Hike through the Scottish Highlands in the heartfelt narrative of A Highland Song.
Video games based around the idea of pitting you against nature are an intriguing concept as the inherent idea of how you move across the landscape can be a gameplay feature that keeps you on your toes throughout your adventure. If your game develops in a famously natural beauty, it can lend itself to even some awe-inspiring and quiet moments of reflection admiring the view. A Highland Song, with its rich background and cultural identity, makes the most of such a notion.
Developed and published by Inkle, the creators of Heaven’s Vault, a hidden gem of an indie that has consistently been cited as one of the best in its genre, comes A Highland Song. It tells the story of a young woman escaping her home to find her uncle in hopes of a better life. Thanks to its contemplative art style and traditional Scottish folk soundtrack, it is an easy journey to pick up and play.
Established in the rocky Scottish mountains, A Highland Song lifts its curtains with a traditional Gaelic-Catholic prayer honoring their travelers’ odyssey called “The Pilgrims’ Aiding”. Starting with a sorrowful voiceover narration reminiscing about someone called Moira and hoping for her to come home, the bucolic setting pulls back to see majestic mountains and hills, presumably all for you to climb.
Turns out Moira is the character you control, and she seems to be fed up with her current living situation and decides to leave home and run away without much of a plan and out of impulsivity. Working as a 2D platformer, you must run across the pristine prairies of the Scottish Highlands and fight against the terrain in order to progress. You have a life bar and must be aware of the weather, time of day, and overall surroundings. It would be a fool’s errand to blindly run being careless as that would surely end in a game over screen.
A Highland Song wears its influences on its sleeve. From every character’s accent to the use of Scottish English with words such as “windae”, it does an outstanding job of weaving its inspirations in each step of Moira’s adventure. In the span of five days, she must traverse the highlands to meet his uncle Hamish, who has, over the years taught her everything she knows of the past 15 years living in that land, from the historical context to the folktales passed down through generations.
Not long after embarking on your hiking adventure, you will find there are large distances to cover in between mountains to move forward. This is where you meet deer and sprint alongside them in a fun rhythm section where you jump to the beat of traditional Scottish violins. A nice detail is that every time you engage in the running section, a different song is played each time, adding variety. Paired with the rush of wind and the sprawling backdrop of mountain ranges, these brief moments of excitement are a breath of fresh air.
There is an atmosphere of mysticism and symbolism throughout Moira’s journey. Several graves found of a “MacDonald” family, ghosts talking to her in her sleep, and lost wedding bands are a few of the strange sightings you get to witness. It is impossible to shake off the historical bearings on your trek, as there is even a mention of legendary knight William Wallace and his battles on the very same grass you are walking about.
A Highland Song has a way with its level design to offer you different paths to its deceptively simple landscapes. There is always a quick method to move deeper into the mountains, but if you carefully walk a bit further you will find other routes off the beaten path that can enhance your story with a few morsels of information via the narration of Moira’s uncle Hamish or finding lost objects like a gold necklace. There is a sense that everything in your path tells a story that calls back to your original predicament, perhaps trying to teach you something along the way.
Almost every hill is climbable, but that doesn’t mean they are easy hikes. Moira’s pent-up rage can be felt as nothing stands in her way to rush through the highlands, but some steep climbs are tougher than others. You must tap a button or stop mid-climb for Moira to catch her breath every few moments, as it is not difficult to imagine how difficult it must be to fight an uphill battle against nature.
Depending on how carefully or recklessly you climb a mountain, the outcome of being unscathed or how hurt you are is determined. Moira can twist an ankle, scrape a knee, or break a toe if you are not too cautious in your hiking. Yes, most of the mountains can be climbed, but they all impact your health and well-being to the point you need to stop for a moment as you lose your breath. On the upside, as you progress through the terrain, Moira’s running and climbing skills slowly improve, making it ever so easier to run up the hills even in torrential rain.
It is crucial in Moira’s journey to always find a balance. You are asked several times to go through a new path, but if you do so, it will be nightfall, and Moira will be sleepy, or you could choose not to risk it instead and sleep the night in a cozy cavern and keep moving forward first thing in the morning. Weighing in the options and being overly wary or risking it all is your prerogative, though every choice you make in the journey will have a toll on Moira’s runaway journey.
At first glance, it may seem that as a 2D game, the path forward is linear, but after closer inspection, there are a plethora of lost items and hidden caves and paths for you to explore as you run left, right, and up and down the hills. Shiny objects are found all over the highlands, reinforcing the idea that these paths you are traversing were once alive, and every item has a story to tell. At certain points in the story, some of the items you find can also be used to find secrets for you to find.
As any challenging video game should, the peaks and climbs get steadily more difficult for Moira, and you must manage your stamina levels carefully if you want to avoid a fatal accident. While there are cathartic moments in your expedition as Moira reminisces of her past life, these can be interrupted due to the harsh environment constantly reminding you that you are not in a safe space.
To reach a bigger audience, accessibility options are welcome features that A Highland Song thankfully offers. Although it would not be considered a hard game by any means, there are certain areas where players could struggle to progress. Easier music rhythm sections, never flailing while climbing, and making the weather and environmental effects less prominent all can make the gameplay experience much less frustrating if some people find them to be difficult otherwise.
Moira’s adventure can parallel many people’s experiences as teenagers, living that eternally rebellious angst and not knowing what to do about their future. Embracing its cultural inspirations and creating a heartfelt rendition of the Scottish Highlands and everything they represent, A Highland Song is a beautiful reminder that nature is the best teacher.
