Chants of Sennaar is easily one of the most unique and inventive gaming experiences I've played recently. It takes the Obra Dinn formula of slowly figuring out a mystery through deduction and trial/error but with a language learning spin.
Chants of Sennaar is all about bathing in uncertainty. Each of the floors of the tower come with it's own aesthetic, culture, values, and most importantly language. The feeling of entering into the unknown and attempting to talk to the denizens is a delight. You may only know 2 or 3 words at first so you must use context clues from NPC conversation, in-universe signposting, and even the shape of the glyphs. I was making such high-level discoveries in these languages such as what the format of plurals are, which order the subject and predicate are in, and how the vocabulary reflects the cultures of the peoples. It's absolutely something I've never thought about in a game or honestly even in real life as I'm only fluent in my native tongue. And what's most impressive is how easily I slipped into that mode of thinking. The design of the areas and the specific order in which these spaces present the words onboard the player so perfectly. This is the type of pitch that would be so incredibly easy to mess up but Chants of Sennaar delivers this fantasy so effortlessly. Outside of the language discovery is some pretty simple lock-and-key style puzzles. I really admire the decision to make this aspect of the game more similar to other puzzle games so it doesn't detract from the language-learning. They're usually pretty simple "grab this thing and put it there" but you usually don't understand the full objective because you may be missing a few of the glyphs in the prompt. I don't want to spoil any of my favorites but you'll know what I'm talking about if/when you play them.
Next, I'd like to touch on the visuals because they blew me away. I knew I'd be into this game the second I'd heard the design hook but I really wasn't expecting the sheer style Chants of Sennaar brings to the table. Every area has a unique, striking color palette that is legitimately awe-inspiring. The camera works with these somewhat static angles that change when you enter a new room; think original Resident Evil. This allows the presentation of a scene to be so beautiful with it's framing of the foreground and the architecture. This game had some of the highest density of audible "wow" moments for me. It's all tied together with beautiful atmospheric music that really sets the mood of each civilization so well. And the score does my favorite puzzle game thing where it swells when you complete key objectives so bonus points for that.
Sadly there is a pretty rough set of quests to get the true ending of the game. These weren't a slog because they were overly difficult, no, it was because it requires interacting with the worst part of the game: movement. A lot of the level design of Chants of Sennaar is pretty maze-like. There's a lot of recognizable POIs but getting to them always involves going through a doorway with a screen transition (and a new camera angle of course) so it makes it hard to form a mental model of the world. This usually isn't a big issue because a large part of learning the language is wandering around and stumbling upon paths you haven't been to before. The locomotion is typically when you're thinking about the language and letting the world sync in. The true-ending quest, however, requires you to revisit these areas and make sure you obtain all the glyphs of every language. By this point in the game, I felt like I had a good grasp of every language so the wandering became more of a chore that was intensified by how slow the characters moves. Fortunately this is entirely optional but if you're anything like me, you'll want to experience everything Chants of Sennaar has to offer.
I can't stop thinking about this in comparison to another delightful puzzle game I played this year, Cocoon. Where Cocoon was so incredibly rock solid the entire time, I think the highest highs of Chants of Sennaar might have eclipsed it. They're both amazing puzzlers but in different ways. Cocoon is the pinnacle of the tried and true lock-and-key style while Chants of Sennaar nails something that feels so fresh and inventive. It made me think in ways I've never had to. It made me consider the many nuances of written language. It created so many of those coveted "I'm a genius" moments that all puzzles games strive for. Chants of Sennaar is undoubtably one of my favorites games of 2023 and will sit in it's deserved spot in the puzzle game pantheon among the likes of Return of the Obra Dinn and Portal.
Chants of Sennaar is all about bathing in uncertainty. Each of the floors of the tower come with it's own aesthetic, culture, values, and most importantly language. The feeling of entering into the unknown and attempting to talk to the denizens is a delight. You may only know 2 or 3 words at first so you must use context clues from NPC conversation, in-universe signposting, and even the shape of the glyphs. I was making such high-level discoveries in these languages such as what the format of plurals are, which order the subject and predicate are in, and how the vocabulary reflects the cultures of the peoples. It's absolutely something I've never thought about in a game or honestly even in real life as I'm only fluent in my native tongue. And what's most impressive is how easily I slipped into that mode of thinking. The design of the areas and the specific order in which these spaces present the words onboard the player so perfectly. This is the type of pitch that would be so incredibly easy to mess up but Chants of Sennaar delivers this fantasy so effortlessly. Outside of the language discovery is some pretty simple lock-and-key style puzzles. I really admire the decision to make this aspect of the game more similar to other puzzle games so it doesn't detract from the language-learning. They're usually pretty simple "grab this thing and put it there" but you usually don't understand the full objective because you may be missing a few of the glyphs in the prompt. I don't want to spoil any of my favorites but you'll know what I'm talking about if/when you play them.
Next, I'd like to touch on the visuals because they blew me away. I knew I'd be into this game the second I'd heard the design hook but I really wasn't expecting the sheer style Chants of Sennaar brings to the table. Every area has a unique, striking color palette that is legitimately awe-inspiring. The camera works with these somewhat static angles that change when you enter a new room; think original Resident Evil. This allows the presentation of a scene to be so beautiful with it's framing of the foreground and the architecture. This game had some of the highest density of audible "wow" moments for me. It's all tied together with beautiful atmospheric music that really sets the mood of each civilization so well. And the score does my favorite puzzle game thing where it swells when you complete key objectives so bonus points for that.
Sadly there is a pretty rough set of quests to get the true ending of the game. These weren't a slog because they were overly difficult, no, it was because it requires interacting with the worst part of the game: movement. A lot of the level design of Chants of Sennaar is pretty maze-like. There's a lot of recognizable POIs but getting to them always involves going through a doorway with a screen transition (and a new camera angle of course) so it makes it hard to form a mental model of the world. This usually isn't a big issue because a large part of learning the language is wandering around and stumbling upon paths you haven't been to before. The locomotion is typically when you're thinking about the language and letting the world sync in. The true-ending quest, however, requires you to revisit these areas and make sure you obtain all the glyphs of every language. By this point in the game, I felt like I had a good grasp of every language so the wandering became more of a chore that was intensified by how slow the characters moves. Fortunately this is entirely optional but if you're anything like me, you'll want to experience everything Chants of Sennaar has to offer.
I can't stop thinking about this in comparison to another delightful puzzle game I played this year, Cocoon. Where Cocoon was so incredibly rock solid the entire time, I think the highest highs of Chants of Sennaar might have eclipsed it. They're both amazing puzzlers but in different ways. Cocoon is the pinnacle of the tried and true lock-and-key style while Chants of Sennaar nails something that feels so fresh and inventive. It made me think in ways I've never had to. It made me consider the many nuances of written language. It created so many of those coveted "I'm a genius" moments that all puzzles games strive for. Chants of Sennaar is undoubtably one of my favorites games of 2023 and will sit in it's deserved spot in the puzzle game pantheon among the likes of Return of the Obra Dinn and Portal.