Chants of Sennaar

Last updated

Chants of Sennaar
Chants of Sennaar cover.png
Developer(s) Rundisc
Publisher(s) Focus Entertainment
Designer(s)
  • Julien Moya
  • Thomas Panuel
Programmer(s) Thomas Panuel
Artist(s)
  • Julien Moya
  • Rachelle "Lillycat" Bartel
Composer(s) Thomas Brunet
Engine Unity [1]
Platform(s)
Release
  • WW: 5 September 2023
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Chants of Sennaar is a 2023 adventure video game developed by Rundisc and published by Focus Entertainment. It was released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 5 September 2023. The game is inspired by Heaven's Vault and Captain Blood . The gameplay mostly involves solving puzzles and minigames which generally require decoding and understanding the fictional languages of the tower. It also features occasional sections of stealth gameplay. The plot is inspired by the Tower of Babel myth, and the player translates between various different tribes that do not understand each other.

Contents

The game received generally favorable reviews from critics who praised its design and puzzles, and The New York Times named it one of its top ten games of 2023.

Gameplay

The player explores a structure inspired by the Tower of Babel – which the titular Sennaar refers to – full of people who speak fictional languages, represented by logographic writing systems. Encountered languages must be translated using clues such as non-verbal communication used by non-player characters, illustrated signs, or other contextual clues. The player is aided by a notebook that contains the list of graphemes the player has encountered up to that point, and they may type in a word they assume is the meaning for a grapheme, which is then displayed above that grapheme the next time they encounter it. Once the player encounters enough graphemes, the notebook offers tests to see if a player has correctly translated the graphemes by displaying drawings of nouns, verbs or adjectives which the player must match the correct grapheme to; if the player correctly matches all graphemes to meanings on the page, those graphemes will be considered solved, and their real meaning will be displayed above them. If all graphemes from a sentence are solved, a full translation is shown. As the player progresses higher through the tower, they encounter new languages that must be translated. [2]

Different languages have different writing systems and different language characteristics: some languages signify plural as repeating the word (e.g. "doors" is written as "door door"), while others have a separate grapheme for marking the previous or next noun as plural (e.g. "[plural] door" or "door [plural]"). Different languages also can have differing syntax, putting the predicate and subject in different places of a sentence. The graphemes themselves may also provide hints towards the meaning, with languages having determinatives (e.g. verbs, or nouns that involve humans).

Some areas introduce stealth gameplay; if the player is caught, they are sent to the entrance of the area, where they may try again. [3]

Plot

The protagonist awakens from a sarcophagus situated at the ground level of a large spiraling ziggurat. Through exploring the mysterious structure, they find that every level is home to a distinct caste of people with their own culture and language. The protagonist must decipher each caste's language, using the knowledge gained to help them ascend to the next level.

First, they encounter the Devotees, who seek a god-like being believed to be at the top of the tower. The Devotees are blocked by the imposing Warriors, who have a sworn duty to drive away those they consider "impure", while awaiting a message from the revered Bards on the level above. The Bards celebrate beauty and the arts, though their hedonistic lifestyle is only possible through the involuntary servitude of some of their members. They mock the idea of ascending further up the tower, as a deadly monster is said to devour those who try. The protagonist is able to elude the monster and find the Alchemists, a group of miners and scientists conducting esoteric research. They then have to discover how to unlock a giant gate to the tower's highest level, where its mythical creators reside.

Beyond the gate, the protagonist finds the technologically advanced Anchorites, who wear virtual reality headsets at all times, shutting themselves away from the rest of the tower which they consider doomed. In a secret chamber, one of the Anchorites explains that their people built the tower long ago and were its first residents. Others then arrived and populated the lower levels, but would not communicate due to fear and misunderstanding, thus forming the castes. The Anchorites live in self-imposed exile, a state of detachment perpetuated by their computer system's AI called Exile, which artificially prolongs their lifespans and attempts to preserve the static status quo. The protagonist discovers they were created to reconnect the castes; they are then tasked with dismantling Exile and translating between the castes using communication terminals on each level.

Through the protagonist's efforts, the Devotees win over the Warriors by playing music and invite the Bards' slaves down to their abbey; the Warriors assist the Alchemists in dealing with the monster; the Alchemists teach the Bards about their shared ancestry and help the Devotees with their dying plants; and the Bards perform a concert for the Warriors. Eventually, the Anchorites are able to connect with the other castes through the terminals as well.

Nearing the end of their mission, the protagonist is captured by the Exile AI as the protagonist attempts to climb to the highest point of the tower. The protagonist reawakens and finds a ceremonial altar, but it does not activate. The game seemingly ends with the protagonist's disappointment, restarting at the sarcophagus. This time, however, the world has a glitched, uncanny quality to it, devoid of most characters and appearing damaged. The protagonist traverses the tower again, while Exile attempts to torment them. The protagonist eventually manages to break free from Exile's virtual reality and defeat Exile.

