Pyre [Game Review]

Voice acting – there is none as such. The heroes speak a couple of phrases in their own language, but their exclamations are not gibberish. Voices are heard as real speech. Also taken into account are little things like: emotions, characters, gender and species differences.

Music – it exists. The game is nominated by stopgame.ru as the best original soundtrack of 2017. What is this if not a sign of quality??!

A cart – or rather a van. It’s such a crumbling and cluttered piece of garbage at first, but by the end it’s a hall of fame where you can feel the path traveled for yourself. In fact, this is another companion in the development of which the whole team participates. It turns out to be a clear demonstration of the common cause. It attracts, influences the player, and helps to better feel the world.

Combat is a very small part of the game. But the game supports him in every possible way, constantly reminds him that he is not out of place here and proves, by pointing his finger, that he is an important component of the whole game, and even gently calls him rituals. It turns out pretty good.

For example, the plot, if not skipped, fills the battles with depth and, in addition to the desire to win, provides other motivation. Without it, it’s difficult to feel the tension in the game, especially when one of your friends asks you to lose the main battle, and you don’t understand the whole background of what’s happening. It’s the plot that makes battles interesting.

The only negative is the small number of battles. But, on the other hand, I understand that the fights would not be so attractive and intense if there were more of them. The same duel mode is completely insensitive.

Raises questions and difficulty of the game. For the second game in a row (I only played the first for a few hours), the developers are pushing the idea of ​​customizable difficulty as an RPG element. But what about that time, that this time it looks unnecessary. Like any RPG element in slasher films, by the way.

But the main problem is the https://bevegascasino.co.uk/bonus/ monstrous jump in the enemy’s intelligence with just one mouse click. When I got bored with the woodenness of the dummies, I turned on Islak’s titan star, which turned my opponents into some kind of monsters. I would like a separate slider or like in Japanese role-playing games: I spent 500 units? Here’s your next difficulty. But not like that – I performed 10 rituals, that’s the maximum difficulty for you.

If this game were a slasher game (there wouldn’t be such problems), I would rate the combat 4 points. But this is not the same genre, and the game is not about fighting, plus I was surprised by the influence of the plot on the battles. Therefore 8 points.

Two thirds of the game are dialogues, thoughts and descriptions of what is happening. The game is plot-driven, at first glance, but if you get a good feel for what is happening, it becomes obvious – a game about choice. The choice of how to live for the hero, companions and rivals.

From the very beginning you are offered to choose a gender, then a line of behavior and the opportunity to stick to it. As a result, the choice of the present and future of all the characters in the game falls on your shoulders.

The price for this was the plot and its presentation. If the first one is simply weak, then the presentation of the plot is lame on two legs. But at the same time, in some mystical way, you always know what your decision will lead to, what happens to the intelligent people around you, including their thoughts and characters. You don’t need to read guides to understand what’s going on. Everything is always clear. At the very least, you can make a reasonable guess and they will give you an answer. Very rare quality in games.

What has been said is dissonant with the statement about lameness, this is just my remark. That is, the plot and presentation evoke emotions in the player, which is undoubtedly a plus.

The game lets you do what you want. And you get exactly what you wanted. That is, the player’s imagination is fully involved. But fantasy only affects gameplay. The game does not allow plot liberties. All our comrades are criminals, but all of them are unjustly convicted. I have a hard time believing this, but the game doesn’t work with it at all. She sticks to one line and doesn’t give excuses. All this replaces the branching of the plot, that is, the plot uniqueness for the individual player is achieved through gameplay. This is a clear hint of replayability, but I don’t like games that require you to play through yourself several times, that’s why such a low rating.

There are moments when we change what is happening, change the game. I won’t say that there are many of them, but they exist, and they change the game thoroughly. On the other hand, characters can get sick, and, as it seemed to me, they get sick at certain moments. Which greatly limits the player’s choice, and to be honest, this moment greatly spoiled my plans.

Moments of restriction of the player’s will can be seen at the end of the game. The same indie heritage that is present even in large projects. I think the developers’ next game will be even better. Of course, not the level of the new Zelda, but they should get close enough.

Features worth noting:

The game feels like something solid, well made and, most importantly, a complete work. There are pleasant voices in a foreign language, it is always clear where whose line is, the lines of events are clearly visible. For example, I wanted to bring together several characters; they were on different teams; there were no tips, hints, or even quests, but I succeeded. Very cool feeling. +0.5 points

The game doesn’t try to entice you. I didn’t even see the attempts. -0.3 points

The game is good in everything, but does not have a pronounced chic aspect. This is an average game in which the elements of the game, working with each other, give a qualitatively different level.

This can best be explained using the example of the Surge. The main element in it is combat, and everything else is built around it. Here I saw something completely different. In the story game, the main element was presentation. And she does not build other aspects around herself, but directs the focus of attention to everything else, simultaneously breaking it over the knee.

This is clearly visible in the final scores, where the overall score is below saturation.

It’s a pity that the developers have moved away from the usual concept, and the game is no longer about fighting with the enemy. I hope this is a rest before starting a new game that will tear my insides apart.

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