Sarah Mak gives a thorough run-down on her experience watching/playing Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (2023), a roleplaying musical adventure game developed by Summerfall Studios and published by Humble Games.

This review contains major spoilers for Stray Gods.

When I learned about Stray Gods (2023), a recent musical video game, I was really excited to play it — as a huge fan of both video games and musicals, it looked like two of my favourite things were colliding into something new. Other than that, the game’s cast was stacked with famous voice actors I loved, including Laura Bailey and Ashley Johnson. The game’s lead writer, David Gaider, was also the former lead writer of the hit video game series Dragon Age, and the first game in the series, Dragon Age: Origins, is still considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time.

But as I played Stray Gods, the variety of issues I encountered, and how the game wasted its potential, angered me. Then as the days passed, my anger boiled down to frustration. Now, while I still think that a musical video game is a fantastic idea, unfortunately, I also think that Stray Gods is let down by its poor execution.

The Premise 

Stray Gods has an intriguing narrative premise: it is a murder mystery set in an urban fantasy world inspired by Greek mythology. You play as Grace, a college dropout who has been accused by a pantheon of Greek gods of murdering the last muse, Calliope. Since Calliope passed on her “eidolon” (the source of her godhood and powers) to Grace before her death, Grace has the power to make others sing out their deepest thoughts and emotions—allowing her to interrogate them. I think this is a clever diegetic, or in-story, reason for the singing in this musical, which is a contrast to how the singing in most musicals is non-diegetic.

This lays the groundwork for the main hook of Stray Gods. As a musical video game (or interactive musical), you can make choices during a song to alter how it evolves, so each song can have hundreds of unique variations. During the song, you pick between colour-coded options that represent how Grace can act: red for acting aggressively, blue for acting smartly, or green for acting charmingly and kindly. This changes the lyrics, music, and sometimes even the genre for the next section: red choices tend to be associated with electric bass guitars and rock, blue with clarinets and jazz, and green with harps and ballads. 

I like the mechanic of making choices during a song. Stray Gods also has dialogue choices and major story decisions that are typical of narrative games, but this is a unique way to make a story interactive and create different narrative branches. For me, it was fun to search on YouTube to view the other versions of each song that resulted from different choices. Also, the presence of music, and the expectation of its next verse, amplifies the tension of making choices under a time limit. I also appreciate that the choices in the songs are colour-coded, which makes the mechanics of the game obvious to the player, giving them a greater sense of control and agency. But fundamentally, the gameplay of Stray Gods is simple. Like a Telltale game, players pick between a few options at a time, so the game is accessible even to those who are unfamiliar with video games.

Reviewing Stray Gods as a Musical

The Songwriting

Unfortunately, I don’t think Stray Gods stands equal to most musicals for another important reason: its songwriting. Most of the songs are misses rather than hits, with forgettable music and clumsy, fragmented lyrics. Many lines read too much like straightforward dialogue, instead of what song lyrics should be: poetry that is set to music, with metaphors and lyricism. The songs later in the game are more cohesive, but the quality of the songwriting is still too uneven. Although I admire each song has dozens of possible verses, which is a technical achievement that requires a huge amount of labour, some of these verse options were significantly worse than others. For example, it’s possible for the song “The Ritual” to switch to the jazz genre in its second half, but I found this too much of a musical and tonal whiplash.

However, there are some bright spots in Stray Gods’ tracklist. 

If the “The Ritual” switches to the rock genre in its second half instead, it becomes what I think is the best song in the game. It was such a huge improvement from the previous songs, I felt that I was watching a completely different musical. The first half of the song is slow and mournful, as Aphrodite recounts her trauma and laments the loss of her husband. In contrast, in this second half, the tempo shifts to energetic rock verses. The rock verses set the backdrop for Grace to beat down Aphrodite’s plan to pass her eidolon to a mortal—essentially, taking her own life temporarily, and dooming another person to relive her trauma. With this effective contrast, I much prefer the rock option to the jazz option. I felt that it flowed more naturally and was more narratively satisfying. But even though I like this song, I still think this song isn’t perfect — the rock section of the song could have been pushed even further with more intense instrumentation.

