Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical Reviews
Stray Gods surpassed all of my expectations, the big musical numbers alongside its captivating story had me hooked. I am aware of several bugs that were in its original release however, I didn’t experience any in my playthrough. This could be partly due to patches that have been released since its original release.
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical consists of a visual novel (despite what its name suggests) based around music and its main characters are modern interpretations of Greek gods. All of this, plus its visually appealing graphics and art style, is very much worthy of praise. Where Stray Gods strays from its qualities is when players who are less keen on visual novels find themselves limited by the available choices, as the plot allows for little deviation from the main story. As far as its execution is concerned, some of the singing moments feel inconsistent, due to the voice actors' different renditions.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Stray Gods is messy. The game's story, music... some systems? But they're all so true to its heart and the intentions of the project. Summerfall Studios has delivered a flawed but fascinating musical in Stray Gods. Ambitious but so painfully human. Not unlike the ways the Greek gods are portrayed in the game. The experience is all the more beautiful for it. If you don't like musicals, can't get past a few audio issues, or dislike visual novel-like experiences, Stray Gods isn't for you. But musical fans, Greek mythology addicts, and people looking to make a pathetic sad man happy? Strap yourselves in for a musical rollercoaster.
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is a triumphant ode to an unique and difficult idea. The story is very good, the quantity, variety of choices and consequences is truly impressive, and the work put in here to make everything make logical and narrative sense is sublime. The songs are divine, the performances of all the actors are perfect, without exception, and it just doesn't have a permanent place on Olympus due to several technical problems that prove that the game was created by mortals. Still, and because it always left us with music in our hearts, it is a work quite worthy of entering the Pantheon.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is a narrative and musical adventure with an interesting plot and great characters. The musical numbers are wonderful and if you like this genre you can't miss it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
"Mediocre virtual musical can't be saved with quality voice talents."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is an emotional musical adventure about a young woman who is forced to face complex circumstances with a supernatural twist. For fans of narrative games looking for a thought-provoking world, it's worth diving into this universe and embracing its musical side.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
It is a testament to the developers and writers that Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical remains an accessible adventure, even for those not particularly into musicals or video games in general. The immense effort put into the world, the art, music, and storytelling is clear to see, and while there is room to venture into a more involved discourse about mental health and the human condition, this is an excellent start of an imaginative and unconventional concept, one well deserving of an encore and a standing ovation.
Absolutely one of the most original games I’ve played recently, this story-driven affair swings for the fences and somewhat gets there
"Stray Gods: The Roleplay Musical" invites you into a magical world filled with music, strong characters, and a thrilling plot.
The minimal amount of interactivity required meant that sitting down to play Stray Gods was more like sitting down for a movie night than anything else – though I do agree that visual novel is the best label for it. And if we’re judging it as a visual novel, I think it’s got a lot to offer – far more than it does as a ‘roleplaying musical’.
Stray Gods exchanges battles and some dialogues for dynamic music, in an experience full of charm, but with an inconsistent and at times, forced direction.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is one of the most creative, original and interesting games to come along in a long time. The voice acting is world class, and its cast are clearly having the time of their lives. The comic book artstyle is beautiful, the story is compelling enough to keep you hooked, but unfortunately it is hindered somewhat by its limited gameplay and simplified mechanics. Beyond its save issues on Xbox, however, if you’re looking for a different kind of gaming experience from anything else out there, this one won’t lead you astray.
In a game where narrative is everything (and the only thing) - does the game succeed? Is this a story worth embodying? Are the conclusions satisfying? I think for me, the answer is yes.
Stray Gods can be inconsistent in its musical numbers at times and presents a selection of irksome technical issues, but these foibles are trivial to overlook when Grace’s journey fires on all cylinders. It is marvelously written with a beating heart lined with poignancy, which at every turn expresses the joy, fear, and unpredictability of human life you can’t help but feel represented by. Much like Grace, I’m a lost, lost girl with little direction in life, but sometimes a game like this comes along and convinces me it’s only a matter of time until I’m found.
One playthrough of Stray Gods takes about five hours, but one of the most impressive things about the game is its immense replayability. Different dialogue choices coupled with the huge amount of musical permutations mean that no two runs are the same, and it's hard to resist going back for more even after the mystery is solved. The title certainly isn't for everyone - those who completely abhor anything even adjacent to musical theater are certainly not the target audience. However, Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical presents an engaging story and song mechanics that feel beautifully personal, making it worth looking into even for players who don't consider themselves musical lovers.
There is no game out there like Stray Gods, and while its execution has some flaws, its originality shines through. Summerfall Studios has crafted a memorable experience with loveable characters and catchy songs to boot.
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.
I cannot recommend this game enough. I won’t even bother with a Cons section in this article because I don’t know what I would even say against it. It’s fun, well-priced, replayable, beautiful, and filled to the brim with gorgeous music. What more could RPG, visual novel, and musical fans want? It’s so well polished that I can’t think of a single thing that I would change or add. What a delight from start to finish Stray Gods was. Play it; you won’t regret it!
A wonderfully peculiar blend of visual novel, choice-driven RPG, and off-Broadway musical, Stray Gods embraces the theatrical duality of comedy and tragedy and wraps it into a narrative experience that can be at once gut-wrenching and cheeky. Through some excellently written and performed dialogue, incredible audio production, and effective use of player choice, it provides an intimate and personal music theatre experience. While its semi-animated visual style and simplified gameplay may prove off-putting for some, Stray Gods is a unique and compelling love letter to the theatre kid inside us all.