Soundfall Review

I have always been a fan of rhythm games, especially those that mix with another genre to create something new. Games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero are great on their own but combining a rhythm game with a twin-stick shooter makes for a unique title. To be successful in Soundfall, you need to time the shots of your weapon with the beat of the music. The better you do the stronger their attack will be and the more XP you will earn to level up your character.

Soundfall doesn’t have an incredibly deep story, but it feels a lot more upbeat and positive, fitting with the music of the game and full of cheesy music-themed jokes. You play as Melody, a girl who works in a coffee shop during the day and is an incredibly talented musician with the chance to audition for Star Vision, but she can’t find anyone to work her shift, so her musical talent will remain undiscovered. Before heading to work, she sits down to listen to some music to start her day; as soon as she puts on her headphones Melody is sucked into a magical world called Symphonia. Symphonia is a world where all music comes from, but the fact that Melody has shown up here is not a good thing, Legat, Melody’s guide in this new world, informs her that she has been summoned as she is a Guardian of Harmony and has to defeat the evil monsters that are trying to stop the creation of music. It is up to Melody and the other Guardians of Harmony to defeat the evil Discordians and restore peace to this magical world. 

Melody is equipped with a weapon called the Beat Blaster, this is what you use to attack the enemy. The better your timing, the more significant the range and damage dealt by your shot. To help you keep time there is a metronome at the bottom of the screen that will show you the exact time to fire at your enemy; in the options screen, you can also turn on the sound of the metronome if you find that easier to follow. If you have poor rhythm, you won’t do as much damage to your enemy, and you will have to worry about your weapon overheating and not being able to shoot until it cools down. This sounds simple enough, but the real problem is that your enemies will come at you and to avoid getting hit, you will have to destroy them no matter the timing of the music, so you won’t have a choice and will have to ignore the rhythm. At least you can enjoy watching the enemies and trees dancing along to the music. I have never seen bad guys look so happy while they were attacking me!

If you get destroyed before reaching the end of the stage, your character will have to play through the stage until they successfully reach the goal. Each of the stages is quite short, as you get a bonus for completing it before the song that is playing starts over. If you don’t, the song will keep looping until you get to the goal. After hearing the same song multiple times, if you are killed or are just taking your time and exploring, you may get very annoyed and frustrated. The first stage had a very catchy song, and since I was just learning the controls, I died a few times on that level plus I wanted to look for other weapons and items hidden throughout the stage so the song would restart, it is now days later and that damn song is still stuck in my head!

There are tons of upgrades for weapons, armour, and cores that you can find hidden through the levels. The game also gives you the option of dismantling any of the equipment you don’t need, whether it be weak or a duplicate to exchange for money. Be sure to keep checking the store to look for more powerful weapons and equipment to upgrade your character, new items are always showing up. 

As you progress in the game and defeat the Discordians you will travel to the different areas, each with its own unique type of music. There are a ton of different genres represented in the game, jazz, soul, pop, classical, funk, no matter your taste in music you are sure to find some songs that you will find catchy. If for some reason you don’t, you can always head over to the free play section and select your own music. Upload a song on your console or PC and the game will create a level, complete with enemies for you to challenge with your song. The metronome is also adjusted to follow the beat of this new music to help guide you through this level. I am impressed by how good this feature worked. In the past with other games trying to upload your own music didn’t always have the best results, but Soundfall will let you use any song you desire — it was great! Free Play also has the full soundtrack from the game available, so you can challenge any of the tracks you hear in the game, there are a lot of good, catchy songs in here.

If you are feeling lonely on your journey, Soundfall gives you the option to play with four players locally or online, so you can all work together to take down the Discordian enemies. If you find the tempo of some of the levels too fast to keep time with, you have the option to change the intensity of the stage. Even though I was in band as a child, the moderate speed felt a little too fast for me, especially since I was trying to run around and avoid the enemy attacks at the same time as shooting, so I opted to play with the warmup setting. I found it more enjoyable and a lot less stressful.

Soundfall is a game that fans of rhythm titles and just music in general should check out. I had a fun time checking out all the different areas of the map with nice-looking environments and a huge variety of songs to blast along to. For me I enjoyed playing in shorter spurts as constantly going after the same selection of enemy sprites could feel repetitive after a while, even with a big selection of music. Overall this is a fun title with a silly sense of humour and a happy story that is sure to provide some fun to anyone who has some kind of timing. If you just can’t keep along with the beat you may get a little frustrated or annoyed hearing the same few songs on repeat.