As The Trashmen famously (or perhaps infamously) sang, “Everybody knows that the (song)bird is the word.” If that’s the case, I guess one might consider a large group of songbirds to be a symphony. 2019’s Songbird Symphony, developed by Joysteak Studios and published by PQube, seeks to expand upon the proclamation made by The Trashmen by answering the question, “Even though everybody knows that the bird is the word, does the bird know himself?”

That’s a needlessly philosophical way to say that everyone deserves to have a place where we feel we belong. That general theme of feeling accepted by those around you and belonging is the central theme of Songbird Symphony’s story. Within Songbird Symphony, you play as Birb, a young bird of an unknown species who seeks to find his parents. Birb was adopted by a friendly peacock known as “Uncle Pea,” who has always seemed to find ways of dodging the question of why Birb is so different from Uncle Pea and the other peacocks around whom he has been raised.

One day, Uncle Pea tells Birb that if Birb is so determined to find his biological family, he should seek out the Owl, the wisest bird in the forest. Birb travels to the Owl’s home and discovers that the Owl possesses an artifact of some kind that can grant any wish of those who use it. The Owl agrees that the artifact can grant Birb’s wish to find his true family. However, the catch is that the artifact must first be restored to its full power by finding a series of magical musical notes that allow the artifact to work its magic.

To find these musical notes, Birb must meet various other species of birds and convince them to teach Birb to sing their unique magical note. That’s where you come in. I would describe Songbird Symphony as a Metroidvania with elements of both rhythm games and puzzle games, as well as a lovely, lighthearted story. I’m not very skilled at puzzle games or rhythm games, but I’ve still found quite a lot to enjoy about Songbird Symphony because it isn’t strict at all about requiring you to perform well at those aspects of its gameplay.

Throughout Songbird Symphony’s story, you’ll participate in what I see as “sing-along” segments, where you’ll have to press certain keys on your keyboard in time with the game’s music to have Birb sing certain notes he has learned throughout his quest. These points in the game are the reason why I described Songbird Symphony as “a Metroidvania with elements of rhythm games.” These segments happen most often when Birb meets one of the other birds who can teach him one of the special notes and, occasionally, when Birb needs to put his singing skills to the test.

In the latter of those cases, you’ll have to contend with what I can only describe as Songbird Symphony’s equivalent of boss fights. There is no actual combat in a game as lighthearted as this, as you might expect. Instead, you’ll sometimes encounter other birds against whom you’ll have to engage in “sing-offs,” where you’ll help Birb use his singing prowess to impress those who seek to prevent him from accomplishing his ultimate goal.

Whenever you complete a song within the rhythm-centered portions of Songbird Symphony’s gameplay, you’re assigned a letter grade regarding your performance. You’ll be presented with records of how many notes you sang in perfect time with the music and how many notes you missed entirely, for example. I greatly appreciate the fact that you aren’t required to earn a certain grade to advance the story. Rather, you simply need to complete each song regardless of how well you do or what your final letter grade ends up being.

I also quite like that you’re allowed to replay any song as much as you like once you’ve finished it if you want to try again for any reason. Once you’ve played through a song to progress through the story, you’ll see a golden statue at the location where you first performed that song. If you want to attempt performing that composition again, all you have to do is approach that statue and press whichever keys appear above it.

The main reason I’m so thankful that Songbird Symphony doesn’t demand near-flawless performance levels on your part brings me to one aspect of its gameplay I dislike. Once you reach a point in the story where Birb can sing three or more different musical notes, you might find the rhythm portions of gameplay overwhelming. This has happened to me quite often during my time with Songbird Symphony, though that could be because I’m not the most skilled or the most comfortable when it comes to rhythm games.

As you and Birb travel to learn the notes he needs to power Owl’s artifact and grant his wish, you’ll have many opportunities to help out the local denizens of those in-game areas. Whenever you walk past an NPC, you’ll see a speech bubble appear over their head, and you’ll be able to speak with them if you press a combination of keys. You’ll easily be able to find the characters who could use your assistance because of this, since their speech bubbles will often say something along the lines of, “Help!”

The most common ways you can assist local characters often involve solving puzzles, such as helping a mother hen find all of her missing chicks, allowing friendly bees to follow you to flowers they seek to pollinate, or pushing blocks onto buttons to power an elevator. As far as I’ve seen up to this point, these objectives are entirely optional and reward you with collectible “world notes,” which count toward the process of 100% completing Songbird Symphony.

That brings me to something else I dislike about Songbird Symphony, though. I’m glad all of these puzzles I’ve encountered so far are optional because they tend to make me feel more than a bit foolish. There have been times where I’ve spent a good while just trying to figure out if I had soft-locked myself during a puzzle even though many puzzles have built-in, easily utilized reset buttons. Of course, it isn’t Songbird Symphony’s fault that I don’t seem to possess the logical thinking skills necessary to excel at puzzle games, but I thought I should mention this potential hurdle anyway.

On a final note, I love just about every aspect of the story told by Songbird Symphony. The game addresses common themes like being treated like an outsider, feeling like you don’t belong where you are, how it feels to be bullied, and how effective communication can amicably resolve misunderstandings and conflict. If you’re looking for a rhythmic, puzzling Metroidvania game with a story that is quite likely suitable for younger audiences, I wholeheartedly recommend you give Songbird Symphony an audition.

A PC review key for Songbird Symphony was provided by PQube for this review.

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Songbird Symphony

$16.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Heartwarming Story
• Gameplay doesn't demand perfect performance
• Quite likely suitable for younger and older players alike
• Enjoyable, lighthearted sense of humor

Cons

• The rhythm elements of gameplay can feel overwhelming
• Puzzles can be difficult and confusing