Songs of Silence
- June 4, 2024
- Chimera Entertainment
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam"Songs of Silence" is a fantasy 4X strategy game with deep, tactical gameplay and fast-paced autobattles. The game features a unique Art Nouveau-inspired graphical style and an engaging narrative. Players can delve into an extensive single-player campaign, as well as various multiplayer modes for endless replayability. The game explores a world where two human civilizations, Starborn and the defeated Firstborn, navigate their destinies in a world torn by the Gods' war.
Reviews
- The game features stunning Art Nouveau-inspired visuals and a captivating soundtrack that enhance the overall experience.
- Innovative gameplay mechanics blend auto-battling with strategic planning, providing a unique and engaging experience for players.
- The game offers a rich narrative with well-developed characters and a variety of factions, each with distinct playstyles, contributing to high replay value.
- The game suffers from significant balancing issues, particularly with the Crusade faction, which can dominate gameplay and create a frustrating experience.
- As an Early Access title, the game currently lacks sufficient content and depth, making the price point feel steep for what is available.
- User interface and experience need improvement, as navigating the game can be cumbersome and unintuitive, detracting from the overall enjoyment.
- gameplay66 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Songs of Silence" is characterized by its innovative blend of turn-based kingdom management, real-time battles, and unique card mechanics, offering a rich and engaging experience for strategy enthusiasts. Players appreciate the distinctiveness of different factions and the strategic depth required, although some feel the game could benefit from further content development and balance adjustments. Overall, the combination of stunning visuals and intricate gameplay mechanics creates a compelling and enjoyable experience, particularly for fans of 4x strategy games.
“Different factions feel different with significant differences on strategic gameplay.”
“The gameplay is engaging, offering a unique mix of strategic planning and real-time decision-making that keeps you on your toes.”
“The gameplay mechanics are intricately designed, rewarding every ounce of strategic thinking and planning, ensuring each move feels deeply meaningful and satisfying.”
“For instance, the crusade faction appears to have a disproportionate advantage, which may impact overall gameplay fairness.”
“Also, the gameplay lacks a bit in depth (I expected something more like Banner Saga, for example) in the long run.”
“Whilst the graphics are fantastic, the sound and music are great and the story isn't bad, the gameplay lacks depth and the user interface isn't well thought out at times.”
- graphics66 mentions
- 70 % positive mentions
- 26 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The game's graphics are widely praised for their stunning art nouveau-inspired visuals, which create a unique and immersive fantasy experience. Reviewers highlight the intricate designs, vibrant colors, and overall aesthetic appeal, noting that the artwork significantly enhances the gameplay and narrative. The combination of beautiful visuals and a captivating soundtrack contributes to a rich atmosphere that draws players into the game's world.
“The game features stunning art nouveau-inspired visuals that set it apart from typical fantasy games, providing a visually captivating experience with intricate designs and vibrant colors.”
“The atmospheric soundtrack complements the visuals perfectly and enhances the overall experience.”
“Though it needs some polish, songs of silence’s visuals, sound, and gameplay make it a standout for strategy fans.”
“The visuals and the artistic style of this game are gorgeous; if nothing else, it is already very beautiful to look at.”
“The story and cutscenes are also visually pleasing, and the medieval aesthetic combined with the apocalyptic presence of the silence makes you feel immersed and part of a lived-in world.”
- story59 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally well-received, featuring engaging narratives, strong character development, and impressive voice acting that enhances immersion. However, some players express dissatisfaction with specific mission designs, particularly stealth missions, and feel that the early campaign content lacks balance and depth. Overall, while the story has potential and is visually appealing, there are calls for more open-ended gameplay and further development to meet player expectations.
“The narrative unfolds through a series of compelling campaign missions and dynamic events, each shaped by player choices and interactions.”
“The story and cutscenes are also visually pleasing, and the medieval aesthetic combined with the apocalyptic presence of the silence makes you feel immersed and part of a lived-in world.”
“The presentation, music, and voice-acted story create an immersive experience that draws you in from the start.”
“The story is pretty bad, but the biggest problem is that at the beginning of every new chapter, you delete all the units in my armies and then give me a generic bare bones army to rebuild all over again.”
“I hate to say it, but the second campaign level literally being a stealth mission is a huge dealbreaker for me.”
“Knowing you're going to lose a fight, but having to sit and wait for the fight to play through, just to fail and have to restart the story anyways, is rather tedious.”
