PC/XBOX/PS/SWITCH
12/5/2024
Sunny Peak/Headup, Beep Japan
Does precision platforming paired with an orchestral soundtrack sound like music to your ears? If you’re up for the challenge, Sunny Peak’s new title Symphonia is playing your request! But does this non-violent yet punishing platformer hit all the right notes or does it quickly fall flat? Stick around for the encore and we’ll discuss!
Now, back to your feature presentation. Symphonia is a wordless tale of restoring energy and life to a realm of the same name. Long ago, the four original founders of the orchestra kept the world alive with their music. That is, until a catastrophe struck, scattering the musicians and causing the founders to disappear. Nothing stays lost forever, it seems, as one day an automaton discovers an ancient relic which is able to bring back Philemon, one of the founders, who then tries to recruit members to form a new orchestra and restore the realm of Symphonia to its former glory.
Playing as the mysterious masked violinist, you’ll visit four distinct locations in Symphonia on your quest, each housing a musical powerhouse that will help you revive the realm to its former glory. Following some brief cutscenes that set up the story, you’re launched into an introductory area that teaches you the basics of the game’s mechanics. Smooth, responsive controls that are easy to understand but challenging to master are essential to an effective precision platformer, and I’d say Symphonia is mostly successful in this arena.
Our masked hero has a basic jump on his own, but once wielding the violin, they can use the bow to pogo higher in the air, cling to softer surfaces and catapult themselves in a chosen direction. As you progress forward through the game’s four areas, you’ll learn new moves that will allow you to pull off daring (and incredibly challenging) maneuvers that will certainly have you at the edge of your seat. From grappling to defying gravity, Symphonia will constantly, and sometimes quite literally, turn the world on its head in the pursuit of keeping things fresh.
That’s not all your violin can do, though. Playing songs with the violin helps you discover collectibles, open new passageways and even fast travel to locations. Just when you think you’ve seen all that Symphonia has to offer, it will present you with something new, which is crucial to keeping the player engaged. While this isn’t what I’d call a particularly long game, (coming in around 6 hours for a standard playthrough) there are certainly reasons to come back for more. From the hidden notes to collectible coins, memory relics and beyond, there is certainly more than meets the eye at each location.
Completing the game, regardless of how many notes and coins you have collected, unlocks a “shadow chase mode,” in which you’re perpetually chased by a dark version of yourself that copies your every move with just a slight delay. Hesitate anywhere for a second too long, and you’ll find yourself caught by the shadow and restarting at your last checkpoint. It might not sound like much, but it dramatically increases the sense of urgency in a game that already feels pretty fast paced and frantic.
Fast paced and frantic not so much your thing but you like the pretty graphics and music? There is a double jump feature you can discover and toggle on in the options that will temper the difficulty of some of the maneuvers. You can also decrease the speed of the game and toggle some of the other mechanics on and off. I do think that Symphonia will lose a little of its magic by adjusting some of these options, but I appreciate the options being available so a wider group of players can enjoy the game. If you’re checking out Symphonia for the first time, however, I would strongly encourage you to at least try the default settings. While the difficulty does ramp up substantially by the end of the game, you essentially hone your skills by completing the other levels, and it’s quite rewarding to finally succeed and recognize your own growth through time and practice.
As I mentioned a little earlier in this review, a precision platformer is only as great as its controls and Symphonia is no exception. For the most part, I was pleased with the way the game controls. You’ll seamlessly jump and stick yourself into a cushion on a revolving block, only to set up a quick catapult towards your intended goal in what feels like only a few seconds. There is also a momentum aspect to the movement, where you can build speed and force by seamlessly transitioning from one pogo to the next. However, despite it’s many successes, there were a few sticking points (and I don’t mean the pin cushions) that got my blood boiling a bit, particularly towards the end of the game. Sometimes it felt like the sticking mechanic didn’t quite work as intended and other times it felt like sections went on just a bit too long between checkpoints. Getting through one harrowing gauntlet of obstacles only to immediately begin another without a breath between them is a quick way to raise my stress levels, but I did get through it in the end, so I’m confident you can too.
Frustrations aside, Symphonia is a game that runs mostly flawlessly and looks positively ravishing in the process. I did encounter one bug, in which I was stuck playing an eternal song on my violin, only remedied by a hard reset of the game. It was fairly minor, again, pun intended, but worth noting. These puns are really getting out of hand.
Regardless, Symphonia is a beautiful title. I mean, take a gander at those colors and fluid, vibrant animations! The arts are alive and thriving in indie gaming, folks, and this is a perfect example. The music-meets-machine elements give the title a bit of a steampunk vibe, but in a way that feels fresh and not overdone. Each environment incorporates new types of NPCs, machines, wildlife and color palates that make them all feel unique and lived in. The character designs are consistently interesting and overall, it feels like a great deal of thought went into orchestrating the level design (I’m sorry, I can’t stop).
However, nothing, and I mean nothing, could possibly outshine the original symphonic soundtrack written and performed for this game. Even when my frustration levels were high, the gorgeous strings, horns and wind instruments helped me keep my cool as they ebbed and flowed through all sorts of twists and turns. A lot of games attempt to use orchestra-inspired tracks, but this game really captures that magic of that musical style and makes it the focal point instead of a feature, which is really beautiful.
Symphonia is a challenging yet rewarding game that will frustrate and fascinate any fans of the precision platformer genre. There is much to see and do, so many secrets to discover and a gorgeous soundtrack and art direction to carry the whole thing along. Apart from a minor bug and a few moments of frustration with the controls, Symphonia is an exceptionally beautiful and challenging title with many reasons to go back in and play some more.
GREAT
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