Story?

[λuzEll]

I spoke about this briefly on another post, but will there actually be a story implemented into this game in the future? From what we get in the EA it's not even that the story is bad. There literally is none, and there's so many questions needed to be answered.

- Who is the protagonist?
- Why is she on this frozen island?
- Who are the bosses and why is she so content on hunting and killing them? (The store page mentions they are Gods and the protagonist is a believer of them, but she has to destroy them in order to survive. Maybe develop of this?)
- What do these sigils implanted on the bosses and other locations represent? How does interacting with them weaken and ultimately defeat the bosses?
- Who is the wolf that keeps dragging us back to the shrine after killing a boss?

[Nosferatuno]

- A woman. I agree, this part sucks. (Edit: Not saying it sucks that she's a woman, but that all I can tell you is that she's a woman)
- Her gods live there and she wants to kill those murderous bastards? I'm not too concerned about this part of the story tbh.
- Being a believer of a god does not mean they are benevolent. From what we can see they are quite destructive gods that created an endless winter (endless winter part is on the store page). ♥♥♥♥ those gods, kill them to death.
- I imagine they are seals. Seeing as how they turn to stone, it looks like her "gods" were originally stone, and some magic was cast on them with the use of these seals and rope wrapping. Nothing else quite make sense with the design here. I'm more curious about who created them and why? Someone needs to screen cap all the cave paintings. I'm too lazy to hunt for them all.
- Nothing to go off here, except for maybe cave painting clues?

[GodDogs]

they said the story is there, but you have to piece it together. Personally, I would like a bit more context at least. Some kind of narration from the main character would be nice. Anything really. I'm hoping something more is added later.

For now, you're a woman who crashed on this island, and there's some sinister giant monsters that you have to kill in order to survive. And that's all you get/need, lol.

[Wholesome_BigChungus]

Something that might help solve the mystery of the world is the 'wheel' looking symbol that keeps appearing on the cave walls:
https://norse-mythology.org/symbols/helm-of-awe/

The game seems to take quite a bit of inspiration from Norse mythology, and the symbols everywhere solidify that.
The wolf is most likely a very powerful being, if not a god in animal form.
What are the sigils for? Not sure at this point, but I find it interesting that all the giants are wrapped in some sort of rope/binding.

[Wholesome_BigChungus]

To expand on the while sigil/rope thing, it actually might tie greatly into the Norse themes of the game. The great wolf (who was also a giant) Fenrir was bound by a magical chain/rope, which you can read more about here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleipnir

Maybe the world is coming to an end, and killing the giant 'gods' is the only way to possibly end the eternal winter? Just a guess.

[Voltorn Elda]

I haven't looked at gameplay of the early access yet (except for a short portion of a pax demo where the grappling hook was picked up), but as a great fan of a good story in games, I know that it can be difficult to tell a story through visuals alone.
I recently played a game called RiME which had it's emotional story told purely through visuals and... well... for a long part of that game I was wishing that there was more to base the story on. I kept seeing things and areas without understanding any of it.
For RiME that was resolved in the end because of the plottwist which made all the pieces fall together, making for a really emotional ending (for me)

But in general... going for a story through visuals alone can be really difficult. If you can't pull it off properly, the story will feel underwhelming.
Perhaps the developers can think about adding notes to the gameworld, of the inhabitants of the island. Stuff that you can read that gives more information about the world you're in. Or perhaps go the Dark Souls route and add item descriptions

For example... I'm not sure how much changed, but take the moment where you pick up that grappling hook in the pax-demo. It's just 'there' beside a frozen corpse. Nothing else is told, so we can assume that it belonged to the frozen corpse. But who was he? What was the grappling hook doing there? Why are those 'grappling targets' even present, that you use to grapple towards?
There is story potential there, and we can use our own imagination to try and make sense of it, but at the same time you could also add a lot more story explaination to that grappling hook through the use of a readable note. (You can even turn that part into an explaination as to 'why' he died there.)

Same goes for the edible berries you pick up. If you'd add an item description to those, you could explain something about those berries being edible in the first place. The description could tell something about 'where' they grow and for what reason. Heck, a description on those berries could even flesh out the female protagonist a bit by having the description say something along the lines of:

"Although mother told me that many berries are poisonous, my dad told me that these specific ones are actually edible. They may not taste great, but at least they can still your hunger a bit... Remembering those days in the wilds with my father... I hope I can make him proud."
Or 'something' like that.

In the end, Praey for the Gods may just be an open-world, survival, boss-killing game, but some extra worldbuilding and story can never hurt.
(Also... if the story is explained on the steam-store page, but is really difficult to recognize in the game itself... Something might have to be done about that too. Does the game itself make clear that you are on that island to kill these gods and to stop the neverending winter? Who told us that killing these gods will make the winter go away?)