Upon returning to the real world, they find the Anchorites now disconnected from their headsets, socializing with one another and expressing gratitude. Resuming their mission, the protagonist is finally able to activate the altar at the tower's peak, with several others in observance. The altar lights up and displays a series of glyphs, representing the ideals of each caste (God, Duty, Beauty, Transformation, Exile) as fundamentally similar. The game ends with members of all castes on top of the tower conversing, having overcome the language barrier.

Development

Chants of Sennaar was developed by a two-man team, Julien Moya and Thomas Panuel, along with three freelance programmers. It was developed in France. [4] The two had previously worked together on the game Varion, released in 2018 ("Varion" is referenced inside "Chants of Senaar", it is the game played by the Anchorites on their virtual reality headset); while it had few sales, they felt it helped to demonstrate that they could develop and release a full game on their own. They came up with the idea for Chants just at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. [5] Initially, they wanted to have a game about a protagonist that used stealth, but Moya had played Heaven's Vault , a 2019 game with a similar mechanic around language deciphering, and the 1988 game Captain Blood . [6] The pair felt that they could better implement such a system into their game. They worked on Chants of Sennaar over the next year and a half. Design of the game was influenced by a church in Toulouse as well as Roman architecture designs and from other French artists. [5]

They brought it to the 2021 Gamescom convention, seeking out a publisher to help with marketing. Focus Entertainment saw potential in the game and offered to help fund the rest of the game's development. With the extra funding, they were able to bring a freelance sound designer to help add sounds and music to the game over the next two years. [5]

Chants of Sennaar was released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 5 September 2023. [7]

Reception

Chants of Sennaar received positive reviews on Metacritic. [14] Eurogamer likened it to innovative Amiga games and called it "a fascinating, thoughtful game". [2] Although Polygon found the puzzles occasionally frustrating, they said, "When Chants of Sennaar is on a roll, there's really nothing else like it." [3] Hardcore Gamer praised its concept and called it "immensely clever and unique". They especially liked the epiphany of solving what words mean and learning about the different cultures. [15] Digital Trends praised what they felt were "ingenious puzzles", "thoughtfully built languages", an "engrossing setting", and "striking art style". They ultimately selected it as an editors' choice. [8] Commenting on its lack of pleasurable hooks, Slant Magazine described Chants of Sennaar as "an interesting and impressive game that ultimately feels more than a bit academic". [16] Push Square "highly recommended" the game, which they found "terrifically unique", though they found the stealth sequences irritating. [4]

Zachary Small of The New York Times named Chants of Sennaar as one of his top ten games for 2023. [17]

Awards

Awards and nominations for Chants of Sennaar
YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2023 Golden Joystick Awards Xbox Game of the YearNominated [18]
The Game Awards Games for ImpactNominated [19]
2024 The Steam Awards Best SoundtrackNominated [20]
New York Game Awards Off Broadway Award for Best Indie GameWon [21] [22]
Statue of Liberty Award for Best WorldNominated
Independent Games Festival Seumas McNally Grand Prize Honorable mention [23] [24]
Excellence in Visual ArtHonorable mention
Excellence in DesignNominated
20th British Academy Games Awards Game Beyond Entertainment Nominated [25] [26]
New Intellectual Property Nominated
Nebula Awards Best Game Writing Nominated [27]
Hugo Awards Best Game or Interactive Work Nominated [28]

Related Research Articles

<i>Baldurs Gate</i> Franchise of fantasy role-playing video games

Baldur's Gate is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. The series has been divided into two sub-series, known as the Bhaalspawn Saga and the Dark Alliance, both taking place mostly within the Western Heartlands, but the Bhaalspawn Saga extends to Amn and Tethyr. The Dark Alliance series was released for consoles and was critically and commercially successful. The Bhaalspawn Saga was critically acclaimed for using pausable realtime gameplay, which is credited with revitalizing the computer role-playing game (CRPG) genre.

An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.

<i>Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance II</i> 2004 video game

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II is a 2004 hack and slash action role-playing game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment, with distribution handled by Vivendi Universal Games in North America and Avalon Interactive/Acclaim Entertainment in Europe. It is the sequel to the 2001 game Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance.

<i>Baldurs Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast</i> Video game expansion pack

Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast is an expansion pack of the fantasy role-playing video game Baldur's Gate. Developed by BioWare and published by Interplay, it adds 20 to 30 extra hours of gameplay, including the addition of four areas and minor tweaks to some of the mechanics. The expansion consists of four notable quests that take place within the same game world as Baldur's Gate, and sees players taking their character and their party of companions across the Sword Coast, from travelling to a distant island, to exploring the fortress dungeon of a dead dwarf. Tales of the Sword Coast sold 600,000 units by 2003.

