An excellent game, it's challenging enough to want to keep experimenting and pushing onwards. The characters are very compelling, soundtrack is stuck in my head forever, and the lore is super interesting that it keeps me thinking about it even a year since I've played it.

This game is so precious to me. Thank you for creating this world and its lush detail., and these heartfelt characters.

Supergiant is one of those game studios that feels too good to be true. A group of hard working professionals that are not only individually talented and passionate, but also synergize perfectly with one another, with every aspect of their games working together to deliver nothing short of amazingness. Pyre is a brilliant display of what the studio is capable of, being equal parts emotional, awe inspiring, and fun.

In Pyre, you play as a mysterious unnamed exile, banished from the realm of the Commonwealth to a place called the Downside, where all of the realm's undesirables are sent to live out the rest of their days. As you are at the brink of death in the Downside's inhospitable desert, you are rescued by a group of lovable adventurers who welcome you into their traveling wagon.

Within the wagon, there is a magical book detailing rituals by which a Downside exile can be accepted back into the Commonwealth. Since you are the only one capable of reading, you inform your rescuers of the rituals, and it's up to you to guide them through the entire Downside to carry them out.

The rituals themselves play out as a fascinating mystical take on 3-on-3 basketball. Two teams, composed of three individuals each, enter an arena, each team having its own burning pyre (the hoop, in this analogy) on their side of the field. The objective of the game is to throw a magical orb (the ball, in this analogy) into the opposing team's pyre enough times to extinguish its flame.

The core mechanic of these matches, outside of the orb-to-pyre thing, is the ability to banish opposing team members for a limited amount of time. Every player has an aura around them, and if a player steps onto an opposing player's aura, they get banished. Players may also choose to project their aura forward to banish enemies from afar, and holding the ball makes a player's aura disappear, making them particularly vulnerable.

With all that put together, the rituals become this frantic battle, where you must employ your players' auras to defend your pyre, all while trying to take control of the orb and steer the orb bearer past the opponents' auras to hurl the orb into the enemy pyre.

The game is quite strategic too, with a decently sized roster of characters to choose from, each with their own abilities and deficiencies. Add to that some RPG elements, allowing you to improve your chances by giving your mates equipment and permanent upgrades, and you have a pretty fiery and intense experience in your hands.

In between rites, the game plays like a visual novel, where the bulk of the game's story takes place. The writing is amazing, as to be expected from the studio, telling a fantastic tale of a ragtag team of adventurers in search of freedom. As you travel through the wondrous lands of the Downside, you'll meet a plethora of lovable characters, witness breathtaking landscapes, get involved in all kinds of crazy events, and partake in deeply emotional moments with your newly found friends.

The game's world building is something to behold. The story behind the Downside, the rites, and the Commonwealth is deep and fascinating, with several surprises and complex connections between things. Not so complex to the point where new players have no idea what is going on, but enough to keep one invested.

Also in signature Supergiant fashion, the game looks and sound beautiful. Lovingly hand-drawn backgrounds, beautifully rendered character portraits, fluid sprite animations, coupled with beautiful songs, lovely voice acting, and satisfying sound effects. The game's look and sound perfectly match the feeling of the story in every step of the way, ranging from serene, to sorrowful, to endearing, to scary, depending on the situation.

It's rare to find a game that stimulates one's emotions as thoroughly as Pyre does. The story makes us really feel for the characters, the presentation leaves us in awe and admiration, and the rituals add a generous serving of excitement and anxiety to the mix, as the matches are fun, but the destiny of our friends hinges on their outcome.

It feels to me like all games made by Supergiant are specifically designed to stimulate the player's emotions in every small aspect, and Pyre is a shining example of this philosophy. 

Thanks, Supergiant, for contributing Pyre the itch.io bundle for racial justice! 

I had a lovely time playing Pyre and an equally fun time writing about it. 

https://knavegaming.com/pyre-review/

Me before noting the developer: Hmm, the graphics look a lot like Hades...

Me after noticing the developer: !!!!!!!!!!!!!

It crashes constantly on my Macbook Air after awhile of playing... can anyone help?