Another song I like is “Look Into Me”, the song that introduces Stray Gods’ take on Medusa. Its eerie theremins, club music-like beats, and Indian music influences are an interesting blend, making it the most unique song in the musical. While the music of this song does not change significantly between the options the player picks, I think this is a good decision — I felt that most of the songs’ music and genre switches were jarring, such as those in the song “Challenging A Queen”.

Switching music and genres makes more sense in the 11 o’clock number of Stray Gods, “The Trial”, which is a medley of reprises. (In a musical, an 11 o’clock number refers to a climactic song near the end of the show, and it usually accompanies an emotional turning point or revelation.) A few 11 o’clock numbers in musicals are already medleys, such as “Rose’s Turn” from Gypsy (1959), as well as the (humorously titled) “Eleven O’Clock” from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015). Hence, the switching of music between each choice feels natural and fits into the expectations of the musical medium. Besides, I love the use of reprises in this song, where characters twist previous motifs and lyrics to make their arguments, as well as to draw parallels to previous narrative themes.

The Singing Performances

As expected from such a famous and well-regarded cast, the voice-acting performances were stellar across the board. Unfortunately, however, the singing performances were uneven. I really like the singing performance from Laura Bailey (Grace) — while not always technically perfect, it carries a vulnerability that suits Grace, who is a young adult finding her way in the world. But the singing performances of several actors, such as Troy Baker (Apollo) and Abubakar Salim (Eros), weren’t as strong as they should have been. They lacked too much power, especially for rock verses. Instead of hiring famous video game voice actors, I think most of the cast should have been Broadway or other musical theatre performers, even if they are not famous actors. This is what Peter Panic (2016), another musical video game, did, and I felt that the singing performances in that game were more consistent. Alternatively, perhaps the issues with Stray Gods’ singing performances lie in its singing direction and sound mixing. 

Reviewing Stray Gods as a Narrative Game

The Narrative Design

Stray Gods’ narrative structure is simple since it is mostly linear. No matter which choices you make, the broad strokes of the main plot will be the same. What varies is how you reach these plot points. As expected from David Gainer’s experience with Dragon Age, the major choices and minor dialogue options are well-paced throughout the game, and the major choices are interesting dilemmas with merits on both sides. Most of these major choices are the final choice of several songs, and they result in a few consequences later in the game. In addition, the game features four romance options, and each has a unique additional scene and final scene. I thought it was odd that the player’s romance option determined the final scene, since the romance subplots, aside from Freddie’s, were not important to the main plot.

The Visuals

Visually, Stray Gods resembles a motion comic. The game consists of graphic novel-style illustrations with a little bit of animation, so it does look more cinematic than a typical visual novel. I do like the illustrations, and there are beautiful abstract shots in several of the songs. However, I can’t say the same for the choice to use a motion comic style—uncharitably, one could describe motion comics as “bad animation”, since the minimal movement looks clumsy and awkward. I do think the choice of art style hinders Stray Gods. While musicals are known for their impressive choreography, Stray Gods can’t take advantage of choreography at all. There was a moment in the song “I Could Teach You” where Pan spun around Grace, but being only a few frames a second, it looked awkward — and I wished that it was fully animated instead. Pragmatically, using a motion comics-like art style saves on costs and time, but I wished that, at minimum, the songs were fully animated. 

The Worldbuilding

Looking at its worldbuilding, Stray Gods has a modernised interpretation of the Greek pantheon and a diverse cast. I appreciate the racial and queer diversity of the cast, including how this portrayal of Hermes is non-binary, and I love some of the game’s takes on the characters. Here, Persephone is a stone-cold, butch, crime boss who runs a secret nightclub, and Apollo is a somber surfer dude racked with regret and grief. But the act of modernising Greek mythology is far from novel. There are already many stories that also do this, such as Rick Riordan’s novels, the musical Hadestown (2019), the game Hades (2020), and the comic Wicked + the Divine (2014). As much as I enjoy seeing different takes on Greek mythology, this space is increasingly crowded. 

