Chants of Sennaar Reviews
Crack a handful of languages and then wield them in this mesmering adventure game.
Chants of Sennaar folds every one of its puzzle-solving bricks into a Rubik’s Cube of a concept, and yet it revels most of all in pan-linguistic understanding. The figure taking their break on a roof, or the grunted “no” from a security guard, or the laughter of a child playing hide-and-seek all serve to remind you of your place in a community. Learning a language stands in for observing and appreciating a culture that’s unfamiliar to you. It’s a lofty goal for a game, and it’s one that Chants of Sennaar achieves.
An immensely clever and unique game, Chants of Sennaar expertly captures the power of language through its well-crafted cultures and its intricate and perfectly-challenging puzzles, turning the art of translation into a captivating bit of gameplay. By the time you'll have validated your last glyph, you'll still be left wanting more, but what we have here still makes for a terrific journey that is not to be missed out on.
Chants of Sennaar is as defined by its peaks as its valleys. For every moment of mind-blowing, brilliant puzzle design comes an inversely frustrating moment stymied by '90s adventure game logic. The game's ability to teach a player aspects of a language is awe-inspiring, and its way of guiding players along with as little information as possible is intensely rewarding-when it works. Even though it isn't for everyone (or consistently excellent), it's constantly impressive. If you're interested, we recommend checking out the free demo for the game that's available on the eShop, which will help let you know whether or not this game might be up your alley.
Chants of Sennaar is one of the most unique and interesting puzzle games I've ever played, and it routinely makes you feel like a genius.
Chants of Sennaar and the way it explores the relations between different groups of people is really engaging as a game. With language at its core, it highlights both the differences and the similarities between people and cultures. Chants of Sennaar is a puzzle game that deserves attention.
Chants of Sennaar is an ingenious linguistic puzzle game that takes the right notes from genre greats like Return of the Obra Dinn.
Chants of Sennaar is a game that uses language in a unique way, putting it at the center of its bizarre puzzles. Midway between graphic adventure and puzzle game, it sports rarefied and evocative settings, populated by mysterious figures speaking unknown languages. Beyond that, however, it does something very few other games do: it displaces the player, disorients him or her, and urges them to pursue the discovery of knowledge, instead of replicating already seen mechanics. That is why it is even forgiven for stealth phases.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Chants of Sennaar is both unique and brilliant. The puzzles are perfectly pitched to offer enough challenge to allow you to progress and make you feel like a linguistic genius. Although the stealth sections are a little rigid, fans of puzzlers will fall in love with this beautiful title.
Chants of Sennaar has a terrifically unique focus on translation, portraying the differences between various cultures’ languages excellently through its enjoyable puzzle-solving. With no other game quite like it, we’d highly recommend getting lost in translation here.
Charts of Sennaar is an interesting puzzle game made with great care. The graphic and artistic sector is perfect to represent the symbolism enclosed in the "biblical" plot that unfolds between the floors of the new Tower of Babel that is the background to the gameplay.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Chants of Sennaar is a must-have for puzzle game fans, thanks to its superb art direction and ingenious concept based on the deciphering of ancient languages. Rundisc didn't just create an ingenious idea. The studio makes the most of it to offer intelligent and varied puzzles. Our powers of deduction are put to the test from start to finish. Still, we're a little worried that some players will get lost along the way, as the difficulty soars after a more accessible first part. This would be a pity, as Chants of Sennaar offers a memorable journey that will leave you fascinated.
Review in French | Read full review
The result is an interesting and impressive game that ultimately feels more than a bit academic, where solving intricate puzzles to uncover the hidden inner workings of a strange world mostly feels like an interactive and particularly creative linguistic anthropology lesson. Which is to say, Chants of Sennaar ought to be an exciting game for fans of, well, linguistic anthropology. But if you aren’t one already, chances are that it isn’t likely to make a fan out of you.
A strikingly beautiful game, Chants of Sennaar takes you on a journey through a number of finely crafted cultures that challenge your puzzle skills and absorb you fully into the looming secrets of the labyrinth.
It's not often we play a puzzle game with such a unique hook, but Chants of Sennaar's glyph deciphering conundrums and other gameplay twists make for something that's pretty much unlike anything else.
With devilish puzzles under the theme of learning language, and being a new person in a series of unfamiliar places, Chants of Sennaar nails its concept. Piecing together different dialects using visual cues makes for a compelling mystery to solve, as you look to reconnect different communities through universal understanding. It stumbles a little bit however with stealth sections that feel out of place and some confusing backtracking that could leave you stumped. With gorgeous visuals that leap off the screen, not only is Chants of Sennaar one of the prettiest games we've seen this year, but it's also one of the most clever, no matter what language you're speaking.
The linguistic labyrinth woven into its puzzle design, world-building, and presentation makes Chants of Sennaar nothing short of a towering achievement.
Chants of Sennaar is a good and immersive puzzle game with a lot of riddles to discover in a unique setting. The player is involved directly in myths and legends with the object to connect ancient populations through the words power.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Taking inspiration from the Tower of Babel mythology, Chants of Sennaar provides an intriguing puzzling experience with a striking visual style that stumbles slightly with unnecessary stealth sections and oversized environments.