Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical - Review

Gods, murder, new friends, centuries old rivalries and a plethora of Musical Numbers. The modern day Greek Pantheon really do seem to have a hard time fitting into modern day society.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is a wildly unique and fresh approach to interactive narratives. The title itself is a little deceptive in that the roleplaying aspect is more so playing a role, than what we would have come to expect of normal RPGs. Stray Gods slots in at a time where interactive fiction and powerful narrative driven stories are attempting to really dig out their own niche in the gaming landscape.

Stray Gods takes an incredibly unique stance on the traditional Greek Gods. Taking away focus from the usual big names like Zeus, Hades, Poseidon and Ares. Stray Gods looks at a lesser loved area of the pantheon and mythos whilst giving them a brand new life. Character’s like Persephone and Medusa get a chance to shine and have their own stories rewritten in a way that paints them not as simply victims of the past, but character’s with soul. The most interesting inclusion perhaps is of the muse Calliope who is instrumental in the emergence of Grace as the main character.

Following the unfortunate and sudden demise of the Last Muse, the main character of this musical tale Grace, is tasked with unravelling the details of the death and proving her innocence in the affair. Through a bizarre musical number the Chorus, a council who makes the decisions for the Idols (no longer called gods). The Chorus consisting of Apollo, Persephone, Aphrodite and Athena. There’s a lot of names that start with A in this one. Athena states that unless Grace can prove her innocence within a week, that she will unfortunately have to die.

Stray Gods succeeds in their desire to be different. Taking a leap on something new and different can be dangerous in the modern gaming landscape but the art direction, the musical narrative and the story itself are wildly enjoyable. The art design in particular is perfectly suited for this type of story. Using almost a 90’s style comic book design, the characters getting to pop against the background as a result. The major upside is that with the ability to manipulate the reality around them when in song, the environments get to take a huge stage and never feel shoe-horned in. A quick shift from a bar, to a cliff over the River Styx is made possible because of the art direction. The characters themselves get a world of detailed expression and everyone gets to have their unique design shine. The colours pop and the world feels as magical as it is meant to. Greater than reality, a world fit for the Idols themselves.

The core gameplay elements are expressed through song. There is ways to shift the story and choices that will be made throughout that change how you get to major story sections, but for the most part the game is a linear narrative experience. As a result it is incredibly important that the sections in which you get to actively participate in the narrative are enjoyable. Timed reactions to change the pacing of the musical numbers and how Grace attempts to get information from people who are forced to participate in her musical numbers, are how this is done. If you’re a fan of musicals, you’ll get an absolute kick out of this. The characters are hyper aware that they are being made to express themselves in song and dance, but their hearts are poured out honestly regardless. They fall into the ludicrous nature of it, with Grace even commenting on the strangeness of everything being done as a musical number.

Unfortunately, the songs themselves are at times hit or miss. Some of them are outstanding and enjoyable, whilst others are wildly bland. The mixture of singing styles does mean that at times whilst everyone else comes across powerfully, Grace herself can sometimes come across flat or out of sync. A lot of the songs also lack the memorability of typical musical big hits. Whilst enjoyable at the time, there is almost none that stick in the mind afterwards. There is no Grease Lightning, Time Warp or Feed Me equivalent song in Stray Gods. This doesn’t inherently hurt the overall game, but it does mean that it will likely leave the mind soon putting the game down.

Frustratingly the audio mixing outside of the musical numbers is abysmal. Persephone in particular seems to have her voice lines turned all the way down to 1, with most others sitting at 4 or 5. Sometimes the audio is louder on one voice line than the next, but volume changes are constant throughout the game. It would go a long way in enjoying the story if the there was a little bit of love and care put into the audio mixing outside of the big musical numbers themselves.

Mostly because the story is incredibly enjoyable to experience. There is romance, mystery, deceit and a little bit of intimidation littered throughout. The obvious answers remain obvious, but the path to getting to those answers is littered with twists and turns that constantly made me think ‘ah, that’s interesting. Didn’t see that coming.’ Whilst being relatively linear there is multiple romance options, and unique songs as a result, to experience through the title, a few diverging paths that allow you progress the story with a different companion to before, and different versions of the songs to experience. There is enough here to bring you back two or three times, just to see parts of the story that you may have missed previously with a decision. The use of the Idols and the acknowledgment of their demons and past is an interesting method of including them in this unique game. Stray Gods does a good job of setting itself up for future experiences too. There is a definitive ending to this story, there is enough laced throughout to open up for future titles either as a prequel or sequel.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, whilst a little misnamed, is an incredibly enjoyable visual and audio experience. Taking a unique approach to the interactive narrative and story genre, they apply their own love and care to a mythos that may need a new facelift in the modern day. Putting light on lesser known persons of the Greek Pantheon and weaving them into a modern day world, was a risk that has really paid off. Some audio issues and a lack of a big break out song hurt the overall experience, but there is enough here to keep you busy and in warm enjoyment for a solid eight to ten hours. A great attempt at something new that should inspire other creators to take risks of their own.

The Score

8.5

Review code provided by Summerfall Studios

The Pros

+Beautiful art design

+Replayability surprisingly high for a linear story

+Enjoyable story and characters

The Cons

-Awful dialogue audio mixing

-Lack of stand-out songs

-Interactive Musical more so than a Roleplaying one