For a story centred on Greek mythology, I was surprised at how small the game’s cast was. When a story is based on exploring Greek mythology, you would expect to see at least most of the main pantheon, among a cast of minor gods and mythological characters. While the choice to use a small cast could be because of the game’s short length of six to eight hours, and there was a diegetic reason for this — there were conflicts in the past that killed some of the gods — I expected to see more Greek mythological characters, even as cameos in the background.

The Use of the Murder Mystery Genre

Another issue is that Stray Gods is not a well-crafted murder mystery. I don’t think there is any point in the game where the player has enough knowledge about the world and characters to confidently draw their own conclusions, which is one of the reasons why murder mysteries are compelling. It feels that we are simply sifting through information at each turn of the plot, without enough clues that point toward possible solutions. Agatha Christie’s novels have a greater control of the knowledge the reader has, and a greater control of suspense, which makes her stories more gripping. There is no point in the game where our understanding of the plot significantly shifts either, like in Rian Johnson’s murder mystery films, Knives Out (2019) and Glass Onion (2022). Thus, the murder mystery plot of Stray Gods, and the identity of its murderer, were surprisingly and disappointingly straightforward. It feels that the murder mystery plot was more of a pretense to get to know the cast of characters, and the writers weren’t as concerned with crafting an intricate and compelling murder mystery, as much as they were concerned with exploring their characters and their relationships.

The Protagonist’s Character Arc

Another issue I have with Stray Gods’ story is how it communicates its protagonist’s character development. The first song of the game is Grace’s “I Want” song, “Adrift”. (In a musical, an “I Want” song is a song where a character describes their main desire, and this song is usually near the start of the musical.) Boiling down “Adrift”, it directly addresses the issue Grace is facing — she feels lost in life, adrift without a purpose. (Being 22, I find this relatable.) So, from this “I Want” song, we know what Grace wants is to find her purpose in life. The story makes her feel even more lost, as she must now discover the true murderer of Calliope by exploring an urban fantasy world. A few lyrics in other songs also refer to how lost Grace is — in “I Can Teach You”, Pan can croon “lost girls, lost girls” to Freddie and Grace, and both Athena and Persephone sing “You are lost, little girl” to Grace during their songs. Despite all this emphasis on how Grace is lost, I don’t think the story tackles this issue. 

Since reprises in musicals are avenues to highlight character development, the reprise of “Adrift” could have answered how Grace has found a purpose. However, depending on a previous choice, it may not. If the player decides that Grace should give up her godhood as a Muse by passing her eidolon to Freddie, during the reprise, Grace simply sings about feeling lost again — so the reprise does not progress Grace’s character arc. Otherwise, if Grace is still a Muse, Grace sings about how she acted during the game (be it in an aggressive, smart, or charming way). Then, the previous Calliopes comfort and encourage her in a scene akin to one in Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005) where Aang meets the previous Avatars. I think how Grace acted during the game isn’t an answer to Grace’s central issue of finding a purpose. Perhaps emphasising how Grace acted during the game shows that Grace is developing her personality, which could be fitting for her stage in life — but developing your personality does not mean that you have found a purpose, even if it gives a sense of security. On the other hand, the presence of previous Calliopes does emphasise that Grace’s new purpose is her duties as a Muse, and in this case, the reprise of the “I Want” song does answer the issue posed by the original song.

From the story, I guess we can infer that Grace’s purposes can be to work as a Muse (if she stays one), aid the gods as they reveal their identities to the world, and build a relationship with the player’s chosen love interest (if they chose one). The implication from these actions could be that Grace’s purpose can be to help and support other people—if this was the case, there should have been another song after “The Trial”, and before the final song, that emphasises this message. But helping other people feels like a band-aid solution to the underlying issues that could have led Grace to feeling lost in the first place. To fully address Grace’s character development, the story could have explored these issues.

