Chants of Sennaar assessment: decoding language in 2023’s best puzzles

Early on in Chants of Sennaar, in a walled backyard, somebody spoke to me in a language I couldn’t perceive. From their posture and the shaking of their head, although, it was clear they had been talking in regards to the lifeless plant standing subsequent to them. An hour later, I’d come again to this dialog with extra information and perceive the whole lot they needed to say. But this primary time, though I missed some vital context, I bought the gist, and I sympathized; I’ve killed my share of crops, too.

Chants of Sennaar is a language-based puzzle recreation primarily based on the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. In this retelling, your character makes their manner by 5 flooring of a tower, every of which is dwelling to a unique neighborhood with a unique language. Using a pictorial journal, you assign each phrase you discover to an image, slowly piecing collectively every language as you go. You use the phrases you study to resolve different puzzles, navigate the tower, and perceive what others are saying. All that is made doable by decoding language — and I can’t overstate how enjoyable the method is.

The recreation runs superbly on Switch, assuming you possibly can put up with some annoying autocorrects (not the sport’s fault) if you’re writing in your journal. The large vertical towers and tiled corridors that make up the backgrounds are beautiful, and the Middle Eastern structure successfully communicates every neighborhood’s ambiance, from an imposing gated fort to a laid-back, inventive metropolis with a darkish secret.

Image: Rundisc/Focus Entertainment

The different characters you encounter in your journey are essential to transferring ahead. Early in the sport, a wanderer asks you to open a door earlier than doing the identical for you, excusing themselves, and bowing earlier than they fade away. At each flip, Chants of Sennaar eases you into its puzzles by the mysteries and revelations of language. Although these characters haven’t any backstory apart from the specifics of their tradition, their contributions to your quest to ascend the tower give them a way of being co-conspirators or antagonists; for instance, a bunch of masked bards who snicker at you wordlessly foster resentment, whereas an animal sidekick may make you snicker.

A lesser recreation would make each single character right into a mere puzzle piece, however developer Rundisc refuses to take action, and also you have interaction somebody in easy dialog as regularly as you discuss to them to resolve a puzzle. These conversations create the identical magic feeling that comes if you’re studying a brand new language and also you first understand you possibly can utter a full sentence: Knitting collectively phrases into precise expression is intoxicating, even when you’re simply listening to somebody lament their lifeless plant. Even if you’re not talking, you possibly can come throughout individuals enjoying music or making pottery. The world of the tower feels alive.

Image: Rundisc/Focus Entertainment

Chants of Sennaar’s lowest factors lie in the puzzles the place you get caught, and Rundisc provides you probably the most redundant of hints as to how one can transfer ahead. Sometimes these challenges had been appreciated, as I bought to determine the way in which ahead for myself. Other instances I wanted there was a stronger sense of path. When you’re crushing the puzzle fixing, the sport flows; as quickly as you get stumped, it slows to a backtracking halt.

This loop is perforated by stealth sections the place you keep away from enemies that wish to kick you out of the tower. I’m not a fan of obligatory stealth modes, and I’m particularly not a fan of making an attempt to resolve linguistic puzzles whereas I’m sneaking. And if the puzzles are probably the most tough half, the stealth isn’t any slouch, both — some ranges really feel somewhat ridiculous as a result of imprecise controls. However, irritating as they’re, the stealth sections do brighten up the sport’s pacing. Plus, they’ve the holy grail of stealth degree mechanics — on the spot resets from the identical room — so I might by no means be too mad after I bought caught. The recreation additionally options quick journey factors so you possibly can bypass most of the stealth sections you’ve already accomplished.

Image: Rundisc/Focus Entertainment

When Chants of Sennaar is on a roll, there’s actually nothing else prefer it. And when it will get tedious, it by no means stays so for very lengthy. But I feel enjoyable is the mistaken metric for this recreation. Is viewing historic Egyptian sculpture enjoyable? Is studying Ovid or Virginia Woolf? For that matter, is studying a language? Sometimes. But we do these actions to expertise a unique variety of pleasure: accessing a shared understanding of what it means to be human, throughout limitations of time and interpretation.

Chants of Sennaar folds each one of its puzzle-solving bricks right into a Rubik’s Cube of an idea, and but it revels most of all in pan-linguistic understanding. The determine taking their break on a roof, or the grunted “no” from a safety guard, or the laughter of a baby enjoying hide-and-seek all serve to remind you of your house in a neighborhood. Learning a language stands in for observing and appreciating a tradition that’s unfamiliar to you. It’s a lofty aim for a recreation, and it’s one which Chants of Sennaar achieves.

Chants of Sennaar was launched on Sept. 5 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One. The recreation was reviewed on Switch utilizing a pre-release obtain code offered by Focus Entertainment. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These don’t affect editorial content material, although Vox Media could earn commissions for merchandise bought through affiliate hyperlinks. You can discover extra details about Polygon’s ethics coverage right here.