Songbringer

Songbringer is a game where playing it more than once is the point; it's what justifies the game's whole existence. But each time I fed in a new world seed word, I found myself enjoying the game less. The generated worlds are an interesting gimmick, but they spread Songbringer's shallow mechanics too thin. The game provides nearly limitless worlds to explore, but it didn't give me much motivation to keep at it beyond those first couple runs.

It's not the deepest game, but it's smart, ridiculously pretty, and has me completely hooked.

Space, science-fiction, and "expanding your mind" have always gone hand-in-hand. Whether it's something as worthy as Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, or as campy as Jane Fonda vehicle Barbarella, many creators like to partner the vast unknown of space with, well, tripping your balls off.Songbringer, an action-RPG from indie outfit Wizard Fu Games and its auteur, Nathaniel Weiss, also marries sci-fi adventure with a healthy injection of New-Age philosophy, all presented under 1980s aesthetics. Some would like to call it "Zelda on acid!" but that's not strictly accurate on either count, as well as being awful writing.

With a sci-fi twist on an old formula, Songbringer is almost a breath of fresh air. Occasional stereotypes aren't as welcome as all of the new ideas the game brings forward, including a tongue-in-cheek style of humour to accompany a truly unique experience and a gorgeous visual style. With so many options and routes through the story, this is a game begging to be replayed for months to come.

If Wizard Fu set out to make the most faithful of homages to the original Legend of Zelda specifically, Songbringer fits the bill with its hands-off approach to exploration-driven adventure.

Songbringer's general aesthetic and sense of humor rubbed me the wrong way, but the procedurally generated worlds are actually a lot of fun to get lost in, and the art style and music, though occasionally harsh, have a lot of love and nuance put into them.

For a game from a one-man studio on a very modest Kickstarter budget, Songbringer impresses in several ways. It's true that I don't find its visuals to be representative of good pixel art. But graphics are hardly the most important area. I do enjoy Songbringer's sci-fi settings, co-op gameplay, and non-linear nature. With achievements and leaderboards, Zelda fans should check this one out, but maybe wait for a sale if you find the visuals to be distracting.

Songbringer is fun and challenging. Unfortunately, the lack of a pulling force, supporting characters, more lore, something to that effect, will not grab every gamer. Songbringer is definitely worth checking out though if you have the slightest bit of interest, at $19.99 you'll get hours of fun.

I don’t think it is groundbreaking or the next biggest hit. The elements of the game are ones that have been done before and it doesn’t offer anything innovative to that list. Songbringer also doesn’t provide enough information on what its story is. When it does, that info is extremely vague and leaves more questions than answers. While it calls itself procedurally generated, the worlds seem exactly the same. Combat, weapons, and their upgrades were the only things that excited me about the game. If you are looking for a game with old school Zelda-like qualities, give it a shot.

Songbringer will take us on a journey into a fictional world in the distant future but with reminiscences of past games. With a visual design based on Pixel Art and a proposal that offers us almost total freedom when it comes to exploring, it will please everyone who loves old-fashioned adventures and confrontations with big bosses.