Silence of the Siren

As I write this Silence of the Siren is in early access, but they are offering a free demo for you to check out. I checked out the demo and I was pretty much hooked right from the start. From what I understand, the game is due to be fully released in the 3rd quarter of 2024, but as I am so into what I have seen so far, I decided that I wanted to talk about the game and let you guys know why I think this could be one of the best strategy RPG style games of the year.

Deep In The Heart Of Space

I am a huge sci-fi fan so the premise of Silence of the Siren clicked with me pretty much right away. In The Siren Star System, several different species/factions are trying to fight for supremacy as things have fallen apart over the years and the various factions have started warring with each other to get the various resources that these planets have to offer. There is also a looming threat of some kind of big bad as well. At the moment, I have only touched the surface, but I am certainly very interested to see what this has to offer.

Life Always Finds Away

As of me writing this, I have not been able to dive fully in and see all that Silence of the Siren has to offer as far as the various factions and species that are playable. However, even in what I have seen, the factions are pretty awesome, there are these weird rat-looking people that can ride on animals, a human like faction, a faction that looks like snakes/worms, and even bug looking characters. If you like sci-fi you will get a kick out of the different species and as you would expect, each faction offers you different advantages and disadvantages so there are plenty of reasons to try each one out. The presentation of the game is fantastic, it has a kind of Vanillaware look about it in the way that the characters and locations have an almost hand-drawn quality about them.

Exploring The Depths

Exploring planets for resources is one of the most exciting things that Silence of the Siren has going for it. From finding powerful artifacts to the things needed to build your base and strengthen your units and help your commanders be even stronger! Each expedition is filled with danger, but the rewards if it all goes right can be massive. I love how the exploration of the various planets in the system also expands the lore of the game. You always feel like you are finding something that can help so the progression here is fantastic and I am sure when I get into the full game, it will end up being one of those games where I keep saying that I will play just a little longer so I can find more stuff, but in reality, I am playing the game for at least another hour!

Nothing Mortal About This Combat

I feel that overall, Silence of the Siren has a bit of an old school soul about it and that is most evident in the combat. What we have here is classic style turn based combat. You send your commanders into battle, but due to the progression system, you always feel like you are leveling them up and that they are getting stronger. I liked how there was a lot of strategy at play in regard to what you do before these turn based battles. However, in the demo and the current (as I write this) early access build of the game, I do not think that things are too complicated so most people will be able to pick this up and have fun with it. However, there is some real depth here for those that want to get into the real nitty gritty of what this turn based combat has to offer.

Pros:

• I love the sci-fi story the game has
• There is a lot of variety to the factions in the game
• I love the presentation
• The gameplay is challenging, but not at the expense of being fun

Cons:

• It may be a tad too easy for hardcore strategy fans
• I cannot say for sure if they are going to nail the premise of the cool story they have