Pyre: Into the Flame!

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Released in 2017, Pyre is the third game developed by imaginative indie-wonder, Supergiant Games. Famous for their debut, the apocalyptic fantasy Bastion, Supergiant recreated their success with cyber-punk-ish Transistor. The latter is my personal favorite of their three creations, but the striking feature of Supergiant Games is their consistency. All three maintain a core genre, action-roleplaying, while being completely different in every other respect. They also deliver a superb story, amazing aesthetics, and simple but compelling mechanics. These three articles will identify how Pyre performs for those three features, beginning with its mechanics.

But really, some story is needed to ground an explanation of the mechanics.

The unnamed protagonist has been exiled by the Commonwealth to the Downlands, a land not entirely like Hell. In the dreadful Downlands exiles are free to do as they wish, but are magically prevented from returning to the Commonwealth. Their only method of returning home is by winning the Liberation Rite. The Rites were constructed in the ancient past by the Eight Scribes, the first outcasts. Together they conquered the Downlands, returned in glory and overthrew the Empire, establishing the Commonwealth. Then they wrote The Book of Rites and commanded the stars. They set up the Rites so others might prove their worth and return to the Commonwealth. The exiles of the Downlands formed nine teams, with eight fashioned after their Scribe, and a ninth, the Nightwings, to judge them. While each team, or clan, includes a large roster, only three players at a time, called a triumvirate, participate in a rite. Like a regular season, the teams play each other on particular nights, whenever the stars align. But at the conclusion of each season, the stars align perfectly, and the Liberation Rite commences at the Fall of Soliam.
At a Rite, each team has a pyre, their goal. From the sky falls a Celestial Orb, which the participants pass back and forth, with the ultimate purpose of carrying it into the opponent's mystical flame. The player is called The Reader, and guides his companions while they participate in the Rite. The nine characters available each have their own unique playstyle, thought they fit into three broad categories: quick, defensive, average. I preferred to have one of each type on the field in any game. A quick hero to score, a defensive hero to fend off the enemy's scoring attempts, and the character who neither excelled at speed nor defense, to replace the banished hero. When a hero plunges into the opponent's pyre they are banished until the next point is scored. Aside from the very beginning of a match, the games are played 3 v 2, and the team which scored most recently must play down a hero.

Each companion can perform three actions: jump, run, and attack, though they enact them in their own distinct style. For example, the Harp(y) flies instead of jumping. All participants can also pass the Orb, the only action they perform in the same manner. The player can only control the hero who has the Orb, unless they are playing defense, in which case they may control whoever they want, and switch whenever they desire. If on offensive, the only way to control a different hero is to pass the Orb. In addition to their personalized behaviors, each character has four Attributes which determine their performance. Each attribute has a number for clarity. Glory is the damage done by the character when they jump into the opponent's pyre. Each pyre begins with a strength of 100, though this can be augmented by Masteries and Talismans (more on those later). A team wins when it reduces the enemy's pyre to 0. A character's Quickness is readily understood: a higher value indicates a faster hero. The participant's Presence determines the size and strength of their Aura. When two characters contact, the one with the stronger aura prevails, while the weaker is temporarily banished. When a character picks up the the Celestial Orb they loses their aura, and regain it when they pass the Orb. Therefore, if the character with the Orb collides with an opponent's aura they are always banished. Characters can also project their Aura (attack), each with their own distinct style. Rukey launches a long, thin shot, while Ti'zo stands in place, and his naturally large Aura swells outward on all sides. Any enemy, regardless of their Presence, who is struck by a projected aura is banished. The fourth quality is Hope, and those with higher Hope return more quickly from banishment.
With all these features the game resembles some combination of football, rugby, and soccer.
As the player completes games, their characters level up, unlocking Masteries. Each hero can reach level five, and each has eight possible Masteries, so they can't access them all. These Masteries augment, enhance, or create a new power for the outcast. In addition, each character can equip a Talisman. These provide a bonus to the character in any number of ways, from a small increase to an Attribute, to a completely new ability.

In Pyre, there are only seven cycles, each ending in a Liberation Rite. The first cycle has seven games, including the Liberation Rite, and each cycle has one less game. The final cycle is only the Liberation Rite. While other teams compete to attend the Liberation Rite, the Nightwings, the player's team, attend every one. The reason for this is poorly explained and an incredibly unfair system. While the Nightwings are described as the team by which all others are measured, it seems like a contrivance to aid the player and the plot. Yet the player does not need any aid, because the games are very easy. Of the 28 games, I only lost 1, a Liberation Rite, and I lost it on purpose (more on that in a future article). The first three cycles are so easy as to be laughable. The next two were still easy, and only the last three games offered any serious challenge. Of course, one can increase the difficult by activating the Titan Stars.
The Titan Stars represent the abominable monsters the Eight Scribes defeated when they were in the Downlands. Each, when activated, makes the Rite more difficult by aiding the enemy or harming the Nightwings. A win with a Titan Star (or multiple) active, boosts the experienced gained by the heroes. I used them infrequently, and never more than one at a time, because I wanted to win all the Rites, and because most heroes reached the maximum level of 5 without the bonus experience.

At the conclusion of the Liberation Rite, one of the winners is allowed to rejoin the Commonwealth with great honor. One of the companions, Volfred (more on him in a future article) has an ulterior motive, and wants to send back Nightwing members devoted to the cause. He keeps track of the probability of success of his Plan. As one will see, The Rites are a means to an end, the mechanics are a means to unveil the story.

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