A Highland Song Reviews
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 mismatched mix of genres grafted onto a moving, beautifully presented story.
A Highland Song is a very different kind of game visually to Inkle’s previous work but is very much in keeping with their narrative focus. Combined with satisfying mechanics and a beautiful aesthetic this is a real treat, all topped off with folk music that’ll have your feet gaily tapping and a central performance brimming with personality. All in all a perfect game to curl up with on a cold winter’s night with a glass of single malt, or, perhaps, an Irn Bru.
A Highland Song is such a beautiful game, whether you find its charm in the soundtrack, gorgeous visuals, or wonderful story.
A Highland Song is a beautiful snapshot of wild places and wild stories, but it stumbles a bit in the process of encouraging you to run into them.
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.
Despite the often confusing world design and the anxiety-inducing timer, every other aspect of the game was strong enough that those complaints became mere blemishes on an otherwise fantastic experience. Elevated by tight controls, some excellent writing, and an art style that only becomes stronger the more you look at it, A Highland Song is such a unique and touching experience that I can’t help but recommend it. Get in, indeed.
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.
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.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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'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.
A Highland Song successfully brings the awe-inspiring freedom of Breath of the Wild to the Scottish Highlands.
A captivating and fascinating journey, but an improvable game.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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.
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.
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 Highland Song is just as unique and nuanced as I had hoped, and the developer did an outstanding job at bringing a wild sense of adventure and emotion to a 2D title.
A Highland Song has amazing atmosphere and audiovisuals in general. The rest is quite lacking in direction, though.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
A Highland Song combines 2D platforming, adventure game elements, survival mechanics, and rhythm sections into a compelling but occasionally confusing package.