Review, a hybrid between past and present

Soundfallthe title we are going to talk about today in review, looks like a project that hybrid more creative ideas in a unicum that is undoubtedly interesting from a contemporary point of view, drawing from some genres we know and above all we knew. In the indie scene, mixing multiple genres and elements to get something new is almost a dynamic consolidatedif not classical. The creative freedom in producing something that interfaces with today’s public, trying to attract their taste and at the same time to remember something apparently forgotten, remains fascinating and extremely curious, leading in some cases (Source of Madness could be a good example) to works that are too edgy in their experimental whole. Everything remains anchored to a particular equilibrium in the creative phase, it remains to be seen whether in this specific case it has been found or if, as in the past, emotion has prevailed over structural rationality.

A hybrid that convinces

Developed by the guys from Noodlecake Studios and out on Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox Box One, Xbox Series X | S, Nintendo Switch and PC, this Soundfall fuses the typical dynamics of role-playing games in style. Diablobut also those attributable to a dungeon crawler and ai rhythm game. This last component is immediately the most recognizable, distinctive and preponderant in the whole experience. The fascination with the rhythm component remains interesting in the light of “disappearance” that this genre of video games has experienced over the years. The golden age of rhythm games seems light years away, bringing to mind iconic titles such as Guitar Hero and the like, now curiously anachronistic as a whole. Here everything tries to marry with a contemporary basic experience, finding its own balance that works in general (as also happened in The Metronomicon).

At the base of Soundfall we find a gameplay from twin stick scooter, in which we will have to move the various characters within an aggressive world, dynamized by the aforementioned elements. From the point of view of plot of Soundfall (as you will also understand by continuing the review) there is not much to say, also because the simplicity of its writing leaves the time it finds, concentrating the attention almost entirely on the playful structure. At the center of it all we find Melodya young woman with a dream linked to musicexcept that the responsibilities of life continue to put a strain on his talent.

One day, during a moment of musical relaxation in her room, she is suddenly catapulted into a magical world named Symphonia, a world closely connected to the musical dimension. Here the girl will immediately take the place of the warrior heroine, doing her utmost to liberate an evil that is invading those lands: the so-called Dissonant. Once the context is introduced, the journey opens into a set of missions in which we will have to fight with all our strength against hordes of enemies. Melody, in her battle, will be gifted with one sparitmoa weapon to make your way through.

The world of Symphonia, however, as we have also said above, is characterized by one close relationship with musicas if life itself passes through it, instant after instant, through a detail and continuous rhythm. All this will be reflected in the gameplay, built through levels framed by an isometric view in which we will not only have to limit ourselves to fighting, but we will have to do it following the aforementioned rhythm. The whole game is governed by the latter, especially two commands belonging to the dimension of the battles: lo click el‘attack. Helped by a metronome at the bottom of the screen, we will have to follow the tempo of the rhythm in the background to understand when it will be the right time to attack and dodge. If at first such a system might seem complex or uncomfortable, once you get the hang of it everything changes. Missing the timing in this game means invalidating the most demanding games, since the player’s mistakes will affect the protagonist herself, blocking her for a few moments. Fused to all this we find a good number of weapons, armor And unlockable characters as the missions and adventure progress.

Soundfall therefore delivers to the player two very important things, one challenge also challenging, and as we will see later in the review, one confidence in the commands and ways he knows how to entertain. Although at the base of this video game we find the concentration of those who hold the pad / keyboard, the playful and creative aspect remains central. It will be possible, for example, both to replay the various levels at higher difficulty, linking them to specific tracks of the player’s choice (remembering that in the PC version you can also build new levels using your own personal playlist), and to enter the mode. coop online. From a structural point of view, it is good to remember that, at least according to what was revealed by the developers, the genre of the melodies in the background affects not only the metronome, but also the distinctive dynamics of the level itself.

Simple, perhaps too much

Speaking, instead, ofaestheticsSoundfall doesn’t go too far, and in the review phase it intrigued us with a style cartoon rather varied, in which everything moves and pulsates following the rhythm, thus joining the love for music shown by its developers. All line anyway smooth without problems, weaving a journey that fascinates not so much from a narrative point of view, as from that structural, with a certainly curious gameplay, even if minimized by the production context. In this case, however, the basic hybridization works, giving back an experience memorable it’s interesting.