Symphonia Review

If I had to create something memorable, my initial idea would not consist of a humanised animal that can play a violin. Yet, that is exactly why the protagonist, Philemon, left Sunny Peak and Headup’s new 2D musical platformer, Symphonia, ingrained in my memory.

Symphonia is set in a world where everything is music. The environment, your items and the stage elements are all related to music. To add to this, much like many games before it – such as Ocarina of Time – Symphonia implements the instrument into the gameplay. This decision makes the game’s world feel so much more immersive and all the aspects, gameplay and story, feel so connected.

My initial thoughts when booting the game up were amazement at how polished not only the gameplay was, but also the care and detail delicately crafted into the menus, HUD and gorgeous hand-drawn cutscenes that tell the simple, yet effective story. The story excels, mainly due to its ability to tell such a compelling narrative through little to no dialogue, displaying a masterclass in show-not-tell storytelling.

The gameplay itself is no slouch either. If you have played any modern platforms such as Rayman Legends or the Ori series, you will instantly draw comparisons. Pair this with the Metroidvania exploration system, and you have a recipe for success. 

One of the game’s strongest aspects would have to be its level design. Each world not only fits the narrative with all of them being based on instruments, yet somehow the collectibles are laid out in such a way you never feel like you’re going out of your way to obtain them. In fact, I couldn’t imagine playing through Symphonia without going for the collectibles as they’re such a vital part to the game’s design and systems. 

The level design isn’t that of your typical platformer, and I like to think of it more akin to a Dark Souls map. Everything is connected with one main hub where you can branch out to the four other main regions to tackle the challenges. In these individual regions, the level design plays more as various minute platforming jigsaw pieces, that when all put together create the whole image. Having the game play out this way adds not only a unique nature to the gameplay that feels so fresh in a genre which is extremely oversaturated, but also gives the player a way to play small snippets with breaks in between without having to worry about losing their progress. 

The other aspect that makes the level design so effective is set pieces. Throughout every region, there will be a gimmick to make it memorable ranging from things such as the changing of weather/seasons through music, an impending wall that can crush you, or even trumpet portals that transport you around the map. Symphonia has such a strong personality and knows exactly what it wants to do, helping to differentiate it from various modern platformers which all feel like clones of each other.

Rather than making the collectibles meaningless once collected, they have a use. The most pivotal of these comes in the form of Philemon’s memory fragments. After collecting certain amounts, you can use these memory fragments to unlock skills such as a double jump which can be switched on and off through the settings. The harmonisation of the soundtrack, art, gameplay, level design and collection systems, make every part of the game flow together seamlessly.

Having high quality level design is one thing, but utilising it well with the characters skill set is entirely different; how does Symphonia hold up in this regard? To put it simply, Symphonia has some of the smoothest and most fun mechanics and abilities, which effortlessly combine, since Ori and The Blind Forest released back in 2015. You begin the game with almost nothing and will die many, many times, yet after a while, granted it will be a tormenting while, Symphonia will be your playground to explore and take advantage of. 

The world of Symphonia may be one of the most immersive I’ve ever engrossed myself in. I really felt like this world was lived in and to let it fall would be a disaster. Storytelling that can give the player incentive to complete the game based on feelings like this alone is hard to come by and a clear sign of a well-developed game. The charm and personality found within this whimsical world of instruments is unrivalled in recent memory and will very much be a highlight of your hours with Symphonia.

There is only one thing that may be considered a negative – in my eyes it makes the game more enjoyable – which is the difficulty. Symphonia is difficult, and you will die over, and over which may put off some of the younger gamers from playing.

All in all, Symphonia provides hours of platforming bliss, that of which I haven’t felt since starting my first playthrough of Rayman Legends on the Xbox 360. It’s definitely a contender for platformer of the year lists and makes the top spot for my favourite 2D platformer. Without a doubt, fans of platformers should check Symphonia out, and any other gamers who wish to test their abilities should feel free to tag along too.

Symphonia: A Musical Platforming Adventure Where Melody Awakens the World – https://www.thexboxhub.com/symphonia-a-musical-platforming-adventure-where-melody-awakens-the-world/

Buy Symphonia on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/symphonia/9nblhdb0wlhz