Join Liv from Podcasters United as she shares her review on this Greek mythology-based musical RPG!
Game: Stray Gods
Developer: Summerfall Studios
Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and PC
Play Time: 13 hours
Stray Gods is a musical RPG game with Greek Mythology deep in its roots. You play as Grace, a member of a band who suddenly becomes a god. The characters you meet and interact with in this game are Greek gods from many of the stories we have grown up reading about. It is not imperative to be well-versed in Greek mythology as the game will tell you what you need to know about the stories. As this is an RPG game, there are many dialogue trees and romanceable options which puts the player in control of what unfolds. I am a huge fan of choice-based games. These games have an endless amount of possibilities and encourage replayability. Trust me, you will want to play Stray Gods more than once.
This would be Summerfall Studios’ first title and they needed help to get the project off the ground! A choice-based musical RPG game was enough for me to put down a $50 donation on fig.co and help fund such a unique game. I was so excited by the premise of this game that I would be devastated if it was never released. Early on in the project, it was known that world-renowned voice actors such as Laura Bailey and Troy Baker would be integral parts of the video game, making me even more excited. If you’re unfamiliar with their work, maybe Abby from The Last of Us Part II and Joel from The Last of Us Part I & II will jog your memory. Little did I know that the cast of characters would later include Ashley Johnson (Ellie) and Merle Dandridge (Marlene) which made me laugh as it slowly became The Last of Us: Musical Cast. Voice acting aside, the story of the game was shaping up to be intriguing to me as well.
The gameplay in Stray Gods is rather unique. During the game, there are choice-based songs! You will regularly engage in song battles to learn more about the characters and the situations you find yourself in. This means you influence the lyrics which in turn influences the outcome of the situation. There are over 40 songs based on who you choose to interact with and romance! This is an impressive feat for any game. You will find yourself singing along to these catchy tunes as well.
For as much praise as I give Stray Gods, the latter part of the game suffers from a critical audio issue. For a musically based game, the dialogue audio in Act 3 is not well balanced. This is not “game ending” by any means and Summerfall Studios says a patch is incoming, but during my first playthrough, it felt as though some characters were whispering and others were shouting at me. I’m sure this will not be an issue for much longer with the upcoming patch!
A stellar cast, Greek mythology, and catchy tunes; what’s not to like? Stray Gods is a wonderful experience and I encourage you to try it! This certainly put Summerfall Studios on the map for me and I will be patiently awaiting their next title.
BIO: Liv writes for Podcasters United. When she's not gaming, she's watching sports! Looking for more of Liv’s video game and sports takes? Follow her over on Twitter:
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