Stray Gods: A Touching Tale with Musical Elements
Stray Gods is a narrative adventure game that combines musical theatre and captivating storytelling to produce one of the year’s best games. Featuring a touching tale, Stray Gods sees a young woman named Grace meet a Greek Muse named Calliope. After Calliope dies, she passes her godly powers to Grace, and the two embark on a journey that sees Grace embroiled in a catchy murder mystery.
Stray Gods’s story is both relatable and unique. Grace, a woman in her 20s, is struggling to find her place in the world. She’s just moved to a new city and is trying to figure out her next move. Grace meets Calliope, who passes away and hands over her godly powers, becoming the Muse. The story tackles issues of trauma, the inability to escape one’s defining experiences, and the persistence of deities. If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead or Mass Effect, you’ll feel right at home with Stray Gods’s decision-making. However, there’s the added twist of musical elements.
The game allows you to choose from three natures for Grace’s character: Charming, Kickass, or Clever. Each nature affects dialogue options and song choices. For example, I chose the Charming nature so I could help a young girl overcome her stage fright. However, this nature would have prevented me from singing a hard-hitting rock ballad. The choices you make and the nature you choose evoke emotional responses from you as you experience the story with Grace.
Stray Gods explores the lives and identities of Greek gods in the modern world. It asks questions about what it means to be lost and forgotten. The game’s touching tale is written by David Gaider, who previously worked on games such as Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. It’s then performed by voice actors Laura Bailey (Life is Strange 2, Assassin’s Creed: Rogue, Dragon Age 4), Troy Baker (Red Dead Redemption 2, The Last of Us, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order), Ashley Johnson (The Last of Us, Tales from the Borderlands), Janina Gavankar (Star Wars: Resistance, True Blood, Masters of Sex), and Khary Payton (Red Dead Redemption 2, Destiny 2: The Fallen King, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order). Each actor brings their own personality to their character, and their talent shines through.
The characters you meet in Stray Gods are definitely interesting, and their decisions carry weight. Characters like Apollo and Athena face internal struggles and have to make difficult decisions. Apollo, for example, is lost in his own fame and has to decide whether to give up his godly powers to begin a new life with his love. Characters you might think you know, like Athena, show their humanity through their vulnerability.
Hermes, a non-binary character, is a messenger who takes on the burden of their godly powers. They face the trauma of having their body taken over by their god, who has no interest in Hermes’s gender identity. Hermes decides that handing over their powers to a new muse would be the only way to escape the burden of their gender dysphoria.
If you’re someone who loves theatre and music, you will enjoy the way Stray Gods plays with these genres. The game incorporates music into its gameplay and storytelling in a way that’s never been done before. It asks questions about what it means to be a god and the impact of passing on memories and experiences. It also delves into the themes of trauma and the inability to escape one’s defining experiences.
Despite some musical inconsistencies and technical issues, Stray Gods shines in its storytelling and emotional depth. The game’s writing captures the joy, fear, and unpredictability of human life. The characters you meet face internal struggles and make difficult decisions, reminding us that life isn’t always easy. Stray Gods is a beautiful game that allows you to explore the lives of forgotten deities.
Stray Gods is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