Supergiant Games does it again. You always know what you are going to get from them - a fun original game with great soundtrack and Linux support. Very nice of them to gift this to the bundle for racial equality. I enjoyed this game a great deal. 

"Headers Error" when trying to extract the Windows ZIP with 7-ZIP. What's going on here?

10/10 game.  Gorgeous art and game design, super fun and well-balanced battle system, and an engaging storyline that really got me invested in my party and our goal!  

hey i need some help, the game can't seem to recognize my controller (i'm using xbox 360) does anyone have a solution to this?

This game is for real, one of the best games I have ever played in my entire life (gamer for over 20 years now), let me tell you why.

# Art & Design

Truly beautiful! Every little detail is worked to the maximum. From a small glimmer on the characters' eyes, to the absolutely gorgeous maps. This game presents to you mini art pieces. If you like beautiful games, this is the one for you.

Absolutely stunning!

# Characters

Each character has its own backstory that, alongside other parts of the lore, are discovered by you as the game goes by. However, even before learning about the unjust causes for which they were thrown into exile, you are already connected to each one of them.

More than this, you learn how even the villains have their reasons and you end up emphasising with them.

# Lore

At each step of your quest, you unlock a few pages from The Book of Rites, learning more and more about the past and present. At each such step, it feels like a small achievement. I have read each single page of the book and I simply loved the tale of the Scribes.

Each of the 8 scribes were united together in exile and created the Rites for the seek of freedom. They gave their freedom so that other exiles could have a chance of being free. Each scribe also killed a titan. Landmarks mark the location of such feats, the same location where the Rites are conducted. Each scribe has also their own team, who fight under their respective scribe's coat of arms and values.

The most impressive thing is that the Scribes and Titans do not appear in the game, just as statues and landmarks. Despite of this, you can clearly see the history in front of you just by reading about it. Not playing the scribes story and not watching a cutscene about them do not make you feel like you are missing a part of the game.

# Playability

The gameplay is fluid and the controls are easy to grasp. If you play on normal difficulty, it will be fun, but easy. It is fast just at the right amount.

The multiple characters also introduce a nice variation to each match, changing your strategy ever so slightly. Moreover, the talents and items make a great addition to the game, making it feel like a true RPG.

# Soundtrack

I left the best for last.

The sound track makes this game a masterpiece. I do not recall a better soundtrack in all my years of gaming. At times, it seemed that Darren Korb had minutely crafted the track for my exact actions. It seemed that the soundtrack was the center of it all and everything else was built to accommodate it. I have never felt like this playing any other game before (except Guitar Hero, obviously).

The soundtrack is so good that I bought the other games (Bastion, Transistor, and Hades) just because Darren Korb is the composer for those games too. I listen to the albums while working. They're soothing and relaxing, but also uplifting. If you have read my review up to this point, stop what you are doing and listen to Pyre's soundtrack on Spotify or YouTube, you won't regret it. Listen to "Vagrant Song" right now!

The cherry on top is the credits track ("Bound Together"). I got the chills. The duo with Ashley Barrett is perfect. It tells the story of each character in such a graceful way. It's elegantly written. Seriously, it is the perfect trophy for finishing the perfect game.

Very well done, Supergiant! This is a brilliant game.

Pyre is a fantastic journey with very tense and exciting realtime tactical "sports" combat, an intriguing story and some cool choices over the course of the campaign, which affects your progress and playstyles. The art style is fantastic and compliments the characters and this weird and original mix of a colorful and dark background theme very well, its just incredbly beautiful, solemn and polished. This is definitely one of the best games in the bundle, but it also might swallow you up hole as this isnt an affair you'll be done with in a single evening. Very wholesome and worthwhile package with characters you'll remember long after the game is over and a lot of fun to be had during the matches. 5/5

More Racial Justice bundle impressions and ranking:
https://itch.io/c/915453/quick-impressions-bundle-for-racial-justice

I really want to try this out but for the life of me I cannot get Pyre to start. I'm on Windows, I've tried to open as administrator. :(

Really fun and unique game!

I'm adoring Hades- so I decided to try some of the other stuff you guys have got. Looking forward to playing through this.

Supergiant! <3

I love you, Supergiant Games ^^

thanks. Love the game. Also Bastion.

pretty good :)