Pyre

THOUGHTS

It's pretty fair to have a certain number of expectations with game companies. Loyalty to developers seems to be redoubling in strength nowadays (as much as avoidance of certain publishers is). It'd be hard to imagine SuperGiant, developers of the much lauded Bastion and Transistor, wouldn't be a beneficiary of said loyalty with their new release — I was certainly in that camp. Colour me surprised then, because while Pyre feels like a SuperGiant game in a lot of ways - brooding atmosphere, striking visual design, design traits such as combat limiters for difficulty - it's also a big step into the unknown for them in terms of length, story and design.

First things first — Pyre is a weird game. It's not quite like anything I've played before. I don't mean that in the marketing hype machine for the new arena shooter way, it's genuinely hard to think of things to compare to Pyre. The Banner Saga comes to mind in terms of traversal and some character work, but even their respective oppressive atmospheres are done in completely different ways. I'd call Pyre half visual novel, half puzzle/action game. There's not a lot of variety in gameplay here; you move around the environments, you interact with characters, you participate in the 'rites' - the main form of active gameplay. 

Luckily, everything is polished to a fine sheen and works wonderfully. The atmosphere and characters within - an Avernum-esque underworld for those exiled from the society above them - is incredible, unique and critically, well written. You play as a 'reader' in a society where literacy is outlawed, which is a clever way of explaining both your exile and your participation in the journey. You travel with a party performing the aforementioned rites trying to gain your freedom. That's the gist of it. The rites themselves are somewhere between NBA Jam and 3 player pong with magic spells. It's a frenetic, tense section of gameplay which juxtaposes wonderfully against the pace of the game outside of the rites. 

Explaining the deep, lasting appeal of Pyre is difficult, but if I had to narrow it down it'd come down to the characters. They're excellently written, all get sufficient screentime, well crafted and not laid into broad archetypes. Even the other teams who function as your opposition in the rites have a heap of character, it's not a simple black and white love/hate dynamic which is refreshing. SuperGiant also should be praised for the choice mechanics in Pyre. It's something of a dirty word in modern videogames due to various poor iterations in recent years (around the time the first season of Telltale's The Walking Dead wrapped up) but SuperGiant fully commit, forcing you to make genuinely meaningful and impactful (both in gameplay and story) choices. The game also continues whether you win or lose rites - there's no real 'lose state' in Pyre, just a different path of progression. It's fascinating game design. 

Plus/Minus

+ Fantastic, unique world

+ Great writing

+ Wonderful visuals (and music!) 

+ Good sense of pacing and flow to the gameplay/story

+ Excellent use of player choice mechanics

+ Rites are a lot of fun and can be surprisingly tense

- Gameplay variety is very limited

- Probably a touch overlong 

Overall

Another great effort from SuperGiant. This is a real step forward from Bastion and Transistor and shows an exciting level of focus and dare from the company. The combination of gameplay elements and the world lends it a unique feel. It does drag a little towards the end but overall Pyre comes highly recommended for anyone who wants something a little weird and appreciates strong writing and world building. Plus, man, Darren Korb's soundtracks always add real emotional heft to the scenarios in these games. Pyre is the sort of craftsmanship that deserves to be played and praised.

8/10

Technical Stuff: Played on a PS4. Copy purchased by the reviewer. One full playthrough, some versus mode, approximately 25 hours spent.