Silent_Hal
1 review liked by Silent_Hal
Chorus
2021
An amazing space combat game held back by a story of redemption a little too elaborate and delicate for it to hold firmly without breaking it, Chorus was a big surprise gameplay-wise, making me love a genre I'm often quite bad at. But promotional material for the game sets the tone and narrative standard so high it couldn't have possibly cleared the bar without a bump or two.
You play as an ex-genocidal-cultist, saving the world from the results of her atrocities and from the coming atrocities of her former mentor. It's a heavy topic, and tries a little to grapple with the nature of irredeemable acts and redemption in their wake, but the topic is admittedly one of the most complex moral webs humanity has brought upon themselves and the nature of the subject itself makes it either too hard to ever forgive the protagonist or far too easy to forgive everything that wanders across your path, painting with somewhat broad strokes a series of incredibly cruel actions. The topic was absolutely worth exploring, and even well-written and thoughtful at times, but it's a little too big for the game's finite narrative framework.
Gameplay is where this title shines, offering some of the most fine-tuned flight and one of the most useful suites of abilities I've ever seen in the genre. Players have the usual flying and rapid fire weaponry that other space shooters offer, but along the way players will also unlock "rites", powers that grant abilities like drifting to aim during high-speed maneuvers, the ability to warp behind or in font of enemy forces for quick assaults, and the ability to pierce through enemy vessels and asteroids at top speed as a javelin of starlight. It's FAST and demands accurate play early on, but the steep learning curve evens out well by the game's center, ensuring players have plenty of time to learn.
All in all if you love this genre, the title is a must play. If the promotional materials or trailers appeal to you, you should likely check it out. But know that the hefty topics and ethereal nature of many of the characters' relationships will likely leave you a little parched for the narrative resolution you hope. Still, I do think I recommend this one.
You play as an ex-genocidal-cultist, saving the world from the results of her atrocities and from the coming atrocities of her former mentor. It's a heavy topic, and tries a little to grapple with the nature of irredeemable acts and redemption in their wake, but the topic is admittedly one of the most complex moral webs humanity has brought upon themselves and the nature of the subject itself makes it either too hard to ever forgive the protagonist or far too easy to forgive everything that wanders across your path, painting with somewhat broad strokes a series of incredibly cruel actions. The topic was absolutely worth exploring, and even well-written and thoughtful at times, but it's a little too big for the game's finite narrative framework.
Gameplay is where this title shines, offering some of the most fine-tuned flight and one of the most useful suites of abilities I've ever seen in the genre. Players have the usual flying and rapid fire weaponry that other space shooters offer, but along the way players will also unlock "rites", powers that grant abilities like drifting to aim during high-speed maneuvers, the ability to warp behind or in font of enemy forces for quick assaults, and the ability to pierce through enemy vessels and asteroids at top speed as a javelin of starlight. It's FAST and demands accurate play early on, but the steep learning curve evens out well by the game's center, ensuring players have plenty of time to learn.
All in all if you love this genre, the title is a must play. If the promotional materials or trailers appeal to you, you should likely check it out. But know that the hefty topics and ethereal nature of many of the characters' relationships will likely leave you a little parched for the narrative resolution you hope. Still, I do think I recommend this one.