So before we delve into my review of Stray Gods The Role Playing Musical What are your favourite musicals?
A strange question for a video game review I know, but go on, what are they?
Mine have to be ‘The Greatest Showman’, ‘Hamilton’ and the ‘Scrubs’ episode ‘My Musical’. But why am I talking about musicals when I should be talking about games?
Well my friend, that’s because this game is rather special, and to be perfectly honest, unlike any game I’ve played before.
Why, you might ask?
Well, that’s because ‘Stray Gods The Role Playing Musical (by Summerfall Studios) ‘ is a role-playing game, but also a full-blown musical that is influenced by the decisions you make. Got you intrigued yet?
Now when I say this is unlike any game I’ve ever played before, I mean it! Sure there have been games with musical elements to them before like the ‘Guitar Hero’ and ‘Rock Band’ franchises and also games like ‘Brutal Legend’. But to my recollection, there has never been a game, at least that I know of, to be based around a musical.
And it’s not just a song here or there, it’s literally like watching a musical like ‘The Greatest Showman’. There’s a story to it which is propelled along by outstanding musical numbers that help drive forward and develop the plot. It’s truly one of a kind!
So what’s the story in Stray Gods The Role Playing Musical?
It’s quite an intriguing one for sure. It centres around the character of Grace (played by Laura Bailey) who is the lead singer of a band. We meet her at the band’s auditions for a new vocalist. It’s here that we experience the game’s first musical number ‘Adrift’ sung by Grace herself. We then meet the character Calliope (played by Ashley Johnson) who arrives mysteriously and starts singing with Grace to the song ‘Adrift’.
Right off I have to say Laura Bailey and Ashley Johnson absolutely kill it here with cracking vocals. ‘Adrift’ is such a poignant song to the game as it sets up the character of Grace and also establishes the underlying theme for the musical score of the rest of the game.
As the story progresses we see Grace opening the door to her apartment with Calliope stumbling in and bleeding from a knife wound. She ultimately dies and then transfers this energy to Grace.
Grace is then taken to see the ‘Chorus’ by a character called Hermes.
We learn the Chorus is a ‘high council’ of sorts for god-like beings called Muses based on the Greek gods. The Chorus consists of Athena, Apollo, Persephone and Aphrodite.
They accuse Grace of murdering Calliope and through the song ‘The Chorus Is In Accord’ led by Athena (played by Felica Day) we learn that Grace is now a Muse thanks to Calliope giving her the power and the reason why the punishment for killing a Muse is death.
The song is then interrupted by Apollo (Troy Baker) who believes that Grace has a right to prove her innocence. The Chorus then agrees that Grace has time to prove her innocence before being sentenced to death.
You next meet your best friend, band mate and flatmate Freddie back at your apartment where you also meet the character Pan (played by Khary Payton from TWD) you then experience quite possibly one of the best tutorials to a game mechanic that I’ve ever seen.
The crux of the game is that you can influence the songs and the outcomes of the songs through the decisions that you can make during the musical numbers. These choices add different variations to the song allowing the song to be unique to each playthrough. I experienced this when playing through the tutorial song (brilliantly named) ‘I Can Teach You’. The lyrics that I heard during my playthrough were completely different to when I listened to the song again on Spotify during my drive-in to work.
It’s a gameplay style reminiscent of the look and design of the dialogue options from ‘Mass Effect’ yet it’s entirely unique in its own way. And that is what makes this game unlike anything I’ve played before. It’s an original and unique take on a video game that makes the experience so immersive that it makes you feel not only part of the musical but also like you are there at the theatre or in the cinema watching it. It is hands down utterly fantastic!
The art style of this game also lends to its originality. It’s not a 3D game using cutscenes that are familiar within modern games. It’s a hand-drawn frame-by-frame experience similar to visual novels. What truly brings it to life though is the camera movements during the musical numbers. The frame-by-frame style is pushed to the back of your mind as you are immersed in a cinematic experience filled with diverse and creative camera movements that help elevate the rhythm of the songs. It’s truly an experience for sure.
The cast of this game is also a major selling point. Not only have you got all the main actors from ‘The Last Of Us’ with Troy Baker, Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey and Merle Dandridge, but you also have the likes of Janina Gavankar (Iden Veriso SW Battlefront 2), Khary Payton (Ezekiel The Walking Dead), Abubakar Salim (Bayek AC Origins) and Felicia Day (The Guild). The cast is diverse and star-studded with a range of stellar voices that bring life to the musical numbers throughout this game.
Which leads me to the soundtrack.
Never has a soundtrack been so important to a game as this one. It’s what brings to life the game’s musical elements but it also helps drive the narrative forward. The songs are well written and can be both funny and weigh with such emotional depth at the same time.
There are some truly great performances in this game with some of my favorites being those led by Troy Baker, Khary Payton and Merle Dandridge. But the star of the show has to be the lead character Grace and the amazing vocal range of Laura Bailey. Each song she sings is unique in the performance and also memorable when you’re taking time away from the console. Songs like ‘Adrift’ and ‘I Can Teach You’ have been stuck in my head on repeat for days. The soundtrack is definitely up there with the likes of ‘Hamilton’ and ‘The Greatest Showman’.
Overall ‘Stray Gods The Role Playing Musical‘ is a truly one-of-a-kind experience that you need to play!
It’s a unique and original game that comes as a breath of fresh air in a video game market filled with sequels and over-saturated genres. It’s a definite game-of-the-year contender that I believe has the capacity to win and can win! It’s certainly my game of the year that’s for sure!
‘Stray Gods The Role Playing Musical‘ gets a well-deserved 10 out of 10 and I implore you to play it to experience it on your own.
Stray Gods The Role Playing Musical Trailer
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