High Stakes Celestial Ballin' in Pyre

Pyre tells the story of a band of exiles competing in a celestial competition.

The 2018 Steam Summer Sale has been going on for about a week and I've been joyfully ticking some boxes off of my wishlist.  I am notoriously tight-fisted when it comes to games and refuse to pay full price unless it's some kind of masterpiece (The Witcher 3!  I am pretty sure that's the last one I bought for all the dinero) and I'm usually hesitant if the game has reviews that don't skew into the "very positive" or "overwhelmingly positive" categories.  When Pyre initially came out, I read some very mixed reviews--some people really enjoyed it and some people did not.  (I know, I know...reviews should undoubtedly be taken with a grain of salt)  As a result, I wishlisted it and it sat on my wishlist till just now.  I am glad that I bought it on sale, but I did thoroughly enjoy it.

Pyre is an engrossing amalgam of a visual novel, RPG, and an oddly sports-like type of ball game.  Let me attempt to explain the basic premise of the game....

The story follows a group of exiles who have been cast out of their home for a variety of different (and, at the beginning of the game, hidden) offenses against the powers that be.  Your character is known as "the reader," and you are rescued by a group of three masked and oddly attired individuals.  The crime that resulted in your exile was your ability to read--something that is against the law in the Commonwealth, and is a skill desperately needed by this group, who hope that you can read a secret book of rites that will aid them in their quest--freedom from exile and the ability to return to their homeland.

The exiles inform you that in order to win their (and your) freedom that you must help them compete in a series of rituals known as "rites."  These rites consist of two teams of three who must attempt to extinguish the pyres of the opposing team.  A round, ball-like object called the "celestial orb" must be thrown or carried into a pyre in order to extinguish it.  Each pyre has a certain number of points and the goal is to be the first to reduce the points to 0 and extinguish the pyre.

The story follows the exiles as they travel throughout the Downside competing against the many different triumvirates who are also completing the rites.  Along the way you pick up a diverse sampling of other exiles who wish to be part of your group.  The ultimate goal is to make it to the top of a sacred mountain where you will compete for your freedom.

Unfortunately, once you get to the top of the mountain, you learn that gaining your freedom is more complicated than what you thought and that there is actually much more at stake (I won't spoil it!  You have to make some difficult choices.  It's the reasons for making the choices that are thought provoking).

SPOILERS AHEAD.  BEWARE!

Pros:
--Great story.  In my book, Supergiant does a fabulous job coming up with unique and intriguing stories.  Pyre is another strong example and I enjoyed the concept of competing and then having to choose which of your group would earn their freedom (or not...it's totally up to you).  The story gets even more complicated when you learn that there's a revolution brewing and that the exiles who you choose to release could play a major part in the success of the uprising.  Which leads me to my second point...

--Choices.  Playing the role of the reader means that you are responsible for basically every choice that is made.  You decide where the Blackwagon will roll to next.  You decide who will compete in each rite.  You decide what to buy from the slugmarket.  You decide who earns their freedom at the end of the sacred rite....and that's a big decision.  The choices you make have an impact on the story and have an impact on your progress in the game.  You absolutely want to make sure that your squad will be able to compete and be successful in rites but you will find yourself thinking about the characters themselves.  Do you free someone who you feel deserves to be free?  Do you free someone who you think will help the revolution the most?  Or are you merciful and do you allow your team to lose for the sake of a competing character who has their own reasons for wanting freedom?

I found myself thinking rather deeply about why I was choosing who I was and I think that every player can also make the same analysis.  I freed characters based on who I felt deserved it the most--the characters who seemed to have the purest motives.  Hedwyn wanted to make it back in order to find the Harp who he fell in love with; Sir Gilman was an honorable Wyrm and was willing to make sacrifices for the good of others....I chose along those lines.  Did I choose right?  Does it really matter?  The choices you make do have an impact on the story and the outcome at the end of the game.

--Amazing cast of characters.  The world in Pyre is populated by eight different ethnicities that vary widely--hulking, horned demons; winged, flying women called Harps; quick-talking, speedy dog-like creatures known as Curs; humans; tree-like Saps; imps; slithering, bog crones; and nimble Wyrms.  You start off your journey with just three companions, but as you progress your ranks grow.  You get many opportunities to interact with your companions and learn more about them and their reasons for exile.  As you compete against other teams, you might learn more about a certain character--an old grudge might be brought up.  You grow to like some characters and dislike others.

