Pyre

Developer: Supergiant Games
Publisher: Supergiant Games
Rrp: £14.99 (Steam)
Released: 25th July 2017
Available on: Steam
Played Using: A Mouse and keyboard
Approximate game length: Mouse and Keyboard

Welcome, exile, to the Downside. A place where there’s no means of escape for you… save but one. Read the book, find a willing Triumvirate, attend to and perform the Rites at the appropriate times and perhaps you’ll be fortunate enough to earn your absolution and freedom. Be aware though, you are one of many who seek to escape and most of the others will happily deny your freedom to attain theirs.

Supergiant Games are back with yet another interesting and highly narrative focused creation. In Bastion you played as a kid who hacked and slashed his way while trying to bring the world back from the brink of destruction. Transistor was a tactical RPG where you fought against an ever encroaching threat. In this title they went in a totally new and unexpected direction, Pyre one part visual novel and one part sports game, which is not a combination I ever thought I’d see let alone work and be compelling.

In this world those who commit serious crimes are sent into exile to ‘The Downside’, a place of which there is no escape… except that isn’t entirely true. If you compete in the Rites and succeed you can gain your freedom. There’s a problem though, in order to compete you must be able to read, a crime punishable by exile. It’s a good thing that you play as one such person who recently has been sentenced.

So, what are the Rites? Well essentially their a game of three aside basketball. Two teams, known as Triumvirates, compete to place the Celestial Orb (read ball) into each others pyre (read net or hoop) by either throwing it in or by jumping into the pyre with it. Doing so reduces the enemy teams pyre strength, when it reaches zero you win. The thing is throwing the ball in only reduces a pyres strength by a small amount, to do real damage you have to take your character and have them jump in while holding the Orb. Any character that does this is banished from the game until someone else, from either team, scores.

Members of the opposing Triumvirate can also be banished, if only temporarily, by getting them to step into the aura that surrounds your characters, and vice versa. This aura can also be launched for a longer and more focused distance at an opponent to have the same effect but it will leave your own character without an aura for a short period.

All that I’ve just put there is only a small portion of the mechanics at play and its a very simplified way of putting it. There is much more to consider, such as managing your teams stats, what items they carry, how and when to use a teammates aura, which teammates will act as good counters to the opponents… and lots of other factors.

Upon completion of a Rite those that were on the field earn enlightenment. As their enlightenment grows so will their skills and stats.Eventually a teammate will reach a level of enlightenment that will allow them to ascend back to whence they came, meaning they leave the team permanently. This will only happen in a set location so it’s not that they reach a specific level and suddenly leave but you will have to make a choice as to who shall stay and who won’t, should you win that is.

Supergiant is quite becoming well known for finding unique ways in which to deliver the stories of their games. In Bastion it was by way of a narrator who dynamically commented on your actions and Transistor the story was told to you through the powers you combined. With Pyre things are drip fed to you through a multitude of ways, from flavour text to loading screens to the words scrolling on the bottom of the screen. Sometimes a part of the text will be coloured red, this means that the player can hover the cursor over the word or term and be given a small portion of lore for the world.

The artwork on display in this game is gorgeous, I would happily have a print or two of this game adorning my walls. The world is awash with bright colours that really capture the attention. Also as usual Supergiant have paired an amazing soundtrack with their game, one I enjoyed so much that I purchased it.

What I find quite interesting is that there’s no implicit failure state with this game, it doesn’t matter how many Rites you lose the story will go on, although some events and dialogue will change. So it doesn’t matter if your terrible at the actual performing of the Rites you’ll still get to experience the story. It may not be the one I or anyone else has had but you will reach a conclusion eventually that’s not a simple Game Over screen.

Get it! This is a no brainer, I don’t like sports games usually and this game not only kept my attention by actually had me hunting for achievements because I didn’t want to stop playing. It also has a huge replay value as the various choices you make (right down to who you put on the field) will change the dialogue you receive and even affect stats. On top of all that there’s even a versus mode so you can play against the computer AI or a friend (although its local only which kinda’ sucks).
All in all, JUST BUY THE GAME.

If this appeals to you perhaps try;

Bastion
Transistor
The Banner Saga