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A Highland Song gives Death Stranding a musical run for its moneyThe best bits of Inkle’s Pendragon and 80 Days combine to create a rhythmic hiking platformer like no other
The best bits of Inkle’s Pendragon and 80 Days combine to create a rhythmic hiking platformer like no other
But also: A Highland Song is 100% a game that deserves to have its music cranked up to full, whether it’s returningHeaven’s Vaultcomposer Laurence Chapman’s soaring orchestral score, or Scottish bands Talisk and Fourth Moon’s aforementioned folk music. The clue’s in the name, after all, and after a spirited 30 minutes with it, I’m certain this will have Inkle fans singing from the hilltops.
A Highland Song - Teaser TrailerWatch on YouTube
A Highland Song - Teaser Trailer
I’ve been quietly intrigued about A Highland Song ever since I heard about its prototype concept in an issue of Edge magazine several years ago. Inkle were still figuring out exactly what their hiking game was going to be back then, but the core idea of it stemmed from one of the developers actually getting lost in the Scottish Highlands and wandering through the hills to try and find help. It was still early days for the game part of it at the time though, and as the years passed - and Inkle’s tabletop tactics gamePendragonand their looping murder mysteryOverboardcame out in between - that initial glimpse of their hiking game was gradually shuffled to the back of my mind.
It was onlythis time last yearwhen Inkle revealed A Highland Song in full, with its intriguing combination of “rhythm and survival elements”, that that early memory came roaring back. I still wasn’t quite sure what to expect, though. Was it a musical platformer all the way through? How would thesurvivalelements come into play? And most importantly, where would Inkle’s brilliant storytelling punch through if we’re jumping and skipping across crags and clifftops to a very specific beat?
Image credit:Inkle
The climb to survey your surroundings is no pushover, though. Moira has a stamina bar you’ll need to manage as she scrambles up sheer stone walls, and her health will gradually deplete if she falls from a great height or is left out in the rain with no shelter to keep her dry. That’ll be those survival bits, then. Alas, Moira isn’t quite as hardy as fellow hikers theBB BoysfromDeath Stranding(she’s only run away from home in a wee woolly jumper, skirt and tights as opposed to a death-rain-repellent jumpsuit, after all), so she’ll need to find rest spots beneath trees and little hollows in the mountainside if she’s going to carry on her journey and get her breath back.
Image credit:Inkle
Waiting out bad weather will be your greatest hurdle to meeting that three-day deadline at first, as the game’s dynamic storms can last the better part of an afternoon if you happen to run into one. It’s not all bad news, however, as Moira may find other travellers taking refuge at these campfires, or tiny souvenirs they’ve left behind which she can then take forward to crown newly discovered peaks with. Inkle’s nose for a good yarn really comes to the fore here, as Moira will recount folktales and mythic legends she hears as she gathers her strength back. These stories really help make these hills feel alive when you’re trekking up to the top of them, and they offer peaceful moments of calm amid Moira’s homesickness and pangs of regret.
When the rain has passed, it’s back out to those grassy knolls. As I wasplaying the game on a Steam Deck, I actually found it easier to control Moira with the d-pad rather than the analogue sticks, suggesting A Highland Song may be one of those rareplatformersthat plays better with WASD keys than a gamepad. You’ll need to hold down before Moira can descend a cliff-face, for example, and leaping ‘back’ into the different layers of scenery requires a quick press of up as well, which just felt more precise with the crisp taps of the d-pad.
It’s a real treat, and the way it riffs on several of Inkle’s previous games is just the icing (or should that be descant?) on top. I can’t wait to explore its nooks and crannies even further when it comes to PC, and while there’s still no word on a firm release date just yet, you can bet we’ll be bellowing it from the rooftops when it eventually gets confirmed.
