ⓘ Eastshade Studios
After round eight years of improvement, Eastshade Studios launched Songs of Glimmerwick on September 30. The small studio, which can also be behind the journey sport Eastshade, describes its new title as a story-driven “Witch Academy RPG.” Gamers spend a whole yr on the magical college of Etchery, full with lessons, altering seasons, festivals and all types of tales involving fellow college students and the island’s residents.
The comparisons to Harry Potter and Stardew Valley are actually comprehensible – and incessantly come up in critiques in addition to IGN’s German preview. Whereas Hogwarts is changed by a very authentic fantasy world, on a regular basis life at a magic college nonetheless performs a central function. On the identical time, the relaxed each day routine of gardening, gathering and varied aspect actions is harking back to farming sims akin to Stardew Valley.
Casting spells with a flute as an alternative of a wand
The massive twist lies within the magic system: Spells aren’t forged with a wand, however performed as music. Completely different songs can be utilized to summon rain clouds, enchant instruments, discuss to bushes or open new paths by means of the sport world. There isn’t any fight, nonetheless. Songs of Glimmerwick focuses solely on exploration, quests and stress-free life-sim gameplay.
Exterior of lessons, gamers can discover the open island, go fishing, seek for seashells, be a part of golf equipment and have a tendency to the college backyard. NPCs have their very own each day routines and tales, whereas all fundamental and supporting characters are totally voiced in English. Nonetheless, there is no such thing as a in depth romance system of the type some style followers may count on.
95% optimistic critiques at launch
At some point after launch, Songs of Glimmerwick has already obtained greater than 70 reviews, with a really optimistic common of 95%. On the time of analysis, the sport additionally ranked fourth on the Steam charts within the “Common New Releases” class. Gamers reward the dreamy ambiance, uncommon artwork fashion, music and voice appearing. The worldbuilding and characters are additionally being properly obtained.
There are nonetheless a couple of factors of criticism: Some gamers discover the gardening mechanics and sure tutorials unintuitive. The sport additionally reportedly suffers at occasions from considerably clunky controls, restricted stock area and minor bugs. Judging by the critiques, nonetheless, gamers appear keen to forgive the indie title for these smaller shortcomings. Anybody who desires to discover the magical world of Songs of Glimmerwick can decide it up with a 10% launch discount for $22.49 instead of $24.99 till October 14. Steam Deck compatibility is rated as “Playable”.
As a toddler within the 90s, my Gameboy was my regular companion. After college, the PlayStation was fired up. Once I lastly bought my first PC, I used to be fully hooked. My ardour for gaming has by no means waned since. For me, writing for Notebookcheck means reporting on matters which might be actually near my coronary heart – along with gaming, I additionally like to write down about e-mobility, photovoltaics and revolutionary devices. Once I’m not sitting at my pc, I am in all probability on water rescue obligation on the Baltic coast or attempting to counteract the downsides of my geek life – particularly sitting for lengthy intervals – on the native swimming pool.