Scan the cast list for Stray Gods and you may notice a fair bit of overlap with that of The Last Of Us. Both Troy Baker (Joel) and Ashley Johnson (Ellie) appear in key supporting roles here, while star billing goes to Laura Bailey, aka Abby from Naughty Dog’s sequel. Obviously, this means Stray Gods has some top-notch voice talent on board, but these casting choices also make another kind of sense. The premise of this 'roleplaying musical' is inspired by the Buffy the Vampire episode 'Once More With Feeling', you see, and as in that piece of classic TV, part of the appeal is seeing (or hearing) performers who famously earn a crust in more action-oriented roles forced to prove their singing chops instead.
Thankfully, The Last Of Us crew all have a finely tuned set of pipes on them, not least Bailey, and the notes they belt out absolutely do this game’s charming and entertaining concept justice. Even better, they’re ably backed by the admirable composing skills of Austin Wintory, a fizzy script and pitch-perfect character design.