Analysis The Song: From Darkness to Light

brass token brought Singing, brings another proposal of terror. We bring you the analysis of the game on Xbox Series X, and that it does not have an Xbox One version. Are you ready to discover the horrors of other dimensions and what a cult did in the distant 70s?

Pagan sects and cults

The basis of the story Singing It departs a bit from the typical horror story with a creature or monster stalking us. Rather than such palpable terror, the game focuses on its almost hallucinogenic atmosphere. It touches on a little exploited subject, but which also causes a lot of terror: that of sects. Specifically, that of pagan sects that pray and offer sacrifices for sacrilegious entities.

As the cinematic base of the game, we could see the influence of the iconic the wicker man (The wicker man, Robin Hardy, 1973). The story presented to us in the introduction takes place at the same time as the film, the 1970s. In addition, its influence is also seen in the strong environmental component that reaches the enemies and the great importance of plants and flowers, which we have also seen in the most recent mid summer (Ari Aster, 2019).

In the world of video games, there are not many examples that deal with the subject of cults, but the few that exist have given rise to good or excellent games.

The most recent Far cry 5. Although it is also worth mentioning the terrifying second part of Survive to as perhaps the game that increasingly exploited this uncomfortable theme. We can’t forget other more classic ones like grave robber there Rise of the Tomb Raider, Resident Evil 4 or the mythical Silent Hill.

The Song and its starting point

The story of Singingafter a small introductory scene set in the 70s of the last century, he is interpreted by Jess. Haunted by the loss of her sister and because her drowning would be responsible, Jess begins to have hallucinations. This makes her contact her friend Kim, who is on a spiritual retreat on a lost and seemingly peaceful island (Glory). From there, a horror story will unfold with darkness, evil entities, and possessions involved. All of this will be related to “Prismic Science”, some strange pendants that seem to have hidden power and are abundant on the island.

The game is apparently a kind of survival horror with narrative touchesyes Jess will organize your state of mind, body and soul. And it is that we must always take into account physical and mental health or we will die if we lose one of the two. Sanity or sanity is lost to the sight and darkness of the entity. We can only recover it through the use and combination of plants or through meditation, which will subtract our soul. That’s to say, the proper use and management of the three sections and the collection of plants will be vital to its continued survival. In addition, the prisms that we will acquire will give us special combat skills that will be very useful to us. Apart from them, a small skill tree that can be improved, brings its little RPG touch with improved attacks, meditation, damage resistance, etc.

Regarding the aforementioned fight We loved the use of natural elements as weapons: salt, fire branches, mixture of plants… But be careful because these are made up of natural elements and end up breaking, so you have to ration their use. In addition jesse She behaves like a normal girl without any skills, highlighting her ability to dodge, which will lead her to throw herself backwards and land on the ground. Something that may seem inconsequential, but serves to identify us more with the character and bring us into the story by moving us away from the superheroines.

Added to all this is the collection of texts and tapes that will add to the investigation of what happened on the island and increase the story of the game. We will also have data on the “beasts ” that we face and we will add data on each and the weak points of our “beast”

Surprise in the graphics section

Singing It surprised us in its graphics section and it is that in its first trailers this section did not seem to be one of its strengths. To our surprise, the game has beautiful landscapes and graphics at 4k and 60fps. Beautiful views and very well recreated scenarios, good lighting and humidity effects on objects, smooth animations… all at a high level which pleasantly surprised us and which has little to envy to some higher category games.

On the other hand, there is the image noise generated when the camera is rotated at a certain speed, and Jess is surrounded by this blurry effect which, although not very intrusive, will be annoying for the most greedy from this point. Hopefully this will be fixed with a future update.

The facial animations are also not as bright as the rest of the graphics section, but they maintain a good level in the cutscenes.

Good sound level and dubbing in Spanish

The FX sounds are very well done, as well as the grunts and noises that surround us and that contribute to creating the horror environment of the game. In this type of game, it goes without saying that the use of headphones is almost mandatory and ostensibly improves the experience . The compositions chosen for the game get a high score

and they are the work of Paul Ruskaycomposer specialized in the sector and who manages to set up the game perfectly.

And if, the game has dialogues fully dubbed in Spanish and of a fairly high level. For our friends across the Atlantic, there is also neutral Spanish dubbing. Very grateful for the effort to bring this game to us in our language and that the standard is so high.

Conclusions The Song

Singing It is positioned as an almost surprise game due to its new system of survival and organization of the “life” of the protagonist. Plus, its setting in the world of cults and supernatural entities, almost Lovecraftian, makes for a solid and fun outing with a highly addictive story.

Of course, we recommend that you raise the difficulty to its maximum level from the start since the puzzles are not puzzles to solve as such, but rather find keys or combine objects to open doors or clear your way . Added to this is that at the normal level, the enemies are excessively affordable.

Despite its small flaws, we found ourselves in front of a good game and that’s why from Xbox Area we recommend this title to lovers of horror and adventure games.

In addition we have a nice physical edition for our country, at an affordable price, which includes the base game with a filter for the game that will change everything to the 70s aesthetic, also includes a 70s spirit costume and a Glory Island art book, in addition to the soundtrack . So, if you love the physical format and this type of game, you can’t miss it.