Songs of Glimmerwick Review*: A Magical, Charming Package

I’ll be updating this review once I’ve had more time to explore Glimmerwick and everything it has to offer. (My code was provided by Future Friends and Eastshade Studios.)

That said? I highly recommend Eastshade Studio’s latest, especially if you like your life sims full of farming, foraging, and everyday adventures served inside a deliciously magical world.

I was sold from the moment I arrived at Glimmerwick and was immediately greeted by a blue dragon that I swear I’ve had dreams about. Honestly, what more do you need?

Like so many games in the life sim genre tend to be (and that’s certainly not a bad thing), Songs of Glimmerwick doesn’t feature pixel art. Instead, it opts for a hand-drawn visual style that makes everything pop. There’s something wonderfully storybook-ish about it, from the characters to the environments, and the world itself is an absolute feast for the eyes.

There are a few quality of life things that also work extremely well for the game. The clock freezes before an important event starts, so you don't have to worry about micro-managing your time to not miss anything. I did a happy dance when I realized I didn't actually have to worry about going to bed at a prompt time, either. The only real limiting factor in how much you can do in a day is your mana level, but you can sell things to buy food to eat, and I've even had classmates give me food or drink.

So why are you here in Glimmerwick? The Etchery School of Magic and Melody, of course. In this world, though, you’re not channeling your magic through something as simple as a wand. Here, magic comes through music, and it has a pretty robust lore to it. (The cutscenes are beautiful, and the game is fully voice acted.)

The emphasis on music means rhythm mini-games! If you’re like me and that notion makes your palms get all sweaty, don’t worry. There’s options for the rhythmically challenged among us, so you aren’t going to get stuck banging your head against a wall just to progress. On the other hand, if rhythm games are your jam, I imagine there’s plenty here for you to enjoy.

Think Guitar Hero, but make it chill. (And while we're talking about music, Glimmerwick's soundtrack is more than worth purchasing on Steam or listening to on YouTube or Spotify. Phoenix Glendinning's work is SUBLIME. Is it cliche if I say magical?)

And what’s higher education without a little work study?

Part of your time at The Etchery School is spent bringing its gardens back to life. Armed with magical spells to prepare the ground, you’re given quite a bit of freedom to shape the landscape and really make it your own. But I’ll admit, this was one of the few places where I found myself a little frustrated.

The Dean is there to provide a quick introduction to gardening, and while there is a tutorial of sorts, I found myself spending more time than I’d care to admit trying to figure out exactly what some of the icons meant. I also may or may not have accidentally dug a garden plot that was entirely too large for the basil I was supposed to grow for the Dean’s turtle. Multiple times.

I wish the Dean’s presence had translated into a slightly more robust planting tutorial, particularly because there’s such fun to be had in it. Once I understood what it was I was doing, I lost hours to it.

And that’s the theme of my time with Songs of Glimmerwick so far: potential.

There’s always someone to talk to in the nearby town. There are things to find and forage in the woods. The Etchery School feels like a university. There always seems to be some sort of encounter that you can be a part of with your fellow students. And in the grand scheme of things, I know I’ve barely scratched the surface.

The game takes you through the seasons, which is beyond exciting for me because seasonal changes are often one of my favorite parts of the life sim genre. There’s something about watching a world change around you, new crops, activities, new scenery, new reasons to wander around, that make these games feel like places you’d love to come visit, and not just a setting in a video game.

I’m looking forward to experiencing all the changes, because, after only a handful of hours, Songs of Glimmerwick is already doing something I’ve been waiting a long time for.

It’s filling that Witchbrook-sized hole in my heart, and it’s a pretty darn good game to boot.

Happy weekend, everyone! What are you playing?