<i>Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn</i> 2000 video game

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Interplay Entertainment. It is the sequel to 1998's Baldur's Gate and was released for Windows in September 2000. Following its predecessor, the game takes place in the Forgotten Realms, a fantasy campaign setting, and is based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition rules. Powered by BioWare's Infinity Engine, Baldur's Gate II uses an isometric perspective and pausable real-time gameplay. The player controls a party of up to six characters, one of whom is the player-created protagonist; the others are certain characters recruited from the game world.

<i>Second Sight</i> (video game) 2004 video game

Second Sight is a science fiction action-adventure video game, developed by Free Radical Design, and published by Codemasters for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox in 2004, and Windows in 2005. The game's story sees players assume the role of an American parapsychology researcher who seeks to uncover their past through the use of psychic powers they possess, finding events in the present are linked to a military mission they undertook with a taskforce of U.S. Marines.

<i>Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne</i> 2005 video game

Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne is a point-and-click adventure game with pre-rendered graphics, developed by Kheops Studio and published by The Adventure Company for the PC in 2005. The game's story focuses on a French adventurer's journey to the Moon in the 19th century, and the ancient lunar civilization he subsequently finds.

<i>Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel</i> 2004 video game

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel is a 2004 action role-playing game developed and published by Interplay Entertainment. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and was the first entry in the Fallout series to be released for home video game consoles. Set in the year 2208, the player controls an initiate of the Brotherhood of Steel, a militant organization that attempts to bring order to a world that has been decimated by nuclear warfare. Critics often compared Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel to a hack and slash game, due to its emphasis on fast-paced combat and encounters with large groups of enemies. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel does not feature an open world map like other Fallout games, and is instead linear in design.

<i>Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance</i> 2001 video game

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a 2001 action role-playing video game developed by Snowblind Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment subsidiary Black Isle Studios for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox consoles, with High Voltage Software handling the GameCube port, and Magic Pockets developing the Game Boy Advance version. CD Projekt was developing a version for Microsoft Windows, but was ultimately cancelled. In 2021, a 4K port of the game was released for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC.

<i>Penumbra: Black Plague</i> 2008 video game

Penumbra: Black Plague is the second installment of the Penumbra series of episodic video games developed by Frictional Games. The story continues from the previous episode, Penumbra: Overture, showing the protagonist Philip moving away from the abandoned mine setting of the original to explore an underground research base. Black Plague was released in February 2008 to generally favourable reviews from critics. Although originally intended to conclude the series, a further expansion called Penumbra: Requiem was released later that year.

<i>Dracula: Origin</i> 2008 video game

Dracula: Origin is a point-and-click adventure game for the PC based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Released by Frogwares in 2008, it follows the company's catalogue of adventure games such as the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series.

<i>Drawn</i> (series) Video game series

Drawn is a casual game series developed by Big Fish Studios and distributed by Big Fish Games through their digital distribution portal. The games are adventure games, with Hidden Objects and Puzzles elements.

<i>Mark of the Ninja</i> 2012 video game

Mark of the Ninja is a side-scrolling stealth platform game developed by Klei Entertainment and published by Microsoft Studios. It was announced on February 28, 2012, and later released for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade on September 7, 2012. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on October 16, 2012, and for Linux and OS X on September 11, 2013. A remastered version was released on October 9, 2018, for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux by Klei Entertainment.

The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep is a 2018 dungeon crawler video game developed by inXile Entertainment as a continuation to The Bard's Tale trilogy from the 1980s.

<i>Little Nightmares</i> 2017 puzzle-solving horror game

Little Nightmares is a puzzle-platform horror adventure game developed by Tarsier Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One, released in April 2017. A Nintendo Switch version was released in May 2018, followed by a Google Stadia version in June 2020 and mobile versions were released on 12 December 2023 and published by Playdigious. Set in a mysterious world, Little Nightmares follows the journey of Six, a hungry little girl who must escape the Maw, an iron vessel inhabited by monstrous, twisted beings.

<i>Baldurs Gate 3</i> 2023 video game

Baldur's Gate 3 is a 2023 role-playing video game developed and published by Larian Studios. It is the third main installment of the Baldur's Gate series, based on the tabletop fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. A partial version of the game was released in early access for macOS and Windows in October 2020 until the full release for Windows in August 2023, with versions for PlayStation 5, macOS, and Xbox Series X/S releasing later that year.

