Quick Links
With a star-studded cast and a heartbreakingly ambitious story, you’ve got a lot coming your way in Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical! You’ll step into the shoes of Grace as she tries to prove she didn’t murder the Last Muse to an increasingly frustrated, terrified Chorus of Greek gods.
And with such an interesting prospect told on the smooth notes of musical numbers, you’ve got your work cut out for you as you try to help Grace sing her way to innocence. We’ve got a handful of beginner’s tips we think you should know before you begin playing Stray Gods.
This beginner's guide tries to avoid them where possible, but there may be slight spoilers for Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical.
This Is A Choices-Matter Game
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is many things, but above all, it's important to know that your choices have lasting consequences in the game.
Sure, you'll get to them through the power of song, but almost every decision is a meaningful one in this game, each choice impacting relationships, investigation progress, or even lives.
We won't give away anything outright in this guide, but you'll choose two characters to help you in the First Act of the game, and the characters you don't pick won't always react warmly to you.
Some decisions are harmless, while others are irreversible and deadly. There are multiple character's lives on the line, so make your decisions wisely to manipulate fate.
And Those Choices Are Made In Songs
Thankfully, when you're about to make a truly impactful decision, you'll know it's time when the music kicks in - all big decisions are made during musical numbers.
Your decisions for how Grace reacts during them change how the songs play out, sometimes pretty severely. Certain scene's major songs sound completely different when making a different choice.
Whenever you see the screen narrow with black space on top and bottom, a song is beginning, which means you have a choice to make in a moment.
Throughout the songs, you'll have timed decisions to make about how Grace should respond to the character she's singing with.
Grace Gets One Of Three Traits, Which Impact Her Available Responses
We cover it in more detail in a separate guide, but in Act One, you'll choose one of three natures for Grace, which then inform which dialogue options you can choose throughout the game.
The three traits are:
- Charming, which makes Grace better at dealing with people and feelings, especially more sensitive ones.
- Kickass, which sees Grace unafraid of fighting for what she needs, sometimes literally.
- Clever, which leads to intuiting several pieces of information you may not otherwise have known yet.
While you'll get a second trait before Act Three begins, the one you choose at the beginning of the game is Grace's primary trait, and you'll go through the majority of the game with it.
There are responses you'll be locked out of choosing based solely on the trait you gave Grace, and there are a few points throughout the game where this can make or break relationships with certain characters. Choose wisely!
Understand The Dialogue Symbols
You'll notice before long in Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical that there are occasionally symbols next to dialogue choices as you play through scenes.
These symbols denote a number of different things, which are related to traits, relationships, and game progress.
- A green star marks answers only Charming Grace can select.
- A red rock-on fist means only Kickass Grace can choose this option.
- A blue lightbulb show answers exclusive to Clever Grace.
- A question mark is an optional inquisitive remark, offering background information and further dialogue options.
- A pink heart is a remark that will be taken as flirting by the person you're speaking with.
- A broken heart is a relationship-breaker if you're pursuing someone as a romantic option.
- No symbol next to dialogue means you'll segue to the next part of the scene after choosing that option.
Choosing Certain Options Locks You Out Of Others
Since your decisions are meant to be permanent here, there are some paths that limit your responses based on things you've already chosen. For example, if you anger someone with helpful background information, they'll be less willing to share what they know.
Some characters may even ice you out altogether for decisions you make.
Therefore, it's typically best to ask your questions first before moving on in conversation, to be sure you have all the pieces of the puzzle.
Likewise, with your choices during songs directly related to how the song sounds, this often means that choosing too many of one trait's answer in song can lock you out of certain choices later in the song.
If you've had Grace be a bit too Kickass, for example, the character in the scene with her may be too off-put for the game to the option to be Charming to them toward the end of the song.
This isn't always a bad thing, though - if you have a decision firmly made before a song begins, it's a good way to know you're progressing in the right direction.
There Are Four Romance Options
Although Grace definitely already has a lot going on, love has a way of finding you when you're not looking for it - Grace can flirt in Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical.
Your four romance options in Stray Gods are:
- Freddie, Grace's best friend and roommate who's fascinated by Greek mythology.
- Persephone, Queen of the Underworld and Goddess of the Dead, titles that definitely fit her.
- Apollo, the God of Prophecy who's been incredibly tortured by them.
- Pan, the God of the Wild and devilishly smooth trickster who offers his help early in the game.
You can choose to flirt with everyone, or flirt with nobody - you don't have to date anyone if you don't want to, but you'll have the option to flirt before ending up with someone at the end if you so decide.
You Won't See Everything The First Time
Though you'll naturally be curious about the story, characters, and other songs, it's not possible to see everything the first time through the game.
This also means you can't finish you trophies or achievements the first run through, either.
With some dialogue locked behind traits, three major natures for Grace, choices in situations where it's one thing or another with nothing in between, and hours of beautiful music included, the game warrants a few replays to see everything.
Thankfully, separate choices keep the game interesting a second time through, when you can choose differently in binary decisions to see a completely different side to the game.
You Can Reload A Save And Change A Decision If Need Be
While we wouldn't suggest breaking up the flow of your game like this, if you're truly unhappy with how a decision or important scene played out, you can reload from the main menu to bring yourself back to an earlier point.
Stray Gods auto-saves periodically as you transition between scenes and conversations, with the save files all listed out by song or conversation in the "Load Game" option on the main menu.
You can scroll through and find where you feel you'd like to change the outcome, and redo the scene by reloading into a scene and making a different choice.
However, with so much replay value in Stray Gods and plenty of new things to see in each playthrough, we recommend playing straight through - it feels more authentic that way!