Whilst I’ve heard a lot about them, I don’t believe I’ve ever tried an auto-battler before. Normally scrolling from side to side, these games task players with character balance and party composition prior to battle whilst the AI takes care of the actual fights. In Songs of Silence, the player has full control over a 4x style world map with cities and strongholds to manage and armies to direct — but when swords are drawn, all you can do is play cards to influence the outcome.
Set in a world (or rather, two twin worlds) of magic and myth, Songs of Silence has a strong story that begins with an explanation of how a war between Gods resulted in the creation of two worlds — respectively representing light and dark. There are three factions in the game, each with their own campaign, and as we’ve seen in games like Fire Emblem and many more, the campaigns are interwoven so that you see the story unfold from each perspective, with new details emerging as you progress.
Initially, the player controls just a single army and must progress across a fairly open map, conquering locations as they go. Periodically, an opposing force will march into the field to meet our army, and either way, a battle will ensue. Strategic planning about when these battles should occur is a key choice, and as our force expands to include more heroes and ultimately, more armies, you’ll need to manage your forces and decide which you want to take part in each battle.
This point is emphasised by the fact that each hero can support only a limited number of units within their army, and may give bonuses to certain kinds of units. For example, if you plan to besiege a large and well defended city, you may need to use a larger force — or alternatively you might attempt to whittle down a standing army with your smaller force, then withdraw it and attack with your larger army to finish the job.
Approaching Songs of Silence in this way is fine, but you also need to consider defence. Your own cities will be attacked by enemy forces as well, and as your empire grows, so too does your frontier. This means that you will likely need to expend resources in building garrisons for each city, in addition to building the infrastructure needed to expand your resource development.
When a battle actually starts, the hero character and any troops selected to fight (this excludes the reserve and certain other special units that simply follow the army) will be thrown onto the battlefield. Somewhat unbelievably to me, most fights are over and done with within fewer than five minutes despite occasionally featuring ten or more units on each side. Units simply charge towards each other — with what seems like reckless abandon.
As the player, we’ll receive a small hand of cards that enable us to influence the battlefield. Some cards allow us to force a specific unit to retreat, others might replenish wounds and revive fallen units. Some deal direct damage or even summon completely new, celestial units onto the battlefield. All of these cards will influence the outcome, but you honestly don’t feel like you have any direct control over the outcome — and that’s simply because you don’t.
Whilst perhaps not the classic auto-battler, I would definitely put Songs of Silence in that bracket. The player is much more in control of the overworld aspects of the game — directing the army, choosing where to invade or where to defend, deciding the composition of the army and controlling where to invest valuable resources in cities and towns. I enjoyed all of the overworld aspects of the game, and especially appreciated how “light” it all feels, whilst still offering about 90% of what a 4x game should have.
The actual battles, I am less keen on. Somehow, the auto-battling system feels a bit too light to me — not being able to directly affect units or even to give them stances or attitudes feels like anathema to me. I do like the speed and the simplicity, and the card aspect (which might give some direct control such as directing a cavalry charge) does introduce some interaction. That said, I don’t value it much higher than having a simple “auto-resolve” button.
Elsewhere, Songs of Silence looks and feels very polished and professional. The visuals are standout in both art style and also personality. You really get the sense that Songs of Silence has an identity all of its own, from its story, to its visual style and even to the music which is high fantasy and choral, but with a whole style of its own that seems to suit what you’re seeing on screen.
Overall, Songs of Silence is a good game that represents its indie roots very well. You could easily be forgiven for thinking that this was a highish budget production, but for an indie title it’s simply very tidy, very well done and extremely well executed. I may not love the auto-battle aspect of it, but I can see why it’s there, and it has a unique charm of its own even if it’s not to my personal taste.
You can find Songs of Silence on Xbox, Playstation and PC.
