In “non-violent and poetic” 2D platformer Symphonia, you’re an extremely fancy violinist exploring a realm of musical machines, where gas lanterns kindle fitfully as you approach, crotchets adorn vast cogwheels, and reams of what I really hope isn’t actual catgut feed through titanic pegboxes overhead. Sampling the demo, I was immediately enflamed by the orchestral score and placed in a mood of white-gloved sophistication only slightly spoiled by the familiarity of the underlying platform moveset, and by my repeatedly falling into pits.
“Superbesque!” I breathed, watching myself casually tear off a violin solo to magic open a door. “Magnifissimos!” I sang, watching myself artfully bounce my violin bow off the floor and catch it to double-jump. “Bravanche!” I honked, watching myself evaporate against some spikes. While it’s not a metroidvania, the cavernous, lamplit, whirring set-dressing puts me strongly in mind of Hollow Knight and the eternally-forthcoming Hollow Knight: Silksong. Here’s a trailer:
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And here’s some backstory: the aforementioned very fancy violinist is Philemon, who must gather the members of an orchestra and restore vitalising music to a world that has fallen into deathly silence. The levels and backdrops are a phantasmagoric, almost Cubist portrayal of instruments collapsed together into halls and shafts – I am keen to see more of them. Hollow Knight aside, it all reminds me just a little of Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, Blasphemous and Oddworld, which probably aren’t the parallels developers Sunny Peak are going for. I mean, I assume there isn’t an abbatoir level, but perhaps that’s where they get all the catgut.
“Each area in Symphonia has its own distinct feel and characters, and each room is hand-crafted,” the Steam page adds. “Meet prodigious musicians and try to convince them to join the orchestra.”
And then there’s the score, a bespoke piece of classical romance music, written by composer Olivier Esman and his partners Alexandre Bucas-Français and Lou Corroyer. As regards the demo, at least, it’s gently synched to your progress, with certain actions triggering the next movement. You’ll also perform full-arsed concerts at intervals that are dedicated to a particular section of the orchestra – Strings, Brass and Woodwinds. I deduce from this that the game has a three-act structure.
Symphonia is out… now! And feels like a good festive pick if your idea of festive is a soothing melange of velvet, mahogany and candlelight. And spike pits. Here’s some of Disney’s Fantasia to wash it all down.