Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Jim sings (or should that be 'chants'?) the praises of one of his GOTY picks...
Let me make something clear right from the jump: Chants of Sennaar is a difficult sell. I love language, but the thought of spending my free time learning intricate grammar rules and making notes on noun variations hardly sings of an exciting way to while away the hours. But it is. Honestly.
In truth, it feels like nobody is talking about Chants of Sennaar because a game all about learning fictional languages rings with a sense of "what's the point?" You're never going to get to use any of it on holiday, and knowing the word for 'barbarian' or 'music' isn't going to do anything to silence the ever-present knock-knock of the Duolingo Owl on your lock screen. But you'll just have to trust me on this one, Chants of Sennaar is a GOTY-calibre experience and one of the most innovative games that 2023 has plopped out.
Some of my favourite games in recent years have been, to some extent, about translation — Tunic's game manual and Outer Wilds' Nomai spirals spring to mind. Developer Rundisc takes the language elements of these games and makes it its sole focus. If you have enjoyed cracking the linguistic code previously, you'll enjoy it again here.
You play as a mysterious hooded figure who walks the floors of a mythical tower in the hopes of... finding God? Remembering his past? That much is unclear (until the game's final act, at least), but what is immediately obvious is that this figure has no idea how to speak the local language. A bystander waves at you as a symbol-filled speech bubble appears above their head; a lever is found next to a sign with an up and down arrow, each accompanied by their own, different symbols; a person points at a nearby stream and says something else. Gradually, you build up an idea of what each symbol could mean, confirmed by your trusty notebook, which will mark each correct translation with a satisfying ka-ching as you go.
And so, you come to speak a whole new language and help the people of the city. Brilliant! Things really get interesting, though, when you make your way up to the next floor and discover that the people there (the aforementioned Barbarians) speak in a different tongue altogether. Damn.
Fortunately, not all hope is lost. Just like in the real world, language in Chants of Sennaar is full of patterns. You might notice, for example, that one floor's proper nouns all have a dot under the main symbol, while another's might be grouped by a circle that loops around the outside. It's obvious once you have spotted it, but in the moment, you feel like a genius.
It's these moments of inspiration that keep carrying you from floor to floor — each coloured and designed in a different way to the last. Seriously, this game is gorgeous. (Spoilers: It features on our upcoming Best-Looking Switch Games 2023 feature). There's very little in the way of hand-holding too — occasionally to a frustrating degree — but like the best puzzle games or even a twisty Metroidvania, you know that the answer is out there somewhere, you just have to keep on looking.
This hands-off approach does mean that things are not always the clearest in your journey up the tower (and the game clicked with me more than with Charlie in our review), but for me, that's where the magic lies. There are too few games that would let you make a mistake like confusing the word "Monster" for "Fire" — and I'm not writing from personal experience, of course... — and leave you to figure it out yourself. Chants of Sennaar is a 12-15 hour game, but it has no worries with sticking around for an extra 5-10 if you pick up clues in a different order.
I love a game that uses its central mechanic to sneakily slide bits of story our way — Inscryption's spookiness happening around a game of cards, Venba's family drama steaming from its cooking, Dredge's mystery below the surface of the fishing sim. It starts to feel like you are picking up on little details that nobody else has noticed until you all of a sudden work out that that's the point.
Chants of Sennaar isn't quite as plot-heavy as some of the above, but as you make your way up the tower you start to realise that the translation is only the tip of the iceberg. It's what people are actually saying that counts.
And so, in the spirit of the game, let's clear up what I am actually saying here: Chants of Sennaar is ace. This pretty puzzler has landed itself a spot on my GOTY list and anyone who wants to take a break from sword-slashing demons or punishing platforming could do a lot worse than taking it out for a spin.
Have you had a crack at Chants of Sennaar? Do you have another underappreciated gem of 2023? Let us know in the comments, and keep an eye out for this one appearing in a couple of our end-of-year lists.