A Highland Music Evaluation – Evaluation

Developer inkle has a observe file for making experimental narrative-focused video games dripping with vibes, together with the sky-faring 80 Days, the reverse homicide thriller Overboard, and the language-translating Heaven’s Vault. Their newest recreation is the enigmatic mountain-climbing narrative journey A Highland Music. Set within the Scottish Highlands, you management the younger lady Moira who runs away from house in a mad sprint to succeed in her uncle’s lighthouse and see the ocean. The essential plot is comparatively simple as your finish objective is laid out immediately, however by way of a couple of dynamic replays, impactful revelations and a wealth of tantalizing narrative threads add a gripping emotional weight to the entire expertise.

A Highland Music tells a narrative that may solely be advised in video games as a result of the way in which it unfolds is all associated to your play, constructing as you uncover new paths and determine totally different connections. Moira initially has two maps that showcase two totally different mountain peaks with hidden paths close by. Matching the map to the fitting peak gives you the inclination of the place the hidden path is and as soon as you discover the trail, you’ll be able to transfer to a brand new space, discover a new map, and search out extra peaks and paths. It’s tough to parse out the complete scale and scope of the world, however that’s a part of the general level. You and Moira are desperately piecing collectively the fitting option to the ocean and typically that may be disorienting.

Climbing and transferring across the hills and mountains is easy, that includes a whole lot of context delicate inputs that enable Moira to ascend, descend, run, and soar. Determining the fitting option to climb to a brand new peak or safely get right down to a brand new path in a valley requires planning and timing. Or you’ll be able to simply say “eff it” and soar down and incur some quantity of fall harm (or lose all of your well being and fail). A day/evening cycle and climate additionally components into your maneuvering, so it is advisable maintain a watch out on shelters to attend out storms and relaxation.

The circulate of the sport is wonderful, and as soon as I obtained a cling of it I used to be mesmerized exploring the beautiful countryside, selecting up intriguing clues and studying bits of wider lore that, at the very least in my time with the sport, led to some gratifying and heartbreaking payoffs. It is a stunning recreation with watercolor-esque backgrounds, spectacular lighting, and beautiful animation. The music enhances the visuals with stunning Scottish people music (from acclaimed bands Talisk and Fourth Moon). I really like the music, however I didn’t love the recurring rhythm recreation segments that highlighted the music. Particularly in handheld mode, it was tough to learn the variations between buttons as you moved throughout the bottom, tapping the fitting button as Moira ran over it. There are a whole lot of choices to vary the problem of various points of the sport, together with the rhythm recreation components, however I typically like rhythm video games and I used to be upset to have a difficulty with it.

Even with my comparatively minor points, A Highland Music is a strong recreation full of a definite mystique. The general objective requires enjoying by way of it a couple of instances, however with every playthrough, you could have extra peaks and paths accessible proper from the get-go. It is a recreation that’s about optimizing your approach by way of the mountains but in addition grapples with the fact that that stage of optimization isn’t possible. That ethereal otherworldliness lingers all through each engrossing hour, beckoning you to search out probably the most environment friendly path to the lighthouse whereas additionally tying up each free finish. It is a stunning, beautiful recreation that shouldn’t be missed.