Pyre and Responsibility | PostMesmeric 

I think one moment that stuck out in my playthrough is when I faced the Fate in a Liberation Rite. I'd picked Jodariel as my candidate, but after seeing the old dude who had tried for so long, I couldn't bring myself to win. Then the old guy sent his son in his place and the reveal came out that there were a limited number of Rites left. All I could think about was that I not only had I given up Jodariel's chance this rite, but I had permanently kept one more member of my team from ascending. It really made me feel the weight of responsibility.

For much of the same reasons, Pyre has become my favorite game of all time. Highly underrated.

Literally every time I liberate someone something happens right after and I'm like "Dammit! I wish [insert most recent liberatee here] could see this."

I think the main concept of Pyre isn’t just responsibility, but realizing that responsibility =/= doing what’s right. You feel you have a responsibility to free as many as you can from YOUR team, but is that the best thing to do? What about the other teams? The story and characters teach you that being “Player 1” doesn’t mean you’re the hero. A gimmick that’s been done before, but never to this extent. In other games with a similar concept, it’s usually pretty shallow. Your hero or heroes do something that’s fundamentally evil, and you question your morals. Pretty cliche. But in Pyre, everyone who’s fighting in the Rights believes they’re doing what’s right - and not only do your party members act sort of sketchy at times, but other teams’ members act remorseful or even heroic. They feel human as much as your party members do. Oralech is who really ties it all together, of course. (Spoilers) Because of Oralech, you realize that your triumvirate betrayed him, and that Volfred’s ideals might not be what’s best. While it’s implied that Oralech’s betrayal is what caused the stars to start to fade, it’s also hinted at that it’s actually Volfred’s plan that’s causing the dismay, because his plan goes against the will of the scribes. By the way, Oralech’s theme is called ‘Will of the Scribes’, which suggests that he’s the actual hero - That he’s the one who’s right about everything. And Oralech’s will, aka the will of the scribes, is to defeat YOU. The developer himself said that ‘victory’ and ‘defeat’ should not be the words used to describe the outcomes of the Liberation Rite. Because someone always is victorious. Even if you lose, someone else gained their freedom - and whether or not you think they deserved it isn’t for you to decide. If the game’s lore is any testament to it, the scribes themselves control every battle, and therefore whoever wins is who was supposed to win. Of course, you’re really in control, but if the game just took over halfway through a battle to make you lose, that wouldn’t be any fun.

One moment that changed me in pyre was when everyone got downside sickness. I had experienced it before with Jodierel but when I saw everyone getting it I got so concerned for their lives and safety. The one rite I lost initially I reversed because I loved them all too much, everyone who got sick was sent upwards. It's just a testament to how well written those characters and scenes are

Great analysis, but something I want to get nitpicky about: At 5:39 you say Pamitha speaks up and says that she wants her sister to prevail, but she actually doesn't speak up. All of that was in her head. An ability that the Reader gains over the course of the game is the abilty to read other's thoughts. For me, prior to that, Pamitha was being a bit secretive with her thoughts, as she knew that the Reader has this ability, but when this occurred during the match against her sister it carried more weight because of that first ordeal when she closed off her thoughts to the Reader. I know that everyone played differently, played with different people more than others, and went down different dialogue paths, so maybe this didn't occur for you, or the ability that you gained wasn't very apparent to you while playing because one reason or another. Regardless, you've got a new supporter/subscriber. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your content.

Holy shit I can't believe I never saw this video before. Thank you, I can't believe I haven't seen the same comments about that rite from others. When I played Pyre immediately after release, this was the exact experience I had. That particular rite was the only rite I lost in my entire playthrough, and I know it's because even though I kinda tried winning, I really half-assed it because I felt bad for Pamitha. It's one of the best moments in video games I've ever experienced, because it made me do something for completely non-mechanic-related reasons. There was no morality gauge, no points to be won, no side quest, nothing. Just "hey, you can keep your perfect winning record and cause this burden to stay with Pamitha for the forseeable future, or you could just... throw the game for no other reason than to ease her pain." Such a powerful moment.

The first one I liberated was Jodariel, without understanding the consequences. All she had to say "Why me?" and only then I realized that I won't get to know her better, not on that playthrough.

When I played through Pyre, I chose Pamitha to directly fight against Tamitha (one of them was getting freed). While I was winning against their team, the dialogue from Pamitha had me do what I never did again: I threw the game. I made the game close, because anything else would obviously be a throw, but I ended up letting Tamitha go up.

I had just the same experience: the only liberation rite I have failed is with Tamitha. And I must say that I'm glad I failed it, because this seems to be the only happy outcome for Pamitha, where she can find some kind of peace in the ending.

Very interesting how Pyre approaches player responsibility, gotta give the devs props. Great video

When playing, I too failed against the Essence in a Liberation Rite, with Pamitha on my team.

I suppose that's just one of the reasons why I think Supergiant made one of the best games of this year and certainly one that's closest to some kind of perfection when we look at their achievements 'till today. And, what's ofc saddening for me, game that will be probablt burried under tones of conservative titles. Probably that's one of the moments when craftsmanship becomes art. I wish Supergiant success now even more than I did before 'cause it's hard to tell what they can do now to improve their games (and I don't mean repairing some minor cons but changin' whole concept of next titles).

Really great vid Alex! I'm glad you're talking about this because it's a great feature of Pyre that's so interesting and fun. I had a feeling you were going to talk about the rite against the Essence at one point cuz that too caught me off guard, but I didn't lose. lol. Keep up the great work, my dude.

Brilliant brilliant analysis. Recently started playing it again an realized there is actually a lot of well designed feautured in this title.

that was a great video ! thanks for making and sharing it :D

I'll have to watch more of this whenever I get Pyre, because I do want to play it. A shame, because I WANT to watch more, but don't want to ruin the game, regardless of whenever I buy it.

Pyre deserve so much more than what it received ... shameful. Thx, man.

Failing the Essence isn't what stuck with me. It was failing the final match for plot purposes

Pyre was my goty but a country mile.

this made me want to re-play pyre

Very cool game, and great overview too. I might take a look at this game, though I'm scared of losing some characters that I might become invested in. Or as you say, take responsibility for you and their actions.

I lost 3 Liberation Rites playing on Hardest: - Against the Crones because I didn’t realize I had pyre health only for two dunks. I was really bothered about that one because I really wanted them not to resurrect the Elder God Yslach. Then, everyone kinda forgot about this in the story. I didn’t play Pyre for 2 days after that lol I felt so mad at myself for failing. - Against the Harpies same as the video creator. - Last liberation against SPOILERS the horned guy from the True Nightwings. At the end all of my anxiety around losing turned out to be okay. I worried for no reason, because the Bog Witch apparently didn’t resurrect Yslach and blew herself up in a swamp. Pamitha got her sister Tamitha freed. And the horned guy reconciled with his past seeing that I sacrificed my freedom as Reader to save all my friends’. So he gave me the freedom. Wanted to give it to someone else but he insisted. Even if you fail all the rites it’s not technically a bad ending. And even if you free most, all you achieve is a less bloody revolution. But then the harpies still attack I think. With the Harpies winning the war there is no more war. And I think Reading is not Forbidden anymore.

I let Tamitha win because I felt bad for Pamitha.

I love it but for some reason I feel cheated with the ending, even thought it has more story in it than transistor / bastion ending.

Anyone know the game at 0:13 ?