A Highland Song

“A Highland Song looks good and has plenty of impressive moments. Moira is a great character, able to take her love for her uncle and Scottish legends to imbue the world around her, harsh as it might be, with magic.”

“A Highland Song is a wonderful adventure through mountains that were old before people arrived and will be there long after their ruins have eroded away. Moira's journey is as much about the Scottish Highlands as it is about her life so far, with history and myth being equally important to both. It can sometimes take some thinking and experimentation to find the way through a new area, clambering back and forth over rocks and cliffs to find a clue that points to the path forward, but the information is there for an attentive explorer to uncover. It all comes together to make for an engaging, unforgettable and frequently musical trek you'll want to make several times over to learn the histories and hidden paths of Moira's mountain home.”

“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.”

“A Highland Song is such a beautiful game, whether you find its charm in the soundtrack, gorgeous visuals, or wonderful story.”

“A Highland Song successfully brings the awe-inspiring freedom of Breath of the Wild to the Scottish Highlands.”

“A Highland Song is yet another Inkle center. An adventure platformer capable of mixing the pleasure of trekking (beautifully rendered in 2D) with a delicate, enveloping and branched narrative like the paths that cross the highlands. An intimate story, the one that Moira constantly broods over to herself, but also a cultural cross-section of a land rich in myths, legends, traditions and history, embellished by very human characters, a little crazy, capable of becoming fun interlocutors with whom to have a chat after a long climb, resting and sheltering from the cold of the mountains. Suggestive, audiovisually inspired, playfully fluid and very centered. Now I really want to visit Scotland.”

“A Highland Song is wonderful. The atmosphere that permeates the game is intoxicating and will make you want to search every inch of the environment. There is a real incentive to replay the game due to the many routes and the timed objective. Although the survival aspect feels a little unnecessary, there are plenty of elements within the design that will make you fall in love with Scotland.”

“Perhaps the greatest compliment that one can pay to A Highland Song is that—unlike any number of games that mark traversable areas in, say, white splotches or yellow paint—it doesn’t feel obviously designed. There are areas in the game that you’ll never reach on a single run, forcing you to make decisions if you want to make it to Uncle Hamish’s lighthouse on time. A Highland Song’s rendition of the Scottish Highlands scans more as a natural space than as a bespoke puzzle, a world instead of a playground. Here, the hills are alive.”

“A Highland Song is a gorgeous game that will deliver a genuine and beautiful story. There are many secrets to discover, despite the travel mechanics that get in the way.”

“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.”

“A captivating and fascinating journey, but an improvable game.”

“Exploring the mountains of the Scottish highlands and having bizarre encounters are at the heart of A Highland Song, packaging up everything into a cute side scroller with rhythm action and fun dialogue that feels very unique. Not only is the game a love letter to Scotland, it feels like a very personal project full of talented individuals and while the game has occasional slow moments it is overall a lot of fun. If an atmospheric adventure featuring a wee Scottish lassie is on yer cards then this comes highl(and)y recommended.”

“This is a game that is about optimizing your way through the mountains but also grapples with the reality that that level of optimization isn't feasible. That ethereal otherworldliness lingers throughout every engrossing hour, beckoning you to find the most efficient path to the lighthouse while also tying up every loose end. This is a beautiful, gorgeous game that shouldn't be missed.”

“A mismatched mix of genres grafted onto a moving, beautifully presented story.”

“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.”

“While platforming, rhythm, and navigation mechanics might clash at times, turning the map upside down reveals a game that puts all in service of nature and experience.”

“A Highland Song has so much heart, it's hard not to find something to love. I was drawn into the game due to the rhythm based traversal for running up the hills. With music from Laurence Chapman, Talisk and Fourth Moon, I found myself running up and down hills just to get the songs perfect. The story also has such a sweet progression, each hint drawing you closer and closer to the truth of it all. Plus, with how much there is to explore and the time mechanic, the replayability is insane given the cost of the game. From the art style to the music to the adventure itself, it's easy to get lost in the Highland Song.”