A murder mystery musical taking place in the modern day where Greek gods are still present. If that concept tickles your interest, then Stray Gods, the debut game from the new studio Summerfall Studios, may be right up your alley.
Stray Gods
Developer: Summerfall Studios
Price: TBA
Platform: PC / PS / Switch / Xbox
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review
Set in the modern day, you play as Grace, a musician who’s thrust into the hidden world and dangerous politics of the Greek gods when the last remaining muse, Calliope, is murdered and transfers her soul into Grace, thus making her the new muse. Grace is immediately made suspect number one and you’ve got a week to gather evidence to clear your name before you’re put to death. David Gaider, most notably of Dragon Age fame, put together a heartwarming tale of grief and loss with some interesting twists on how Greek gods would behave in modern society.
The game also features an impressively stacked cast with the likes of Laura Bailey, Rahul Kohli, Felicia Day, Troy Baker, and more. Each of the characters they embody feels fully realized with all these great teases at deeper histories that you just wish the game would let you tug on to reveal more. My *only* issue with the game was that it felt like the big reveal of the killer was exposition dumped on you, instead of dropping little clues throughout the game that would’ve allowed you to figure it out in advance. By the time the killer was revealed it came as a total surprise, while also being the most obvious answer too. This was the closest a game has given me similar vibes to The Wolf Among Us, with some of its tone and stylings, I just wish it had nailed the murder mystery part of its plot a bit better.
As a big fan of musicals I was a bit curious about how well a videogame musical would work, and I’m pleased to say it works incredibly well. The game plays like your typical visual novel but during pivotal moments in conversation, Grace will use her power over music to kickstart a song between her and everyone in attendance. As the characters go through the song, you’ll have timed moments where you can choose one of three traits that will influence the next portion of the song: Charming, Kickass and Clever. These choices not only influence how Grace will behave but also change the instrumentals and Grace’s singing style as well.
Perhaps you’re in a sing off with Persephone and you push pretty hard on the “kickass” trait for the first half of the song, hoping she’d appreciate a moment aggressive approach from Grace, but then later in the song you might opt to choose the “charming” trait to back off after pushing so hard earlier. Grace might go from a guitar heavy punk styling one verse to a more jazz inspired tempo the next, sometimes a half dozen times within a single song. It’s a wildly impressive system, headlined by Austin Wintory, that required not only three versions of every song in the game but that each piece of every style be able to flow into each other seamlessly as you change traits during a song.
The Final Word
Fans of musicals are going to find a lot to love with Stray Gods and I’m excited to see future games go even further with the idea.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
