izigame.me

My Olympus is gone, and you're all looking on
I'd like to preface this by saying that Stray Gods is far more Interactive Visual Novel Musical than a Roleplaying Musical, making its title a bit of a misnomer. The game is as much of a RPG as any other visual novel or Telltale-esque game (e.g. Life is Strange) might be, as the roleplaying element is rather surface level. I also just noticed I posted this on Canada Day — how fitting, eh?
The musical component, which sets Stray Gods apart from other visual novels, is an ambitious and fascinating gamble. Songs can shift dramatically based on your choices, which is impressive in concept, if not always in execution. The player, as Grace, decides not just what to say, or rather sing, but also how to sing it — with tonal variations influencing not only lyrics but genres and rhythms. When it works, it really works. Some numbers hit emotional highs, revealing character and advancing plot in powerful ways. However, others stumble — certain arrangements clash with vocal performances, and a few voice actors, despite their acting prowess, occasionally sound slightly out of place musically. The singing and voice acting can feel raw and unprocessed, like barely edited takes pasted into the game with the microphone static noise still in the background (literally), but it is something you get used to over time.
The voice cast features all-stars like Felicia Day, Troy Baker, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, and Anthony Rapp, who especially stood out to me due to their incredible song prowess combined with outstanding voice acting. Every line is voiced, and it shows in how grounded and emotionally present many of the characters feel. The amazing Austin Wintory, whom you might know from games such as Journey or Hades II (ironically fitting) scored the game and co-wrote the songs alongside Tripod and singer Montaigne. If you want a deeper insight into the musical's workings, do check out his YouTube channel — he truly is amazing.
Stray Gods also marks the return of the trusty BioWare dialogue wheel mechanic — where you get to choose between three personality types, namely charming, clever, and kickass (similar to Dragon Age 2's charming and direct personality types, with diplomatic/helpful being replaced by clever).
When it comes to the writing... well, I have a love-hate relationship with David Gaider (whose Magnum Opus is likely Dragon Age). He was a key creative behind the Dragon Age universe (my all-time favourite franchise) and has written some of my all time favourite characters (Fenris, Morrigan, Zevran, Alistair, Nathaniel, and he even gave input on Solas, too), making his skill in world-building and character writing quite evident. That said, I have always seen Gaider's writing as a kind of diamond in the rough — it's always JUST shy of being perfect (not in the literal sense), though within the collaborative nature of the Dragon Age games' narrative, those edges were often smoothed out. But that polish feels missing in his novels, and especially in Stray Gods (which, for all intents and purposes, is a visual novel). Here, it's more apparent when Gaider gets lost in the moment, lost in the song, and his writing can come off as a little too static or unnatural.
Like, the game initially teases detective elements — letting you inspect items in the first scene — and then abandons this idea. Instead of piecing together clues yourself, you're passively walked through exposition-heavy scenes until the mystery is simply revealed to you at the end. For a game that wants to be a murder mystery, the lack of player agency or deduction is disappointing. The illusion of choice also fades quickly, as the plot remains very linear and choices seem to have minimal impact on major events. However, the story itself is intriguing — it just needed another draft, in my opinion, and the game itself needed a bit more polish. In every playthrough, I had characters blink in and out, lip-sync and movements sometimes not quite fitting the audio, and subtitles occasionally lagging behind or cutting off.
Otherwise, the art direction stands out, even more so when you compare it to its original design that was even more comic book-esque. With lush colours, expressive character designs, and beautifully detailed backdrops, each scene feels like a motion comic come to life. However, there are a set few characters that I take some issues with. Namely, a mother-son duo that has darker skin. While I love their designs, their colours seem a little... grey to me. Even worse that their hands are not lighter, like they should be, and the son in particular feels like a token character, due to his BDSM-style outfit.
In fact, this brings me to my next issue: Some characters feel like token characters rather than just characters in their own right. Mild spoilers: There is a non-binary character (voiced by a non-binary voice actor) that makes it very clear they're non-binary instead of just letting the usage of "they/them" explain it (I'm X-gender myself, before anyone wants to say something), the mother-type character is a larger darker skinned lady, who is close to a Black wheelchair user (that is also larger),and the tall, dominant, and short-haired woman in a suit is a lesbian. Bonus points for inconsistencies in which characters get the palms of their hands drawn lighter and which ones don't. And yet, all of these characters have genuine depth in their backstories, and what I might see as a flaw (minus the hands), others might see as a strength.
Overall, I came to enjoy the story more and more with each playthrough (it was a warm-up process for me), which isn't surprising given David Gaider's reputation as a standout writer in the realm of branching narratives and moral choice systems. That said, I had mixed feelings about some of the mythological reinterpretations — Persephone stood out to me as being the character I found most compelling in a modern sense, even if I didn't enjoy the interpretation of her past myth. On the flip side, Apollo — despite being my favourite love interest with the most memorable songs (to me) — felt slightly mischaracterised, coming across more like Poseidon in his contemporary portrayal. Still, I appreciated that the game didn't gloss over the darker aspects of his original myth, and theoretically, any oddities can be explained within the framework of the story (as long as they're Idols). Pan, ironically, feels perfect, by the way.
That said, there are some quality-of-life issues, such as no cloud saves existing, and the skip function being clunky — skipping entire dialogue choices rather than single lines, which is frustrating for replayability. And while the songs vary based on your decisions, that same branching design means some combinations are far more satisfying than others, making repeated playthroughs hit-or-miss musically. It is also worth noting that with the Greek mythology renaissance we are currently in, the game definitely has some strong competition when it comes to reinterpreting characters.
If you'd like to play a Buffy-esque (Once More With Feeling) interactive musical in the style of a visual novel, Stray Gods: An Adventure Musical (the original title fit so well) might just be for you, even if it's not an easy recommendation at its normal price (likely justified, but steep in comparison to other visual novels).
If you liked my review, feel free to check out
my Steam curator page or my other steam reviews.
Here is my Orpheus review (overall a positive experience, but the price is once again quite high), and if you'd like to know how I would rate the romances... Apollo / Freddie > Pan / Persephone — song-wise Apollo > Pan > Persephone > Freddie.