Silent Hope is another ARPG from Marvelous and XSeeds. What’s surprising is that it’s set in the Rune Factory universe, although its story and characters remain separate. There’s no farming or building up relationships in this one, too. But there is combat and dungeon exploring to try and keep them off your mind.
Story
The king has stolen his peoples’ words and made an escape into the depths of the Abyss. The abandoned princess was left in disarray and couldn’t help but cry for 100 years over the crime of her father and the silenced people of the kingdom. The result of her prolonged tears has encased her into a crystal, eventually leading to unknown powers that are bestowed upon 7 speechless and nameless adventures.
This game isn’t meant to be played for its story; it’s forgetful. I’ve even forgotten what I was fighting for while I wrestled with each dungeon floor. The story just felt like it was slapped onto the gameplay to give the objective purpose, but nothing more. The princess talking in the spotlight was cool at first, but frequently doesn’t add much value, beseeching me to ignore it.
Gameplay
Silent Hope is a basic dungeon crawler. You head out on an expedition into a dungeon and advance through its series of floors. Expect to fight for survival on these floors while unlocking quick travel points and collecting loot. Upon defeat, you return to your base and rethink your equipment.
Dungeon Crawling
The dungeon crawling in Silent Hope hasn’t impressed me. It’s average at most and I’ve often yearned for the next floor as they’ve felt dragged out. Each dungeon has its own biome and new enemies to fight. An optional task may present itself at the start of a floor or you may wonder into a special room filled with monsters. Besides the reveal of a new double-edged sword hazard you may come across as you progress through each dungeon, that’s all to expect in this game.
Combat
Fighting hordes of enemies is where Silent Hope excels. There are several characters to choose from, each with their own class and different playstyles. Leveling up a character earns you points to spend on unlocking and upgrading skills. It takes a lot of grinding to fully upgrade all of these skills, especially since you can work on all of the characters, but the challenge the game provides makes it feel less like work and more like trying to overcome defeat.
It’s been entertaining using the variety of characters available in this game. Some of the classes show their similarities, such as the same dash or spin attacks, but the skills unlocked later help with diminishing it. What I wasn’t a fan of was not being able to choose my character upon heading into a dungeon; you need to find a special crystal while dungeon crawling to do so.
Silent Hope is all about dodging attacks, figuring out the enemy’s attack patterns, and quickly strategizing to subdue them. This is even more crucial when facing off against the game’s bosses that are spread across each of the highest dungeon floors. Failure means returning to your base to craft new items and trying repeatedly until you succeed. The gameplay is a lot of fun but can eventually wear you down with its repetitiveness and the lack of any new major substance.
The Base: Crafting
You will return to your base after exploring dungeons. Here, you can visit the various shops to have items made for you. Each item requires spending Runes (the game’s currency) and specific materials you acquire from your dungeon expeditions. Besides food, it will take a set amount of time for each item to be made. It feels like going back to the mobile gaming era, but the game uses the time spent from crawling dungeons instead of putting down the Nintendo Switch and waiting it out.
The time to wait for an item to be crafted is tolerable, but the lady’s voice while at the base can get annoying. It was okay the first two or three times, but the words are repeated and she refuses to stop babbling. And don’t get me started with the cheering; now, I don’t mind a little encouragement now and again, but a sudden outburst of several of the same words each and every time starts to get on my nerves.
Graphics and Soundtrack
Silent Hope has a great soundtrack and the graphics are nice. The chibi-style character designs are well-made and the environments to explore are gorgeous. Combat has been smooth with no lag; however, there’s a small amount of waiting time when entering a dungeon. Additionally, the music played during expeditions is perfect for both exploring and fighting.
Conclusion
Silent Hope’s dungeon crawling may be average, but its challenging roguelike-feeling gameplay is capable of silencing its forgetful story. If you’re looking for a tough but short ARPG with simplistic dungeon crawling, this game is right up your alley. However, if you’re looking for similar with more substance to its story, you should look elsewhere as you will likely grow tiresome and drop this game.
Silent Hope gets a 6/10.
