Recent reviews by Tea Fanatic

This takes its place among my top three games of all time. I have cried again and again playing this game, and I can honestly say that it is a piece of art which has truly changed my outlook on family and motherhood. I do not say this lightly, of course.

I would like to keep this review more about Neva, but I will say that I do love Neva far more than GRIS. While GRIS is beautiful, and its exploration of grief is enrapturing, it pales in comparison to the sheer weight of emotional impact (at least for me).

I see myself playing this game every so often just to get a good cry in. I counted how many times: 12, four of which were ugly cries. Keep in mind Neva is not a long game either - I cried approximately once every 15 minutes.

I encourage anyone who loves GRIS to play this game, and for those who haven't played either, I'd say to give it a shot anyway. Any acclaim I can give this game would simply not be adequate.

As someone who adores all things theater and all things Hellenic, this game was certainly an experience; but I can't say for certain that it was a particularly good one.

The Good:

Stray Gods really shines in two distinct ways: its worldbuilding and its voice acting. I don't think it's especially controversial to say that Stray Gods has one of the more interesting interpretations of "Gods in the modern world," and the game really excels at expositing this to you, especially through its amazing cast of voice actors. The voice cast, with few exceptions, is phenomenal, and really serve to bring you into the moment.

The Bad:

The cast, however, truly is an array of voice actors first, and singers second it feels like. Some performances are downright atrocious, and sometimes it feels like they only did one take and left it in. So many flat notes here and there, and it makes the experience come off less like diagetic unprofessionalism and more like a directing error or singer inability. Furthermore, the songwriting is just not very good. Only a few of them really stick out as "good" to me, and many stick out as downright unlistenable, and this is mostly down to how they were written and how the sound was mixed. The game tries so hard to lean on polyphony, but fails to execute it in spectacular fashion, leading to jumbled verses and muddied harmonies. For a game which focuses so much on music, it was easily the weakest part of the experience.

Further driving this game back are some gnarly performance issues. My computer is halfway decent; it can run Elden Ring at a pretty stable framerate and I don't usually have any issues with indie titles like this. Stray Gods, however, absolutely killed my PC sometimes. The game would lag heavily when any new object was rendered, and any more than a couple particle effects at a time would stop everything for multiple seconds. This game is terribly optimized, and it shows.

Conclusion:

All in all, I would give this game a solid 5/10. The storytelling is pretty great, and the voice cast can be very good at times, but that doesn't offset the mediocre-to-bad song arrangement and performance issues. I don't necessarily regret purchasing this, but if you are to do so, I'd recommend doing so during a sale or skipping it altogether.

Not the best if you're on a laptop or a below average PC. Used to play it on my laptop and it was torture to play with my boyfriend. Haven't tried it out on my new PC yet but I hope it works out well.

Good 4 hour game.

PROS
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Beautiful
Excellent concept
So much fun to run around

CONS
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A bit too short for my liking
Awkwardly structured. Feels like an open world game when it's fairly linear in reality.
Voice acting is extremely hit or miss
Aesthetic juxtaposed itself. Whether done on purpose or not, it is executed subpar at best.

Overall, I'd recommend this game, despite its flaws.

A lot of people are upset that this isn't some kind of thriller. I get that. This isn't a thriller - it's more of a mystery game. If you like unfolding games or mystery games, or even just have a passion for the Lovecraftian, this game is a nice addition to your collection. If you're looking for an action-packed game, this is not the game for you in the slightest.

If you like magic games, this is for you. If you are an engineer, this is for you. If you like puzzles, this is for you. Runs well, it's beautiful, and not too bad of a cost!

I really like this game. It has an amazing amount of depth - and don't let the name fool you, it's not just about Europe. I do not have any DLC, and I say this is a fine game.

EDIT: ~1400 hours in, and I can firmly say that this is one of my favorite games. If you plan on playing as much as I have, I don't recommend the DLC subscription, but instead to buy each of them on sale. The community has a real negative spot for the DLCs, but I don't mind them. Just don't get any of the purely cosmetic packs, and get everything on sale. I cannot emphasize how much that you need a sale to get them.

While it is a bit laggy when playing on a potato, an excellent game in every single aspect! It looks nice, feels nice, the controls are just right, and you can "customize" how you play! I recommend this to everyone who can afford it. I also recommend the DLC, which I managed to get with the main game through the GoTY edition (Get that one near the end of the year for just $11!).