By Chris Picone, 21 December 2024

I begin this review in a state of some confusion. My initial surprise began when I received the review copy, only to discover that it was in fact only a demo, not a copy of the actual game, as this was not alluded to in any of the press documentation I received. For a variety of reasons, I don't review demos.  Early Access, sure, but not demos.  In this case, I decided to act in good faith and try to review the game anyway.  The demo made a point of highlighting that it is only a 0.5 version - that is to say, Early Access, and fairly early on.  The Steam page caused further confusion; initially I was able to access the demo's store page, which had matching details, but today that page was gone and I could only access the main game's page, which has the game up for sale already, and as far as I can tell it's the full release.  This is a point of frustration for me because any criticism I have about the game might have been addressed already - or may never, if the game is indeed fully released. 

In any case, I will attempt to comment on the aspects of the game I was able to access.  Visually, Songs of Silence is very reminiscent of the HoMM series, although with its own art direction, which I absolutely love.  The game's aesthetics are pretty sweet overall, actually - what I got to see of the story seemed fairly generic but well-enough told, and the voice acting was strong.  The rest of the game was not quite so polished, however, with some basic controls and QoL features sorely lacking.  But it's in Early Access, right? (Maybe?) Despite similarities, Songs of Silence is its own game, and I will review it accordingly, rather than in the shadow of its inspiration.  One of the first things I noted was that it lacks some of the core UI and "building" components of HoMM, those have been replaced with a card system.  For example, when accessing a town, you don't build buildings and then use those to recruit troops and so on. New troops can be recruited by purchasing creature cards which are then fielded in your hero's army. Buildings can be built through cards gained elsewhere. You take turns marching your hero and their army around the map, although the game seems more focused on fortifications and warfare than on the hero and finding artefacts, although the story does unfold as you progress. Battles are interesting; you arrange your formation prior to entering and then once the battle starts it is played out by an autobattler, with the exception that you have control of cards that give you special abilities that let you influence the course of the battle directly. I love the concept, although in practice this didn't play out so well. The beginning abilities are a "charge" effect that makes your knights practically transport from wherever they are on the battlefield to wherever you click, gaining some bonuses along the way. Which sounds great but I found that by the time the ability cooldown expired my knights had already charged into combat and trying to use the card ability would usually just leave my back lines exposed and vulnerable. The other starting ability is healing, but it's not easy to aim.  The ideas are all there and I can only hope the developers figure out how to make it all work as development progresses.

The verdict?  Given the state that I received the game in, I have no idea what to tell you here.  Songs of Silence certainly shows promise, but I have no idea what state the game's in, and whether or not my complaints have been addressed in the main game.  

 Links:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2195410/Songs_of_Silence/