The stage was set for a cow and a witch to fall in love. The stage in question was in the minds of the actors, alternating between a sloppy, improvised replication of a Romeo and Juliet background and a glam setup ripped right out of it Beauty and the Beast. One wrong line could have turned the budding romance into an unspeakable tragedy, but with the right balance of emotional honesty and empathetic listening, Asterion the Minotaur and Hecate the Witch walked away happily.
This is Lost gods at best. The problem is that Lost gods is so often not at its best.
The self-titled urban fantasy role-playing musical from developer Summerfall Studios and Dragon Age writer David Gaider follows Grace (voiced by Laura Bailey), a rudderless college dropout who suddenly inherits the powers of a Greek muse after her new boyfriend Calliope (Ashley Johnson) ) dies a shocking death. The other Greek deities, called Idols in the modern world, suspect Grace of the murder, and she must find the true culprit in seven days – about seven hours of real-world playtime – before the gods execute her.
Each song contains several key moments where you decide what lyric Grace sings next, which usually has some effect on her relationship with the people involved. These choices give rise to one of Stray Gods: The Role Playing MusicalHowever, they are more confusing design choices. Choosing a personality trait at the start will exclude you from certain color-coded conversation topics (and certain endings of the whole game), but you’re free to choose any line in a song, even if it conflicts with your dominant personality choice . The idea of musical improv is enticing in the possibilities it suggests for role-playing, but as a mechanic it feels like an afterthought.
Image: Summerfall Studios/Humble Games
That level of flexibility could have improved the “role-playing” aspect of dialogue in the rest of the game by giving you more leverage over Grace’s actions. Limiting it to songs only makes it feel more like improv, with Grace wildly plotting what she’s going to say next with just an ounce of context and inspiration for accompaniment. And as with many improv sets, the results vary considerably. While many outcomes have a meaningful effect on Grace’s relationships, others feel superfluous — almost like filler.
Happy, Lost gods‘ setting is captivating in a myriad of other ways. It lends itself to some magical moments and clever juxtapositions of the mythical and the modern: Persephone owns a nightclub, a haven for all who yearn to be free, founded after winning her own freedom from the underworld. Apollo’s oracle is a smart-talking hacker named Oracle. He thinks she is a supernatural being and appreciates her otherworldly computer skills. She just thinks he’s crazy.
It’s a fantasy that falls apart under scrutiny, however, thanks to plot inconsistencies and some careless writing that seeps through the script. Pan pretends he’s never seen a human apartment before when you first meet him, but it later turns out he lives in a luxury penthouse. Apollo supposedly doesn’t know what computers are, but somehow managed to set up a high-speed Internet network for Oracle. In the most glaring case, Persephone is determined to pin Calliope’s murder on Grace for most of the first act, and then, seemingly on a whim after their singing battle, Persephone says she found it quite difficult to believe Grace was guilty. I would attribute this to the capriciousness of the gods, but the idols’ refusal to change plays a key role in Lost godsstoryline.
Image: Summerfall Studios/Humble Games
In general, Lost gods does not handle major revelations convincingly. Take Apollo, for example. He reminds me of Hello Dolly‘s Dolly Levi, another character who regrets years spent in a depressive rut, ruled by fear of the unknown. Dolly’s awakening happens during “Before the Parade Passes By”, a moving song in which you can feel Dolly’s determination to awaken her spirit in everything – the tempo, the melody, the gradual addition of new accompanying instruments, even the volume. When she resurfaces with a vivid resolve to live a full life at all costs, you have no choice but to believe it.
No matter which route you take through Apollo’s song, the thing that erases centuries of regret and passivity and convinces him to help Grace is a simple sentence of throwaway dialogue. If only life were that simple. Lost gods just doesn’t have the emotional depth to pull off most of the character transformations central to the plot.
The cast undergoing these transformations is a mix of inspired ideas and strange choices. Grace is a likeable, if uneven, lead whose story revolves more around divine conflict resolution than her own emotional turmoil. Grace jumps into the role of the Muse and leaves her fears behind, rarely stopping to think about her new life or even Lost gods(and the greatest theme of Greek theatre) – the power of art to purify the emotions.
The scheming Pan, resentful Persephone and compassionate Aphrodite easily steal the show with their nuanced issues and strong deliveries. Troy Baker and Felicia Day, the actors who play Apollo and Athena, give unusually flat readings that only emphasize how boring their characters are, so it makes sense to unite Grace with the aforementioned compelling gods.
Image: Summerfall Studios/Humble Games
A strength of musicals is the ability to explore emotions that defy spoken words alone. Some reflect these emotions with a poetic streak, while others indulge in spectacle and effect; the best do both. But most of Lost godsThe first act feels like a first rehearsal. Oversimplified compositions drag both notes and topics forward, refreshing ideas brought up in conversation without adding anything new. However, the habit gradually fades in the second act and beyond. Summerfall and composer Austin Wintory throw several gems into the mix, including the beautiful song between Hecate and Asterion the Minotaur, but also a charged duet between Pan and Grace. But Lost gods can’t stay consistent – it’s several clusters of standout musical moments punctuated by long, dull periods of downtime.
That said, the vocal performances are almost universally superb. Laura Bailey consistently delivers powerful notes, and it’s a crime against art if we don’t hear Allegra Clark (Hecate) and Merle Dandridge (Aphrodite) sing in some capacity again. The highlight for me is Khary Payton as Pan, whose eerie performance as the suspicious satyr still plays in my mind long after the credits roll.
One of my favorites is Pan’s introduction, “Morning Fades,” a jazzy track with a mellow undertone of sleaze that tells you more about his character than the overly long snippets of dialogue that books it. The first time I went through, I chose lyrics that matched Grace’s smart, calculating traits and ended up with a disappointing experience. Grace just repeats her suspicions of Pan, and Pan kept repeating how Grace needs him – both subdue that Lost gods covers expanded before singing begins.
Image: Summerfall Studios/Humble Games
The second I played the scene, I had Grace on her best friend, Freddie’s side, and the two hijacked Pan’s own song and turned it into a scathing rebuke of his predatory behavior. The control level Lost gods offers in these moments is engaging and teases new ways to explore role-playing in games – particularly through music. i just wish Lost gods paid the same attention to role-playing on his other songs, with each path feeling rewarding or changing the outcome in a meaningful way.
Lost gods is ambitious in its goals, and as Summerfall and co. to reach them is rough and uneven, I will not soon forget Grace’s story. It’s a clever format and its unfulfilled potential has me excited for future attempts to fuse games and theatre.
Lost gods will be released on August 10 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. The game has been reviewed on PC using a pre-release download code from Humble Games. Vox Media has partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy here.