Silent Hope will be released on October 3, and it is an intriguing little game. It is being billed as a return to the classic isometric action JRPGs of yesteryear (think Secret of Mana), with a quirk: this is a world without words.
From the press release:
“In a world without words, what hope is there for humanity? Silent Hope takes place in a once-peaceful land, silenced by the former King who stole people’s speech before escaping into the endless chasm known as The Abyss. Following these events, the Princess, mourning her father’s actions, wept endlessly until her sorrow entombed her in a magical teardrop. Now, years after these events faded from memory, seven heroes find themselves imbued with new powers and drawn towards the Princess; to restore their world, they must brave the depths of The Abyss to find the long-lost King and free the Princess from her crystalline prison.”
There are a couple of things I really like about this concept. I love the fairytale framing, and think there is plenty of potential there for the developers to give us something narratively challenging. I like the promise of the abyss as a giant dungeon to delve into (however common that is these days). And, of course, the promise of a classical roguelike approach to random dungeon levels will always tickle my fancy as a Shiren the Wanderer veteran.
There’s still a way to go until we get our hands on this one – there are about 1,000 games releasing between now and October – but still, let this opening movie whet your appetite.
