Have you ever played a game that’s just clicks with you in an instant? The moment that the game gives you control and already you feel right at home. Well, Pyre did exactly that for me. Supergiant Games once again made a great indie game with a very interesting premise.
Graphics and Sound.
The visuals are stunning, nothing less from the makers of Transistor and Bastion. The colors from one place to another differs from each stopping point, giving the game a distinct feel as if you’re traveling along with your members, through the sea and dangerous lava deep into the world that is Pyre.
Even the designated battlegrounds is created to fit the area that the player is in, leading to a incredible looking battleground that fits the tone and condition that the game’s Trial is taking place in the Story mode.
With the beautiful world in place, one must have a soundtrack that pairs with it seamlessly and that’s what exactly did their Sound Composer, Darren Kobb made. A mix of everything that suits the tone and nature of the game beautifully. Not to mention the sound design during the gameplay portions: perfect in tune to the hectic nature of the Rites.
Gameplay
Pyre’s main portion of gameplay is their 3 versus 3 battles where the first team to reduce their rival to zero wins the Rite. It basically goes like this: one ball, two pyres (or goals), and two groups of exiles attempting to win back their freedom.
Now this is where it gets a bit complicated: During the rites, while trying to score, you can try to eliminate your rivals by throwing out Aura towards them either by a charge shot or even getting close to them when they are in possession of the ball, eliminating them for a while. This serves as the offensive/defensive part of the battle which can leads to tight skirmishes similar to those seen in MoBAs.
All the characters are different from one another from sizes and even abilities, making gameplay (depending on who you choose every Rite) quite different each time. Those worrying that the controls might be overwhelming can rest easy as the developers has made the controls to be easy to learn and mastered as they have streamline those,thanks to their previous experiences.
Now, Story is told by a way that might seem familiar to those who either played any Fire Emblem game or even The Banner Saga as it uses Visual Novel to tell their story. Much different that the storytelling seen in both Transistor or Bastion but it isn’t something that Supergiant fans should skip as the dialogue are quite heavy but charming and filled with interesting world-building within the text.
Content & Longevity
Thanks to the engaging and sometimes hard nature of the Rites, the Campaign mode is quite a challenge and though the battleground might get repetitive after awhile, the short amount of battles needed to enter a “Liberation” match will make sure the players won’t feel bored after clocking in many hours later on. There’s also Versus Mode, where players can fight against AI or even another human players using any characters and teams within the Campaign mode but there’s no online multiplayer that can really pit you against players all over the world, only Local. Maybe in another update at the near future? Who knows, really.
Verdict
It’s no denying that Pyre is already going to be a runner in The “Best Indie Title” by many who have played this game but to those who might be disappointed at the sight of how Supergiant are taking this game into, do try and pick this game up when you can (maybe during a sale perhaps?) because I guarantee you that it might be surprising to see how well this game really is. To sum it up,grab Pyre and be amazed with the talent that this team have.