Song of Horror

 Xbox One
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7

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  1. jcasualmente
    Jul 4, 2021
    5
    Excellent proposal, hurt by its bad execution and a bunch of bugs. Song of Horror is a splendid indie that reminds me of the old school horror games, but it came along with a couple of issues that corrupt your save file, bugs that prevent your progress and a permadeath system which mess up the exploration element by punishing you for being a curious player. Here we are, one month after itsExcellent proposal, hurt by its bad execution and a bunch of bugs. Song of Horror is a splendid indie that reminds me of the old school horror games, but it came along with a couple of issues that corrupt your save file, bugs that prevent your progress and a permadeath system which mess up the exploration element by punishing you for being a curious player. Here we are, one month after its launch date, and the developers couldn't fix the game yet.… Expand
  2. MicroBioDM
    Nov 3, 2021
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. While an appealing horror game, with a mix of point and click adventure/mystery games of the 90's, Song of Horror does an ok job of keeping the tension rising in the gameplay. I felt on the edge of my seat gaming while trying to solve puzzles, but I did feel that after some point it became more of a nuisance mostly due to poor explanations on choices and mechanics. I can only slam a door on the creature so many times before I lose the fear of it happening.

    The setting itself feels like a Lovecraftian dream, mysterious madness, and a music box causing it all. It was great, the game is built on the story it makes you read through letters, but if you can't find them the cutscenes between chapters lets you know what they said, somewhat lessening the impact of finding them in the level. However, with all the elements of a good HP Lovecraft story, I felt the incipient depiction of death, nooses, corpses, and monster designs, took the character out of that setting and into a more standard horror film. Which can be a real turn-off for me.

    The writing is also, so so in the cut scenes and one particular race of characters in their game which needs to be addressed. The cutscenes reiterate so much information again and again, which is fine to remind the character but it is difficult after 2 or 3 lines being reintroduced to that information again. It can also feel just blah at times and robotic, like the characters weren't written to work with each other.

    And finally the rub, the depiction of Latinos in this game, sucks. It was difficult having to sit through line after line of poorly delivered Spanish, bizarre phrases, racially insensitive roles, very stereotypical lines of dialogue, poorly researched accents, and worse yet it felt they were your sacrificial lambs. They had no clear role in the story in relation to the 3 other characters in each chapter and seemed to be innocent victims to the story's blood-thirsty maw. in the playthrough, sometimes they had the best passives that they could offer on to your characters after they died further establishing the sacrificial lamb role they were chosen for.

    But TL;DR The game does a good role of establishing a Lovecraftian Horror and knocks it out of the part in the first 30 minutes of a chapter putting the player on edge but fails to increase the risk. Along with the randomness of death sometimes, the game can be more frustrating than fun at points.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. MondoXbox
    Aug 8, 2021
    72
    Song of Horror manages to successfully capture the tension and feeling of old school horror games, but it falls a bit too often in frustrating mechanics. It remains an interesting game to explore, though.
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  2. Xbox Tavern
    Jun 21, 2021
    83
    Song of Horror is a wonderful psychological horror title with an even better story, the fixed camera and unique gameplay will keep players on the edge of their seats to avoid the perma-death feature.
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  3. TheXboxHub
    Jun 16, 2021
    80
    If you’re a fan of Resident Evil or any of the other horror games that are available in the gaming space, Song of Horror is well worth a look. The permadeath of characters won’t be for everyone and the random element of when attacks occur might also frustrate. But for others the tension and thrills will be what make the journey.
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