There's are also multiple opportunities to learn more about the characters that make up the other teams that you face.  Each team seems to have its own reasons for wanting to participate in the rites--some are doing it for positive reasons and others are in it merely for their own selfish needs.  When you do finally face off in the liberation rite, you can always opt to be merciful and to let the opposing team win and have the right to free a member.

--The should-be-patented, beautiful Supergiant soundtrack.  It goes without saying that the music is phenomenal.  Like Bastion  and Transistor before, Pyre features a set of delightful acoustic (and not acoustic) tracks to accompany you on your journey.  Each team has their own theme music that is very fitting--the Dissidents have a sort of punk rock feel while there's some wicked harpsichord plunking that accompanies the Chastity (led by the snobbish H. Manley Tinderstauf).  At specific junctures there's also the haunting vocals provided by Darren Korb and Ashley Barrett.  If you've ever played any of Supergiant's games, you know that the music is usually one of the best parts (here's a link to the soundtrack:  Pyre OST) 

--A fascinating game world.  The early part of the game sees your team, the Nightwings, travel across the broad expanses of the Downside.  Each area that you travel through is different and represents a specific Scribe and ethnicity.  There are boggy areas, forests, mountains, tempestuous seas and many other biomes.  Each area is stunningly illustrated and has a certain feel that represents each team that you face off against--the bog dwellers have a strange obsession with a dead god called Yslach and the bogs have a creepy, cult-like feel.  The way that you travel through the world reminded me of the travel aspect of The Banner Saga--gorgeously rendered landscapes roll by as you move around the map.

--The rites.  There's something competitive about the rites, but they're also a part of the story.  I enjoyed the rites, each had its own challenge, and there is something exciting about the ball game.  There's a strategic aspect to picking your squad and to figuring out how to exploit the weaknesses of the other team.  At first, the rites are really fun.

One of the other intriguing aspects of the rites is the fact that it doesn't really seem to matter if you win or lose (*I don't know how true this is--I only lost two matches).  The game doesn't end if you lose and your squad will still gain experience.  It is important to win because the teams with the most favor are the ones who face off in the liberation rites.  The game seems to be set up to always keep you at the top of the list, but losing can turn out to be a good thing.

--RPG-like aspects.  Each character gains experience from participating in the rites and can gain levels.  At certain levels, you are given the option to pick talents from one of two talent trees (or from both--it's up to you).  Characters also have a talisman slot that allows them to equip an item that will enhance their abilities in the rite.  Talismans can provide many different types of buffs--damage buffs, defensive buffs, etc. and it's totally up to you to decide how to utilize them.

--Different gameplay modes.  Within the story itself there is an option for each character to complete a set of trials.  These trials emphasize the strengths of each specific character and the reward for completing them is a powerful talisman.  The talismans that are rewarded draw on each character's specific abilities and enhances them.

If you're looking for something more competitive, there's also a versus mode where you can face off against real or AI opponents.

--Replayability.  There are so many choices to be made and they have a massive impact on how the game ends.  As a result, there is much room for going back and making different choices to see how differently the story will end.

Cons:
--The rites can get repetitive.  The entire game is centered around the concept of competing in the celestial ball game.  Meeting all the competing teams at the beginning of the game is entertaining, but later on, it starts to feel like a slog to get to the liberation rites.  You end up seeing many of the same teams multiple times.

--Control within the rites is weird.  You control a team of three but can only control one character at a time.  Positioning your characters requires switching rapidly back and forth while also making sure to keep the opposing team under tabs.  Passing the orb effectively is difficult.  Most of the time you will find yourself playing one character (usually a speedy one) and using their abilities to attack the opposing pyre.  The AI has an advantage because it can more effectively control its squad.  I played on normal difficulty and found almost all of the matches to be fairly easy.  On the few matches where it was more difficult, the computer was very good at moving its characters around and banishing my team.

--This is not a con for me, but it's worth mentioning that there is a large amount of reading.  Visual novel is one of the descriptors used on Steam.  If you're not a fan of having to read dialogue, you probably want to skip this one.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Pyre.  Most of the reviews I had read prior to playing it were fairly ambivalent and I was worried that I was wasting my money.  The story and characters are fantastic while the actual gameplay itself can get a little tiring.  I would definitely recommend Pyre.