The Romance Subplots

Most of the romance subplots were not as effective as they could have been. While the game has four romance options, I think the only compelling romance option is Freddie, Grace’s best friend from childhood — a classic friends-to-lovers story. The other three romances are with Apollo, Persephone, and Pan, who are potential murder suspects, so it’s hard for the player or Grace to trust them. Grace also has a shared history with Freddie, and they have an easy camaraderie from the start — while the other romance options are characters who Grace meets for the first time during the game. Hence, these characters need to build chemistry with Grace, but I don’t think the game has enough scenes for them to interact. Depending on your taste, these characters are physically attractive, and have charming characterisations, but the narrative supports Freddie’s romance more. 

At the end of Act II, Freddie sacrifices her life to save Grace. If the player is pursuing Freddie’s romance, they can pass Grace’s eidolon to Freddie, thus sacrificing Grace’s godhood to bring Freddie back to life. I disagree with limiting this decision to a playthrough where the player is romancing Freddie, since platonic friends can make such sacrifices for each other as well. But other than that, I think giving Freddie the eidolon is this one of the most satisfying narrative choices in the game. The story heavily implies that the relationship between Freddie and Grace is one-sided, with Freddie investing more into the relationship — starting a band for Grace, enthusiastically helping Grace in her quest, and later giving up her life to the Furies for Grace to live. For Grace to sacrifice her godhood, immortality, and perhaps even a source of purpose to Freddie balances the scales of their relationship and advances Grace’s character development. After all, mutual sacrifice is an important aspect of healthy relationships — if Freddie and Grace make sacrifices for each other, it sets them on a healthier bedrock for a future (romantic) relationship. Perhaps if this was a linear story instead of a branching one, Freddie would have been Grace’s love interest — I don’t think the other romance options add much to the game, other than give the player more agency. None of the other romantic subplots have a dramatic player decision like this, especially one that can pay off in Grace’s character arc.

The Themes of Stray Gods

Stray Gods is a story about moving on from the past and finding a purpose. These two issues are related, since moving on from the past gives you clarity about yourself, allowing you move forward. The characters of Stray Gods are not just dealing with the fallout of Calliope’s death, but also their past trauma, and the old wounds they have inflicted on each other. The ending of the game, where the Greek gods decide to reveal themselves to the world, facilitates their efforts to move on and find new purpose. The epilogue does show that many characters have benefited from this change, even Aphrodite, who was traumatised by how mortals have harmed her. Instead of merely hiding from the world to survive, they are taking risks to rejoin the world and live fuller and more fulfilling lives. I think the story addresses these overarching themes better than the issue of Grace’s character arc.

Conclusion

Despite these issues I have discussed, I would still recommend Stray Gods for narrative game fans and musical fans since there is no game quite like it. There are a few other musical video games, like Peter Panic, but Stray Gods is unique in being the only game where you can make choices during songs, so the songs can vary significantly. 

The stereotypes are that musicals and video games have very different demographics — that the former primarily attracts a female and queer audience, and the latter attracts a straight male audience. I don’t think these stereotypes are entirely true, especially for video games, since the gaming hobby is expanding and becoming more diverse. And, as the video game hobby expands, there has been a greater demand for emotionally driven narrative games, and musicals have always been a fantastic medium for emotional storytelling. Songs can effectively stir emotions and move audiences in a way other media cannot. Even if the stereotypes are true, that does not mean that video games and musicals can’t mix—a musical video game is an idea with great potential, even if Stray Gods did not fully reach this potential. 

I think that Stray Gods is a poor musical and decent narrative game, but a good musical video game would need to succeed on both fronts. I don’t think it succeeds as a musical due to its hit-or-miss songwriting, and as a narrative game, its design and story issues held it back. Unfortunately, Stray Gods stumbles too much in too many aspects of its execution. This game is full of elements I love — such as musicals, narrative games, Greek mythology, murder mysteries, and a stellar voice cast — so it was disappointing to see that this symphony had so many sour notes. 

Trailer.