So Supergiant has a reputation for amazing games right? Bastion and Transistor were both highly praised and Pyre is no exception. However I personally didn't like Bastion, to me the game was just "okay". The music was great and the narrator was cool, but the gameplay felt floaty and uninteresting throughout. I never even played Transistor because again the gameplay just didn't look like my cup of tea and since I didn't love Bastion, I wasn't willing to give the game a chance.
So Pyre comes around and like the previous games, people praise the shit out of it. Only this time the gameplay loop looks a lot different, and the idea of a semi combative sports game seemed cool. So I figured I would try it.
Well fuck me sideways if this game hasn't already jumped into the TOP 5 Games of the Year for me. Right outta left field too. First off the music is wonderful, it took five minutes before I started bobbing my head along with the tunes. Then the art of the world is just awesome, Supergiant is known for incredible art style and this game is no exception.
The story is presented in a visual novel style, where you can choose your own responses and question specific things, you can even decide which path to a destination you go. Every decision comes with a sacrifice. For example very early on, you are given the choice of two paths to go, one will lead you through a town where one of your party members knows a guy who owes him a favor and thus you can get special help from this person, OR you try to not draw attention to yourself and go through the wilds where another party member will get you a rare item that can be sold for money at the next shop. Moment to moment these choices don't feel very important, but depending on what you chose you can greatly affect how your party performs during the next Rite.
Speaking of Rites, Rites are the core gameplay here. Three party members will face off in a varied arena against three other people. A ball is dropped in the center of the arena and your job is to have one of your members take the ball into the enemy Pyre aka goal. When you get the ball into the enemy goal, that goal takes a different amount of damage depending on which member got it there. Small, fast, chracters only do a small amount of damage, while bigger slower characters do more damage. The first team to get the enemy Pyre from 100 to 0 wins. It's a simple concept on paper, and really just acts like a fantasy version of 3-on-3 basketball.
However there are twists which make the game for more dynamic. You see every party member on both sides has an aura, which if an enemy touches that aura they become banished from the game for a few seconds. This aura is a guard for players to move around and try to reduce the enemy numbers, however you only control 1 party member at a time and if that party member is holding the ball they loose their aura and become almost completely unprotected against enemy attacks. I say "almost" because this is where mobility comes into play, characters all have a variety of movement abilities that help evade enemy attacks. Some characters sprint, others dash, others can float over the battlefield for a short time, some teleport ahead, etc etc. And should your character with the ball becomes in danger, a quick button press will allow you to pass the ball to a different member, keeping the ball in your possession.
At the end of every match, your characters gain exp and can level up which unlocks skill trees that will help that player perform better in the next game. These abilities are like augments that either enhance a current ability, or change how that ability works. It's interesting and allows you to play with different party members to give them abilities that might cover the weakness of another party member.
It's fucking great. And games can swing wildly from one side to another making them exciting throughout and satisfying to win.
What I think makes Pyre really special is the way this is all presented. You see the visual novel style story is not overly long from gameplay section to gameplay section. Nor is there a lot of text to read per message. Instead things are given in a very straightforward, yet interesting way that compels you forward without ever being longwinded or tiring. And the little choices you can make from time to time make these sections also feel rewarding as every choice usually leads to either an item, or a temp stat boost to use in the next Rite.
Pyre is probably the first game I played this year that was instantly fun and exciting. It grabs your interest from the first moment, and doesn't waste a lot of time with it. There is no long exposition before the game starts, no huge backlog of lore you have to read through, Supergiant has managed to make a brand new fantasy world that you instantly feel apart of and understand. How quickly felt included in the game world was incredible to me, and I never felt like I didn't understand anything, even when they tell you fantasy city names, and rules, and people, there never is a moment of "Who is that?" or "What place were they talking about again?"
So yeah....I'm only 2.5 hours in and Pyre is awesome. Play it.
So Pyre comes around and like the previous games, people praise the shit out of it. Only this time the gameplay loop looks a lot different, and the idea of a semi combative sports game seemed cool. So I figured I would try it.
Well fuck me sideways if this game hasn't already jumped into the TOP 5 Games of the Year for me. Right outta left field too. First off the music is wonderful, it took five minutes before I started bobbing my head along with the tunes. Then the art of the world is just awesome, Supergiant is known for incredible art style and this game is no exception.
The story is presented in a visual novel style, where you can choose your own responses and question specific things, you can even decide which path to a destination you go. Every decision comes with a sacrifice. For example very early on, you are given the choice of two paths to go, one will lead you through a town where one of your party members knows a guy who owes him a favor and thus you can get special help from this person, OR you try to not draw attention to yourself and go through the wilds where another party member will get you a rare item that can be sold for money at the next shop. Moment to moment these choices don't feel very important, but depending on what you chose you can greatly affect how your party performs during the next Rite.
Speaking of Rites, Rites are the core gameplay here. Three party members will face off in a varied arena against three other people. A ball is dropped in the center of the arena and your job is to have one of your members take the ball into the enemy Pyre aka goal. When you get the ball into the enemy goal, that goal takes a different amount of damage depending on which member got it there. Small, fast, chracters only do a small amount of damage, while bigger slower characters do more damage. The first team to get the enemy Pyre from 100 to 0 wins. It's a simple concept on paper, and really just acts like a fantasy version of 3-on-3 basketball.
However there are twists which make the game for more dynamic. You see every party member on both sides has an aura, which if an enemy touches that aura they become banished from the game for a few seconds. This aura is a guard for players to move around and try to reduce the enemy numbers, however you only control 1 party member at a time and if that party member is holding the ball they loose their aura and become almost completely unprotected against enemy attacks. I say "almost" because this is where mobility comes into play, characters all have a variety of movement abilities that help evade enemy attacks. Some characters sprint, others dash, others can float over the battlefield for a short time, some teleport ahead, etc etc. And should your character with the ball becomes in danger, a quick button press will allow you to pass the ball to a different member, keeping the ball in your possession.
At the end of every match, your characters gain exp and can level up which unlocks skill trees that will help that player perform better in the next game. These abilities are like augments that either enhance a current ability, or change how that ability works. It's interesting and allows you to play with different party members to give them abilities that might cover the weakness of another party member.
It's fucking great. And games can swing wildly from one side to another making them exciting throughout and satisfying to win.
What I think makes Pyre really special is the way this is all presented. You see the visual novel style story is not overly long from gameplay section to gameplay section. Nor is there a lot of text to read per message. Instead things are given in a very straightforward, yet interesting way that compels you forward without ever being longwinded or tiring. And the little choices you can make from time to time make these sections also feel rewarding as every choice usually leads to either an item, or a temp stat boost to use in the next Rite.
Pyre is probably the first game I played this year that was instantly fun and exciting. It grabs your interest from the first moment, and doesn't waste a lot of time with it. There is no long exposition before the game starts, no huge backlog of lore you have to read through, Supergiant has managed to make a brand new fantasy world that you instantly feel apart of and understand. How quickly felt included in the game world was incredible to me, and I never felt like I didn't understand anything, even when they tell you fantasy city names, and rules, and people, there never is a moment of "Who is that?" or "What place were they talking about again?"
So yeah....I'm only 2.5 hours in and Pyre is awesome. Play it.
