s decisions influence each the story and the songs. Sure dialogue choices are locked behind no matter trait you select early on. There are romance choices to discover, and the character dynamics at play are genuinely fascinating. With a lot that may change in a run, I wish to see how in a different way the thriller can play out. Stray Gods is unquestionably a sport I’ll wind up giving one other playthrough or two in consequence.
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical Evaluation: The ultimate verdict
Humble Video games’ newest providing is a very fascinating creative experiment. Whereas it didn’t depart me considering that roleplaying musicals would be the wave of the longer term, I’m glad Summerfall Studios went for such a wild thought. The tip result’s uneven but nonetheless fairly fulfilling. A compelling thriller is bolstered due to some nice music and powerful performances by its solid. It’s a disgrace that the animation and songwriting can’t match the standard of the opposite components, however Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical remains to be nicely price testing.
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Nice artwork and an fascinating world
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Austin Wintory’s music is gorgeous
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Plenty of ambition and nice performances
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The shortage of animation is jarring at first
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Lyrics do not all the time stay as much as the music
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Songs can really feel disjointed
Disclaimer: Our Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical overview relies on a PS5 copy supplied by the writer. Reviewed on model 1.001.000.