A Highland Song

I really tried to like it but I couldn't, I kind of get what the devs wanted to do a cool and cozy exploration where every person gets a completely different experience but this game just feels messy The movement that you'll do most of the time is just not fun, climbing wasn't fun. and it doesn't feel that you can really understand the lay of the land Also the item system feels weird, you try enough things and you'll succeed at the end, also backtracking can be impossible so there are no "ohh i found the item related to X, lets go check it out". It just feels that it could have been great but it really isn't.

The art is nice and the music is great, but the game itself is not. There is no single mechanic that works in a way that's fun or good. Climbing controls are funky and really hard to control when climbing down. Weather is just a chore with no real solution (as hiding from the rain could take up half your day, just for the rain to come back a second later). Seeing if a path is traversable or not requires zooming extremely out to see outlines, which means you spend so much of your traveling not even looking at where you're going. Catching your breath is meaningless. Instead of using it as a mechanic to let you relax and appreciate the views, it's just a minor annoyance. Going to peaks is sometimes an endavour that takes more than a day for a single mountain, and in most cases isn't worth the effort. I don't wanna spoil too much, but the list goes on and on. The idea is cute and cool, and I wanted to like it, but the execution is just bad all around.

Much to my dismay I couldn't play this game. Not because of any gameplay problems but because the sound mixing is not particularly good. There is NO WAY to turn down all the grunting, groaning and huffing the girl does beacuse it doesn't seem tied to the Voice Volume, making those sounds stand out a lot above everything else. I could not find a good balance between music volume, voice volume and just turning everything down so I didn't have to hear this loud, damned grunting. Sound quality on the voice recordings are also not that great. The man's voice was fine but the woman's voice recording, well, I could hear the room she was sitting in, recording herself. It's all beautiful. The music is wonderful and the performances are good, but it's not mixed well and that's a really big issue for me that's rather good at noticing things like that...

Highland Song is a really charming game set in the scottish highlands, unfortunately it gave me some serious motion sickness and I could thus not finish it. If you are sensitive to motion sickness, sit this one out.

Feels unfinished - poorly coded controls. If you get lost or stuck, you have to start over and lose all progress. Just climbing and climbing and falling and resting and complaining about the rain until you're willing to just start over. No real guidance on which way to go, so you just keep climbing and running and complaining about rain. Can't skip through cutscenes, poetry, songs etc. even if you've been through them several times before. Boring, kinda frustrating, wish it had been developed further.

As a native Scotsman who now lives in Thailand this game has been on my radar for a while. When it popped up on a Steam sale for the price of a big Leo I was like *hell yes* - I even bought it as a gift for an American friend of mine. First off - the good bits. The use of Scots vernacular is cute and funny and I really like it. Mainstream review sites when this game first came out in 2023 praised its graphic design and its a beautiful game, even down to the constant rain. The graphics are gorgeous. The protagonist, Moira McKinnon, is rendered in a really funny way, she gets out of breath, needs a rest and occasionally spits out some 'I'm knackered' type of vocabulary. I found this hilarious and super entertaining. The controls though. Every game for the last bazillion years uses the WASD system so why are the original keymaps set to cursor keys?!? This makes no sense to me - its a huge barrier to entry and even though a patch allows to remap the keys some of the original keymaps overlap the A button and its a process to make the keymapping normal. Its a terrible design decision and even a few hours into the game I'm getting twisty finger trying to handle the zoom and view map thing. Its really annoying. Final annoyance, and the biggest. Ultimately this is a parallax platformer with a really quirky story and utterly gorgeous scenery. The wider map is rendered beautifully but the actual interaction with the environment and the depth between rocks / cliffs / caves / hills when Moira is moving around the map is near impossible to identify. I found myself jumping around trying to go *into* to the environment - which oddly doesn't move, when the background environment does. Why doesn't the immediate environment follow the same parallax rules? I found myself getting lost constantly because the actual interactive areas of what Moira is moving though DON'T MOVE - while the wider parallax world DOES move. The inclusion of Scottish folk music, and somebody brave enough to make a game about the Scottish Highlands I absolutely applaud you for - the art direction is incredible. I still have no idea what the Deer is for, but .. I like it anyway. There's a lot to like about this game. I'd give it a solid 7/10 but it could be a 9/10 if normal keyboard controls could be used and better visual cues in the environment could be improved.

