This is one of the most engaging cipher games and generally puzzle games I've ever played. The puzzles and the story have a nice flow to them, I never felt hard stuck and could always find a solution to a problem by exploring a bit more. The validation system in place for the glyphs is great, too! It prevents you from getting mired in mistakes you've made early in the game later on. When you've validated each glyph in a sentence, the sentence can be displayed in English, which is not only convenient but also makes it a bit more immersive, and it gives the people's speech some much appreciated tone.
The languages are also surprisingly in depth! If you pay attention to detail, you can find patterns and make sense of unknown glyphs a bit easier, and it feels quite rewarding. It's not something I usually see in these games but it's a lovely touch!
It doesn't feel too linear, either. I never had the sense that I was doing things out of order. Whenever I ran into something I didn't know what to do with or couldn't translate, it was easy to just come back later, and I never had to run back large stretches in order to retrieve something I missed. It's a very smooth and comfortable experience.
As for critiques;
Like many others it seems, I did not enjoy the stealth sections. As far as stealth gameplay goes it wasn't bad at all, I actually quite like it for what it is, but when opening Chants of Sennaar I feel like puzzling and unfolding the story, I don't feel like stealthing around. At least there are generous checkpoints so it's generally not too frustrating of an experience, and, for what it's worth, the stealth sections are largely front loaded.
Personally I also would have liked to have a map on demand. I am rather directionally challenged and had the most success navigating the area that had maps on display on the wall. I spent a lot of time running around in the wrong direction trying to find something in particular. If you're better with directions than I am, however, this might not be an issue for you.
All in all though I cannot recommend this game enough.
