Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical

The god Pan entices my character to cooperate with him, promising to make it clear what my powers are and how best to use them to his advantage. She may be a supernatural being with a beautiful voice, but she fails to impress her best friend Freddy, who also expresses his views.

As the musical number unfolds, I can make choices for Grace, the character I control, and the temptation to leave worldly ties and join God is clear. But Freddy’s meddling makes some good points. Who can I trust and what is this power over the music that seems to flow through me?

I decide to stick with old friends and focus the song on our relationship with Freddie and her ability to understand what’s going on. Pan gloomily suggests that there are greater dangers out there that we, as mortals, may not be able to solve. Then he leaves.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is developed by Summerfall Studios and published by Humble Games. I played the preview version on PC via the Steam platform. As the name clearly states, this is a real musical that also uses ideas from role-playing.

The main character of the story is Grace, the leader of the band and a student who dropped out of college. She gains power from her last husband, Calliope, and is accused of her murder. Within seven days, he must solve a mystery, interact with characters both mortal and supernatural. Players can choose their approach and will get visual indicators of how they affect the world.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical focuses on the mechanics of player choice. As Grace, players will be able to decide who is worth trusting, who is acting selfishly, and what kind of love partner to target. The studio claims there are thousands of variations to experience.

The portrayal of Pan’s character that I experienced is different and well integrated into the concept of the musical. I really want to see how the other members of the Greek pantheon are portrayed and what kind of songs they will perform.

To succeed, the game must deliver on its promises of important choices while delivering outstanding sing-along moments. The demo shows promise in both areas. However, I suspect that most players are not overly interested in musicals, so this part of the experience needs to be impressive to attract and keep an engaged audience.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical uses a comic book-inspired presentation, with striking designs for gods and plenty of details for mortals. Grace and Freddie, who get the most screen time in the preview, clearly communicate their emotions through facial expressions, and the musical sequences are well thought out.

The amount of talent emerging when it comes to voice acting and singing is impressive. The cast includes Laura Bailey, Troy Baker, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Janina Gavankar, Felicia Day, Khary Payton, Abubakar Salim, Ashley Johnson, Anthony Rapp and more. The musical elements were created by Austin Wintory, Triporo consisting of Scott Edgar, Steven Gates and Simon Hall, as well as the Australian Eurovision performer, Jess Cerro.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical embarks on a complex combination. Musicals are difficult to perform in the real world, and even more difficult to implement in the world of video games. Adding RPG mechanics makes the title even more interesting, provided the development team manages to mix them up properly.

I liked the two musical numbers I saw in this preview and the way the husband and god were integrated into the game’s universe. Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical will launch later this year and I really want to experience its unique combination of ideas when it arrives.

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