I really wanted to love this game, but was so disappointed by the level of exploration and the challenge. I want the challenge to come in musical timing and I wanted the hills to be linear. I didn't make it in time? That's dumb. I wish the game was laid out differently. Oh well. I might give it another try in the future, but it really wasn't like what I was expecting.

Really wanted to like it, had it wishlisted for ages, got it in the sale for a fiver, ended up refunding after 30mins because it feels [i]very[/i] unfinished, almost like a gamejam prototype - and its also just not particularly fun. There is some good to talk about; it takes place in a weird alternate history Scotland, the girl is dressed in a modern manner but says things that only really make sense if its the high middle ages. Likewise the story will reference real objects, groups and events but with a strange fantasy spin. This was all quite compelling and I wish more had been done with it. The animation of the girl is good, fluid and quite charming. The art style is also impressive when zoomed out, even if a little patchy close up. The climbing and platforming is not particularly varied, interesting or fun. The controls are pretty unintuitive and limiting, sometimes you'll accidentally press the wrong button and she'll fall asleep for the night and you'll be punished by listening to a rambling narration about a fisherman being a fisherman. A lot of the dialogue feels like placeholder text and the sound mixing is very inconsistent, some voice lines are flat and you can even hear environmental buzz from the room they're recording in. The writing isn't particularly deep or meaningful, its all thin background colour. At moments it seems like they're going to establish some kind of story beat or plot point only for it to not go anywhere. The rhythm game elements don't particularly work, no matter how it is calibrated, the timing is unrelated to the beat, sprinting in these sections causes screen-tearing, the music is genuinely unpleasant to hear - its repeating phrases of twee ceilidh music but badly blown out. There is also the issue that being on or off beat has no effect, there's no benefit to doing well, or consequence to doing badly. There's a item collection mechanic out of 1990s point and click adventures, rusty keys for rusty doors, broken poles for replacement levers, you know the schtick - but to truly engage with this would require an [i]insanep[/i] amount of back-tracking and it largely feels slapped on and unintegrated, like the rhythm game. I have other issues with it, but it boils down to A Highland Song being too finickity and awkward to be a cozy game, and there's not enough actual game there for anyone looking for something deeper.

Excellent palate cleanser of a game. After playing a more involved AAA game and sinking many hours into it, this one comes as a breath of fresh air. A run is easily completable in 1-2 hours. The story benefits from a second or third run thru, and there's enough hidden secrets and stories here to keep you around for a long while if you want it. The basis of the game is just exploring the beautiful Scottish countryside. The stakes are low and the game is very forgiving. That said, you will find yourself out in dire situations far away from safety with the sun sinking low. The first few runs where you don't know everything and the game's rules aren't clear are the best. I didn't stick around to 100% this game, but the time I spent did feel well-used. This is an excellent ode to a specific corner of the world. Absolutely worth dropping money on this to get out of the rut of 20+ hour games that feel too long for their own good

