Sequels are rare in musical theatre, and when they do exist, they're usually not very good. For example, you've probably heard of The Phantom of the OperaAndrew Lloyd Webber's hugely successful series, but you probably don't know anything about its sequel, Love never diesThere's a reason for that—it kind of sucks! So 2023 Stray Gods: The Role Playing Musical dared to try his luck Orpheus Downloadable content—which takes place after the end of the base game—I was surprised to say the least. What did surprise me, though, was how much better it was than the original version Stray Gods: Orpheus manages to be.
When it was launched last year, Stray Gods Being an extremely boring and convoluted game that fails in almost every aspect of its goal of combining RPGs with musical theatre. in my opinionI wrote that the game “never quite grasps the intricacies of how musicals tell their stories” and gives “the impression that, although the team is passionate about the idea of a role-playing musical, no one has the skill set necessary to execute it.” Much of this is down to the star-studded cast, including the voice-over heavyweights. Laura Bailey And Troy Baker—who can act but can't convince the audience that they can sing, because they weren't given good material to work with. To the credit of developer Summerfall Studios, Orpheus it belittles the base game's lofty goals and feels like an attempt to address all the pain points to make something better.
Having a great leader goes a long way
After its conclusion Stray Godswho follow Greek gods in the modern world and all sing like professional pop stars, Orpheus picks up the loose threads of the eponymous bard. When we last saw Orpheus, he was alone in the underworld, lost in thought. The DLC gives him a chance to return to the land of the living, which leads him to have a bit of an existential crisis about what he's doing with his life. What follows is a quick hour and a half of character study. If you've played the base game, it might surprise you that Orpheus is the top choice in the DLC, but it's the best decision Summerfall could have made.
Broadway legend lends voice to Orpheus Anthony Rap related to Rent fame, Rapp beating everyone in the base game with his one song was the only saving grace. Stray GodsAnd Orpheus The DLC gives the game's best actor a chance to shine. Rapp's performance as Orpheus is immediately captivating; he's an actor with incredible stage presence, even in a video game. Stray Of the gods attempts at humor always fail, Rapp managed to make me laugh more than once during the DLC's launch. to sing a song.
Deciding that his new mission will be to fall in love again, Orpheus He is recruited into a speed dating tour by Hermes. This setup builds to a truly dazzling number called “A New Love.” It reflects a much better approach to songwriting than the tunes in the base game, and features a great chorus that Orpheus keeps returning to throughout the night between increasingly bad encounters. We even get some fun changes in musical style, as we change the song with each new encounter. But after each fun deviation, Rapp brings the audience back with his great voice. This Orpheus's equivalent of “I want,” the song that tells the audience what the main character will be working towards for the rest of the show, something the base game never gives Laura Bailey's Grace. “A New Love” is the best song ever. Stray Godsperiod, both in the DLC and the base game. Yet even this shining moment has its stumbles.
Familiar problems persist Stray Gods: Orpheus back
Just like in the base game, Orpheus's core gameplay gives you the chance to change your singing style mid-song. This is a Biosoftware-style dialogue wheel and is designed to help emphasize the “role playing” part of the game's title. In practice this never works properly and is a huge speed breaker that ruins any momentum the song has every time you change the style. This Orpheus The DLC sadly ends “A New Love” at its best moment, not to mention the song just keeps playing forever until it overstays its welcome.
Worse, Orpheus The DLC peaks with “A New Love” at the beginning and only declines from there. The remaining few songs bring back lesser side characters from bae’s game, all of whom have voice actors with less singing skills than Rapp. We get a glimpse of something great, and the rest of the DLC never delivers on it again. Even Rapp’s final number feels half-baked. I don’t think this is a failure of the songwriters like it was in the base game, but the team has clearly developed a better understanding of how to present musical style pieces since then. If anything, the systems they were forced to maintain from the base game have hindered the progress made.
Until the curtain closes Stray Gods: OrpheusI'm conflicted. The DLC is a dramatic improvement over the original game, thanks to a clever lead pick and excellent songwriting. However, the dialogue wheel-like system for changing song style is as flawed as ever, which means: Orpheus It still hasn't achieved its original goals of combining musical theater and RPGs, but the team at Summerfall Studios should be proud of how well it addressed the issues in the core game. Stray Gods: Orpheus It may not be a musical spectacular, but it is the rare musical sequel that I would recommend over its predecessor.
Stray Gods: Orpheus is now available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
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