Masquerada: Songs and Shadows Reviews
Masquerada: Songs and Shadows rides the line between too little and too much, and often swerves into the too little range. Between the difficult to manage combat, and the constant breaks from gameplay for story, this could have been a misfire. Fortunately, it's saved just enough by beautiful artwork, sublime voice acting, and a presentation to die for.
An exceptionally well made RPG with beautiful art, memorable characters, and an engaging story - Masquerada is a must play for any fan of the genre.
Masquerada: Songs and Shadows doubles down hard on building a world of enlightening lore, but forgets to do the same for the combat and gameplay, giving the game more of a visual novel impression, which will leave a lot of players wanting if not a fan of the mentioned niche genre.
Copious amounts of story content occasionally broken up by challenging tactical combat will keep you entertained for hours. Masquerada is a beautiful game with fantastic well written characters and a plethora of story content. If you're the type that likes to take their time and absorb themselves in the world then Masquerada: Songs and Shadows is the game for you.
If you're looking for a captivating story set in an immersive world then Masquerada: Songs and Shadows is sure to satisfy.
While Masquerada: Songs and Shadows is a refreshingly good story, it suffers from its unbalanced gameplay and low replayability.
The focus on masquerades and pushing it to a legitimate political centerpiece, as well as infusing it with otherworldly magical properties, is both refreshing and interesting take on the "detective's tale". That is why it is all too unfortunate that Masquerada's potential is marred by poor, repetitive combat and meaningless character progression – which would not be an issue at all if it weren't billed as an RPG in the first place.
Masquerada Songs and Shadows is a great addition to anyone’s Switch library. If you’ve enjoyed games like Baldur’s Gate or the Dragon Age franchise in the past, love a good mystery story, and don’t mind a spot of button mashing, you’ll have a great time
This game has done nothing but surprise me. I never would have thought I would find myself so immersed in this historical, war ridden adventure. The story is deep and the characters are engaging, with a fantastic script we are gifted with the talented voices of Mathew Mercer, Robbie Daymond, Jennifer Hale and Crispin Freeman. The combat is fun and easy enough to follow and can also provide a challenge to keep the gears in your mind turning, but in a way that allows you to customize the outcome of a battle. Maquerada: Songs and Shadow is definitely a RPG game I would recommend to anyone who can get their hands on it. 10 out of 10 in my books.
While the gameplay fails to impress, the story at least manages to keep things interesting.
Masquerada: Songs and Shadows in an interesting game. On one hand, we have a title that could have made a beautiful point-and-click or even a visual novel. On the other, we have the amazing adventure RPG that sees an unlikely group follow through an investigation that leads ever further down the rabbit hole.
Excellent entry point for new ARPG players whilst veterans will tire of the hand holding.
If you can fumble your way through the gameplay, you’ll find a unique and intriguing story buried beneath it. With everything you have to put up with to get to it, though, I’m not really sure it’s worth the effort.
Masquerada: Songs and Shadows is a game with an interesting world and plenty of different viewpoints to consider. The game’s narrative and dialogue are strengths and weaknesses, and it has a codex for the player to keep it all straight. Not everyone will enjoy having to invest the time to get there, but, if you can move beyond that and the frequent loading screens, the game will deliver a story with plenty of twists and turns to keep you engaged.
Masquerada is clearly an interesting game. But it stands to improve a little bit more. It can get tiring moving from Point A to Point B with nothing to take us away from the main quest. Despite the rich world we’re given, there’s no need for any initiative to explore such a world. It’s clear that this isn’t a game that people can keep playing for more than a few hours straight without eventually taking a break from listening to characters talk over and over again. It can get tiring and repetitive when having to follow the main story without halt.
So Masquerada is set in the Citte of Ombre, which has a clear Venetian feel too it's design and is divided by class. At the top are the Masquerada, with access to Mascherines, masks that grant their wearers magical powers.
If all you want is an interesting, but complex, tale of war and politics, then Masquerada: Songs and Shadows is probably worth a punt.
I believe there are gamers out there who will find much to love in Masquerada. A compelling story, placed in a fresh and fully realized fantasy world, without the concern of struggling with unforgiving combat is certainly a description I can see being in some people’s wheelhouses.
A lot people are going to have a wonderful experience because Masquerada looks good and plays well and they’ll be skipping through most of the dialogue scenes.
In terms of downsides I’d say there aren’t many with the primary concern being whether you’re looking for something that’s heavily story and lore-driven or not...