The movement and combat are both surprisingly deep and enjoyable, but the way this game is structured is kind of weird. The world map feels like a labirynth, and despite the levels being pretty linear, I had this weird sense of confusion in terms of where the hell I was actually going. The feeling was enhanced by the "to be continued..." message after the final boss - like what am I supposed to do? Was that the end (it was)? Is there more? What do I do? The game itself is also very short, but it's a really nostalgic experience if you played the flash original.

Long story short though - fun platformer, wish there was more.

Pretty mixed on this one. I liked the artstyle and some of the songs (although the quality of the lyrics is oftentimes questionable). The story was generally alright, though not particularly gripping. Characters were likable, but I think some of them could benefit from a little bit more explanation if it comes to the lore - I'm not that into mythology, so it was sometimes difficult to understand the reasoning of some of them (especially Orhpeus, who's getting a DLC - interesting coincidence). What I complemetely can't wrap my head around though is why did they decide to make a video game instead of a TV show.

Gameplay wise, the closest comparison there is for Stray Gods are the games by Telltale - you just watch a movie and occasionally pick a dialogue option out of a couple. In this case it's more of a slideshow, as everything moves in like 1 frame per 2-3 seconds. It's not really a nitpick, it does have a certain charm to it. The reason I bring it up is because there is another game which also utilizes that, which also has a similar gameplay - As Dusk Falls. In that game you have tens of different endings and routes and choices to make, which makes every playthrough unique. Truth be told I don't care about it that much - I usually finish the first plathrough and never come back to games like this again. But it's undeniable that As Dusk Falls took advantage of the medium fairly well, giving the player an interesting variation on choose your own adventure games. So how does Stray Gods do it? Well, it doesn't.

The game calls itself a "role-playing musical". Near the start of your playthrough you have to choose one of the three character archetypes - kind, hot-headed or smart. Unfortunately for the most part it doesn't matter what you choose - pretty much the only thing it changes is that sometimes you can choose a dialogue option that would otherwise be locked. The storyline is always the same, and the writing itself doesn't seem to adjust itself to your choices - oftentimes after a personality-specific dialogue ends, during the next one you choose Grace (the main character) does a complete 180 on how she feels and delivers the line. If one of the characters does something weird for example you can ask them what's wrong if you're "kind" but then gets angry at them during the reguler conversation which moves the story forward.

I guess depending on your definition of what a role play is, it also could be a considered a part of the musical performance throughout the game, during which you can choose where to take a song, by choosing one of three choices, each coresponding to one of the personalities. I feel like the intent here is for the player to always choose the option corresponding to their chosen personality, but that's just boring. And as the choices vary quite dramatically, not doing that makes no sense, because it looks like you can't make up your mind, making the role play element kind of obsolete. Despite some of these moments being quite emotional, I couldn't really bring myself to care as much as the writers intended because of that. I feel like if this was a TV show, the writers could just write story moments, which would cause Grace's approach to the whole thing change and that would make the whole thing much more engaging than an empty promise of a role playing musical.

I'll say this: if the concept for the story looks interesting to you, go read The Wicked + The Divine instead, as it mops the fucking floor with this game both in terms of the story and aesthetic. If you already did read The Wicked + The Divine and are looking for an audiovisual iteration of this idea you can probably check it out, but I doubt you'll be that invested in it. It's a fairly enjoyable experience, but not really an exceptional one.