- music43 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The music in "Songs of Silence" has received widespread acclaim for its immersive and atmospheric qualities, with many reviewers praising the soundtrack's ability to enhance the overall gaming experience. Composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, known for his work on iconic titles, the music is described as beautiful and engaging, complementing the game's stunning visuals. While some minor criticisms exist regarding the depth of gameplay, the combination of art and music is consistently highlighted as a standout feature that captivates players.
“The game has a great visual aesthetic and sound design; battle sounds are punchy and the music slaps.”
“The atmospheric soundtrack composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, known for his work on Final Fantasy Tactics and Valkyria Chronicles, complements the visuals perfectly and enhances the overall experience.”
“What truly sets this game apart is its immersive sound and music.”
“What I didn’t like was that the musical accompaniment was boring and banal.”
“The pricing probably went a bit too high for this title, especially if you compare it to the other amazing recent HOMM-like we got recently, Songs of Conquest, and the content is not there yet.”
“Despite these minor issues, Songs of Silence feels promising.”
- optimization8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The optimization of "Songs of Silence" is generally stable but still shows signs of being in early access, with players reporting occasional bugs and performance issues. While some users experience smooth gameplay even on older hardware, others note that the performance can feel rough, particularly at higher resolutions, indicating a need for further refinement in both performance and user interface.
“Even with older hardware, in my case a GeForce 650 GTX, the game runs smoothly.”
“Generally stable but still in early access; players may encounter occasional bugs and performance issues as the game continues to be refined.”
“It has areas that need refinement, particularly in balance and performance.”
“The user interface requires optimization to enhance usability.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game boasts high replayability thanks to a wealth of quests and missions that unlock new heroes and game rules, alongside ongoing updates and procedural elements. Players can explore various factions and engage in skirmishes, ensuring a continually evolving experience.
“There is tons of replay value already in early access due to quests and missions that unlock more heroes and game rules (fates) to use.”
“With ongoing updates, procedural elements, and various factions to explore, the game offers significant replayability and evolving content.”
“The skirmishes provide a lot of replayability.”
“The game offers significant replayability and evolving content with ongoing updates, procedural elements, and various factions to explore.”
“Excellent game; the skirmishes provide a lot of replayability.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious due to a cumbersome interface that requires excessive clicks and a sequential unlocking system for heroes and classes, which can feel like a drawn-out process. Additionally, the necessity to endure losing battles before restarting adds to the frustration, making the overall experience feel unnecessarily prolonged.
“There are also more achievements to unlock heroes and classes, which can be quite tedious because it's built like a waterfall. You don't unlock them all at once, but rather one after another. You need to unlock hero/class X (by winning 3 times) and then you need to play to unlock hero Y, and then play hero Y to get hero Z.”
“Knowing you're going to lose a fight, but having to sit and wait for the fight to play through, just to fail and have to restart the story anyway, is rather tedious.”
“I wish the interface did a better job of streamlining gameplay - both by surfacing information more clearly and requiring fewer tedious clicks.”
- atmosphere3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by stunning artwork and a captivating soundtrack, featuring haunting melodies and immersive soundscapes that evoke a wide range of emotions. Composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, the music complements the visuals beautifully, creating a deeply engaging experience that draws players into the game world.
“The beautiful artwork and amazing music create an immersive atmosphere.”
“The haunting melodies and atmospheric soundscapes have an incredible ability to transport me deeper into the game world, evoking a whirlwind of emotions ranging from exhilaration to profound contemplation.”
“The atmospheric soundtrack composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, known for his work on Final Fantasy Tactics and Valkyria Chronicles, complements the visuals perfectly and enhances the overall experience.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users have noted that the game suffers from glitches and AI inconsistencies, which can negatively impact the overall experience.
“Users have reported glitches and AI inconsistencies that can detract from the overall experience.”
“The game frequently crashes, making it nearly unplayable at times.”
“I encountered numerous bugs that interrupted my gameplay and ruined the immersion.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by whimsical elements, such as a neutral plant army carrying flags, which adds a lighthearted and amusing touch to the overall experience.
“It's hilarious to see a neutral plant army marching with flags!”
“The witty dialogue and absurd scenarios had me laughing out loud.”
“I love the quirky humor sprinkled throughout the game; it keeps things light and entertaining.”
- character development1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development is praised for its appealing art and design, though the gameplay is noted to blend elements of Heroes of Might and Magic with 4X strategy, suggesting a focus on strategic growth rather than deep character progression.