<i>Cocoon</i> (video game) 2023 video game

Cocoon is a 2023 puzzle adventure game developed by Geometric Interactive and published by Annapurna Interactive. The player controls a beetle that can hop between worlds, solving puzzles to unravel the universe's mysteries. The game was released on September 29, 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

<i>The Case of the Golden Idol</i> 2022 video game

The Case of the Golden Idol is a 2022 puzzle video game developed by Color Gray Games and published by Playstack. The game depicts a narrative spanning 40 years in the 18th century, in which players collect clues to piece together concepts, characters, and evidence to provide context to the story. It was originally released for PC and was ported to consoles and mobile platforms in 2023 and 2024.

<i>Venba</i> (video game) 2023 video game

Venba is a narrative cooking video game developed and published by Visai Games. The story begins in 1988 and follows an immigrant Indian couple settling down in Canada and adjusting their day-to-day lives in the new environment. The player controls the titular character, Venba, an Indian woman who moves with her husband to Toronto, where they eventually have a son. The game draws heavily from Tamil culture and South Indian cuisine. The game was released on July 31, 2023, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

<i>Viewfinder</i> (video game) 2023 video game

Viewfinder is a puzzle video game developed by Sad Owl Studios and published by Thunderful Publishing. The game was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows in July 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "Made with Unity September 2023 roundup: Awards voting opens and other community highlights". Unity Technologies . October 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Donlan, Christopher (September 12, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar review - a puzzling linguistic marvel". Eurogamer . Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Price, Emily (September 9, 2023). "When puzzle game Chants of Sennaar is on a roll, there's nothing else like it". Polygon . Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Fitzgerald, Simon (September 5, 2023). "Mini Review: Chants of Sennaar (PS4) - A Terrific Translator Puzzler". Push Square . Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Schreier, Jason (October 13, 2023). "Two Hobbyists Made One of This Year's Best Video Games". Bloomberg News . Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  6. ↑ Totilo, Stephen (September 8, 2023). "The hero of this new video game is a translator". Axios . Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  7. ↑ Romano, Sal (April 19, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar launches September 5 for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC". Gematsu. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Colantonio, Giovanni (September 5, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar review: puzzles and linguistics collide in can't miss indie". Digital Trends . Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Chants of Sennaar". Edge . No. 390. October 4, 2023. p. 130.
  10. ↑ Donlan, Christian (September 12, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar review - a puzzling linguistic marvel". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on December 24, 2023.
  11. ↑ Wacholz, Charlie (September 6, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar Review". Nintendo Life . Archived from the original on December 20, 2023.
  12. ↑ Fitzgerald, Simon (September 5, 2023). "Mini Review: Chants of Sennaar (PS4) - A Terrific Translator Puzzler". Push Square . Archived from the original on November 27, 2023.
  13. ↑ Magistrelli, Claudio (September 20, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar - Recensione". The Games Machine (in Italian). Archived from the original on September 27, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Chants of Sennaar". Metacritic . Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  15. ↑ LeClair, Kyle (September 5, 2023). "Review: Chants of Sennaar". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  16. ↑ Demorest, Mitchell (September 5, 2023). "Chants of Sennaar Review: A Good Time for Linguists with an Anthropological View". Slant Magazine . Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  17. ↑ Small, Zachary (December 2, 2023). "Best Video Games of 2023". The New York Times . Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  18. ↑ Loveridge, Sam (November 10, 2023). "Here are all the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 winners". GamesRadar+ . Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  19. ↑ "The Game Awards 2023 Nominees Announced, See Them All Now". GameSpot . Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  20. ↑ Blake, Vikki (December 16, 2023). "The Steam Awards 2023 shortlist has been revealed - here's what Steam players think are 2023's best games". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on December 18, 2023.
  21. ↑ Kerr, Chris (January 4, 2024). "Alan Wake II and Baldur's Gate 3 lead 2024 New York Game Awards nominees". Game Developer . Archived from the original on January 4, 2024.
  22. ↑ McEvoy, Sophie (January 24, 2024). "Baldur's Gate 3 wins big at New York Game Awards 2024". GamesIndustry.biz .
  23. ↑ Elderkin, Beth (January 11, 2024). "Visai Games' Venba leads finalists for the 2024 IGF Awards". Game Developer . Archived from the original on January 11, 2024.
  24. ↑ Castle, Katharine (March 21, 2024). "Venba wins IGF Grand Prize for 2024". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  25. ↑ "Bafta Games Awards 2024: Baldur's Gate 3 and Spider-Man lead nods". BBC News. March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  26. ↑ "20th BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations". BAFTA. March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  27. ↑ Baker, Kathryn (March 15, 2024). "SFWA Announces the Finalists for the 59th Nebula Awards". SFWA. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  28. ↑ "2024 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. March 29, 2024. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.