A Highland Song is an atmospheric adventure game from inkle Ltd that transforms the Scottish Highlands into both a playground for exploration and a stage for an emotional coming-of-age story. Rather than focusing on combat, crafting systems, or lengthy quest chains, the game centers on a young girl's determination to cross a vast wilderness in search of family, freedom, and self-discovery. It is a title that blends narrative adventure, platforming, rhythm mechanics, and open-ended exploration into a remarkably cohesive experience that feels deeply connected to its setting. The story follows Moira McKinnon, a spirited teenager who receives a mysterious letter from her uncle inviting her to visit him on the distant coast. Motivated by curiosity and a desire to escape the confines of her everyday life, she leaves home and begins a journey across the Highlands. What initially appears to be a straightforward trip gradually becomes a personal odyssey filled with unexpected encounters, local legends, hidden histories, and moments of reflection. The narrative unfolds naturally as players travel, allowing the landscape itself to become a storyteller alongside the characters. One of the game's most impressive achievements is how effectively it captures the feeling of venturing into the unknown. The Highlands are not presented as a simple backdrop but as a living, breathing world filled with opportunities and dangers. Every mountain ridge offers a new perspective, every valley hides potential discoveries, and every path raises questions about where it might lead. Exploration is driven by curiosity rather than obligation, creating a genuine sense of adventure that many larger open-world games struggle to achieve. Unlike games that rely heavily on objective markers and navigation aids, A Highland Song encourages players to learn the terrain themselves. Maps are collected piece by piece, routes must be memorized, and landmarks become valuable navigational tools. This design choice turns movement across the world into an engaging challenge. The more familiar players become with the landscape, the more rewarding future journeys feel. What initially seems like a daunting wilderness eventually becomes a place filled with recognizable paths and meaningful locations. The platforming mechanics support this sense of exploration exceptionally well. Moira climbs steep cliffs, leaps across rocky formations, and traverses difficult terrain as she makes her way through the mountains. The controls are responsive, and movement feels fluid enough to make simply traveling enjoyable. Traversal never feels disconnected from the world around it because every jump and climb contributes to the feeling of crossing a vast and rugged landscape. Adding further depth to the adventure are the survival-inspired systems tied to weather and endurance. Rainstorms, cold temperatures, and changing environmental conditions force players to think carefully about their route. Shelter becomes important, and planning ahead can mean the difference between a smooth journey and a difficult setback. These mechanics create tension without becoming overly punishing, reinforcing the idea that nature is both beautiful and unpredictable. Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of A Highland Song is its integration of rhythm-based gameplay. During certain stretches of Moira's journey, exploration gives way to energetic musical sequences where movement is synchronized with traditional Scottish-inspired music. These moments inject excitement into the adventure while celebrating the culture and identity of the setting. The rhythm sections are not merely gimmicks; they create some of the game's most memorable scenes and contribute significantly to its unique personality. The soundtrack deserves special recognition. Featuring a rich blend of folk influences and contemporary arrangements, the music serves as the emotional backbone of the experience. Whether accompanying a quiet moment of reflection on a mountain peak or an exhilarating run across a hillside, the soundtrack consistently enhances the atmosphere. Few games use music as effectively to communicate a sense of place and emotion. Visually, the game is stunning. Its stylized art direction transforms the Highlands into a colorful and expressive landscape that balances realism with storybook charm. Rolling hills, dense forests, rocky cliffs, and distant coastlines are all rendered with a distinct artistic flair. The changing weather conditions and shifting times of day add even more character to the world, ensuring that exploration remains visually rewarding throughout the journey. The writing is equally strong. Inkle has built a reputation for intelligent narrative design, and A Highland Song continues that tradition. Conversations are warm, humorous, and often insightful, while the game's folklore and historical references add considerable depth to the setting. Ancient legends, local myths, and family stories intertwine throughout the adventure, creating a rich cultural tapestry that makes the world feel authentic and lived-in. Replayability is another notable strength. Because the Highlands contain numerous routes, hidden areas, and optional discoveries, no single playthrough can reveal everything. Different paths lead to different encounters and pieces of lore, encouraging players to revisit the journey and experiment with alternative approaches. The world rewards exploration so generously that multiple playthroughs feel meaningful rather than repetitive. The game is not entirely without imperfections. Some players may find the combination of genres unusual, and certain mechanics receive more attention than others. The rhythm sequences, platforming, and exploration all work well individually, but the transitions between them may occasionally feel abrupt. Additionally, players seeking a more traditional narrative structure or action-focused gameplay may find the experience slower than expected. However, these issues are relatively minor when compared to the overall quality of the adventure. What makes A Highland Song truly special is its ability to evoke the emotions associated with a real journey. It captures the excitement of setting out toward an unknown destination, the satisfaction of overcoming obstacles, and the wonder of discovering places hidden beyond the next horizon. By combining beautiful world design, memorable music, engaging exploration, and heartfelt storytelling, the game creates an experience that feels both intimate and grand in scale. A Highland Song stands as one of the most distinctive narrative adventures in recent years. It is a celebration of landscape, folklore, music, and personal growth that leaves a lasting impression long after the journey reaches its conclusion. Players willing to embrace its unconventional structure will find an adventure filled with charm, beauty, and a genuine sense of discovery. Rating: 8/10