A Highland Song

 Switch
  • Publisher: inkle
  • Release Date: Dec 5, 2023
  • Also On: PC
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. SpazioGames
    Dec 5, 2023
    74
    A captivating and fascinating journey, but an improvable game.
  2. Gamer Escape
    Dec 11, 2023
    70
    I’m in a weird spot with A Highland Song. On one hand, the game didn’t provide me with the kind of experience I was expecting from the trailer. On the other, what actually is here was an interesting and engaging experience. Exploring and finding the various ways forward constantly kept my interest, even through occasionally frustrating moments. The rhythm runs, while disappointingly uncommon, provided nice breaks from the core gameplay flow and some wonderful tunes to listen to alongside. While it wasn’t what I expected, it was a journey worth going on. The Scottish Highlands are calling, and it’s a call that you may just want to answer.
  3. Inverse
    Dec 5, 2023
    70
    I can take the journey to the lighthouse with Moira as many times as I want and, given enough time I will uncover every story within A Highland Song. But there is a cost. No magic would be left in those hills nor the memory of my first journey. There will be no more songs to hear. And that leaves me with a very empty feeling.
  5. Nintendo Life
    Dec 5, 2023
    70
    A Highland Song's folklore-infused adventure takes "walking simulator" to the extreme, as you pull its teen runaway Moira up and down the cliffs and mountains of the Scottish highlands, finding treasures, music, and magic along the way. But its repetitious nature wears away the joy of exploration, and further playthroughs are a struggle between the thrill of new discoveries and the tedium of having to retread old ground.
  6. Checkpoint Gaming
    Dec 5, 2023
    65
    It’s great to see a game about a culture that often doesn’t see a lot of focus. A Highland Song has a lot of great concepts, but they just don’t all come together cohesively. Even so, it has a story worth telling and some pretty fantastic music to boot.
  7. TheGamer
    Dec 6, 2023
    60
    And yet, as you struggle through the game's often abstruse systems, there is something rewarding in it all. More clarity both over where to go next and what the game itself is built upon would be welcome, but what is here is worthwhile and, for those with a greater tolerance for getting lost over and over or finding the right way and being unable to progress because the search has tired you out to much, A Highland Song holds some promise. After everything, the view is just about worth the climb.