Again... you can make a great story without the use of words, but it'll be difficult to pull off. But if things are left too vague it can also leave you too confused as to 'why' stuff is happening, and 'why' you're taking down these beasts. If the story is too unclear (and if you feel no connection to the protagonist at all) it can drag down the overall feeling you have of the game.

More can be done with explaining the story, expanding the worldbuilding, and making you care for the protagonist. It just depends on what plans the developers have for this game.

[Marshmallow]

I actually posted a thread about this last night and this was basically what came out of it, though it's entirely just theory:

Originally posted by Marshmallow:

Alright, well, I'll start with the obvious stuff first:
- The central hub was a place of Worship for the island natives
- This place of Worship is comparable to Yggrdisil, given all the root-looking things around the place

I think the natives may have been druidic(?) in nature if you look at how the frozen/petrified women are dressed around the central point and were a highly spiritual & possibly peaceful people. I say this becuase the women who are petrified/frozen will sit down and begin to cry instead of attacking the PC if she isn't too close to them - they will also cower in fear if you hit them without killing them.

The Island was then discovered/attacked/raided by a civillization comprable to the Vikings/Norse based on the boat designs you can find scattered around the island and how frequent the Frozen soldiers come out of the ground around them. These frozen soldiers are also *much* bigger than the PC - I theorize they are invaders/not Native becuase you can find plenty of Native men & women who are the same size as the PC herself. The Weeper/Banshess/Ghost♥♥♥♥♥es I've only ever found out in the wild - possibly some conjuration of the Natives to protect the local fauna & flora, though I have found them near ruins, so I could easily be wrong here.

Regarding the bosses I **think** they are golems, in the sense that the Natives built them for some purpose and possibly embued them with life from the Energy/Nectar of the Worship-Tree/"Yggdrisil". The Bosses/Titans/Golems may have been made to keep certain elements in order on the Island or they could have been built as some form of defence against the Invaders, maybe even to help with construction as we see plenty of large ruins on the Island. I think in the process of creating these Golems, they accidentily drew too much energy out of the "Yggdrisil" and created a natural disaster with the tree beginning to perish, which is why each time a boss dies, they explode into the bright yellow/gold/orange light and the pool in the Hub fills up with more 'Water'/Nectar. I think it's possible the Wolf is somehow tied to the tree, maybe as a Ratatoskr-esque figure, possibly even sent by the 'tree' itself after it's "re-awakened" from the first Boss/Titan/golem dying.

The reason I think the bosses are golems is becuase it seems a bit too unusual that these titanic creatures would be born with pistons, rope and grappling targets on them - unless the natives somehow tied these massive beings down and built those *into* their bodies, which I haven't seen any evidence for, except for a single cave painting in the beginning with the first boss chained down.

Admittedly, I haven't found many caves, so I don't know if they have paintings that show anything otherwise.

I'm currently trying to find anything that helps identify the belief system of the natives themselves, I think they might worship some kind of Reincarnation/Natural Balance based religion as you can find multiple 'puzzle boxes' around the island that require the sacrifice of animals (Deer meat, rabbit meat, boar meat, etc...) which will then burn up into a blue flame (similar shade of blue to the stuff dripping out of the Yggdrisil, I might add) and dissappear.

If anyone has found anything more solid, please let me know!

[PhantomRaptor]

Can't say much in terms of theories, but this is the story summary on the official website which explains the characters motivation to a point, sorta?:
"In Praey for the Gods, you play a lone hero sent to the edge of a dying world to discover the mystery behind a never-ending winter. Arriving with only the clothes on your back, you must survive the colossal dangers that you encounter. To restore balance and reclaim the land from the brink, you will be faced with questions that not even a God knows the answer to."

[Berathraben]

Here is my theory. The island is a Mecca of sorts. A holy place of pilgrimage. The gods, worshiped by many, were actually people made golems. Or were captured by people and their power was harnessed.

The priest hood became divided as many started to realize the harnessing of the power to animate the golems or to control them was draining the world of its life force.

At some point an out side kingdom also realized what was happening as the "fimbul Winter" lasted longer and longer each year. They sent armies to free the golems or destroy them and wars were fought. The priests/people controlling the golems used them for defense.

As the wars went on the winters spread and grew colder...even on the island of the gods. The Viking warriors sent along with the defected priests all perished. At first from warring with the golems and the priest hood. But later from exposure to the endless cold. The priests that so vainly held on to their power realized their mistakes and let the Golems go dormant.

Thereby, hoping to reverse the draining of the life force. But it was too late. The vikings that died violent death became like wraiths. The priests that died of cold and sorrow became the weeping figures we see.

The wolf is the true god and metaphor for the life force or nature. The harnessing of the power used to control or animate the golems had drained it. When they were released it gained its strength back. It is also my theory that the women is one of the gods herself. Though also weakened. She was essentially killing her kin to save the world.