The enlightenment gained along the way unlocks a skill tree with two paths to try, each augmenting its respective character into a more specific kind of asset to the team. The whole world is basically Ti’zo’s trampoline. PYRE SWITCH SERIESFor the imp Ti’zo, it’s really more like a series of jumps. For the more human-sized Pamitha, it’s in graceful swoops that can carry her over great distances without touching either ground or foe. Some characters have more unique mechanics. Characters can run into the Pyre, leap into it (or over enemies, if their jump is far enough), or throw it in from afar. Rukey is a fast little bastard, but won’t do as much per strike. Jodariel, for example, is a hulking and slow behemoth of a creature who can’t maneuver through obstacles as easily, but she can deal more damage to the enemy Pyre. You can only control one character at a time, meaning, as the song from the game’s first trailer sums up nicely: three must move as one, but all are not the same. Depleting your opponent’s Pyre is the key to victory, obtained by hurling a celestial orb into its fiery depths as many times as it takes. The battlefield for each Rite contains a titular Pyre flame for each team. As the Reader, governing over the match as a whole, you choose three exiles from your party to participate in a given Rite. More importantly, each character plays differently when engaged in the fantasy super-basketball intensity of the Rites. Most are former residents, but some are part of entire societies not seen fit for the governing body’s reign. They span a variety of races, all connected by the Commonwealth. More characters join your group one by one over the game’s first few hours, from the moon-touched girl who can’t quite remember her name to the noble Sir Gilman nine characters in all. The road to salvation is paved with good intentions and bad vibes, all the way through. This means that other exile groups know them, or think that they do at first. Other than the name Sandalwood, belonging to a mysterious benefactor, it takes a few hours before much becomes known about how the trio got ahold of the Nightwing name, crest and reputation. It all happens with the characters taking on the name of the Nightwings, a group of exiles long gone, whose ritual masks and robes have somehow fallen into the hands of these new owners. Your identity as the Reader is revealed to the group as you interact with the stars above and a magical tome of history and magic, allowing you to direct your companions in a series of mystic Rites that will gain them a chance at freedom. Like you, the three are exiles, bound to this place in search of redemption, the eventual goal being admittance back into the seemingly singular civilization known as the Commonwealth. The Reader is found by three wanderers: the imposing demoness Jodariel, the kind and moral Hedwyn, and the scruffy cur Rukey. The Reader wakes up in a desert in the middle of the Downside, a vast and actually quite beautiful purgatory. In Pyre, players take on a nameless, faceless protagonist known only as the Reader. Pyre is almost laughably bizarre, but it’s also one of the best games 2017 has produced so far. But Pyre is not only the best thing the inspired indie studio has crafted to date, but keeps the edges smooth in ways one could argue those other games have not quite done. Of all of Supergiant’s games, it is easily the most difficult to explain. But it also does something new, or rather something better. An essential Darren Korb soundtrack, but of course. Clever writing and storytelling, to be sure. That means beautifully-detailed art, yes. Supergiant Games’ latest spark of inspiration follows up 2011’s Bastion and 2014’s Transistor with Pyre, a game very much unlike both of its predecessors, but still with every bit of the Supergiant charm that those other games had.
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