Song of Nunu Review

Cute & Cuddly Feel Goods

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Platform: Nintendo Switch PC

Reviewed on: PC

Developer: Tequila Works

Publisher: Riot Forge

Release: November 1, 2023

Time Played: 6 hours

Genre: Single player Story adventure

ESRB: E

Song of Nunu is the latest League of Legends game to come out, following Nunu and Willump. If your not a League of Legends fan, don’t worry, there is still a lot of enjoyment to be found here. I’ve never played League of Legends, and was unfamiliar with the characters and the lore, but it didn’t matter. This game stands on it’s own. So please, stick around and let me tell you what you can expect before giving it a rating and placing on one of the shelves behind me.

Where it Begins

Nunu & Willump are exploring the Feljord, searching for the elusive Heart of The Blue, a precious thing Nunu’s mother would tell stories about. Separated from his mother a long time ago, Nunu is convinced the Heart of The Blue is the only thing that can guide him back to her. Willump, being Nunu’s best friend, is always there to help with his monstrous strength and size. Together they can overcome any obstacle.

Can the kids watch?

Song of Nunu is rated E for everyone, there wasn’t anything I’d worry about the kids seeing, they could easily play the game and probably enjoy it more than I did. The mechanics and story are very much geared toward a younger audience. It is enjoyable to the older players out there, but the kids would really enjoy it.

Nunu & Willump

A young boy from a lost mountain village, Nunu, and a big magical yeti, Willump, aren’t the most common duo, but they are certainly meant for each other. Best friends for I don’t know how long, there is no splitting them up. Between Willump’s size and Nunu’s imagination they can do anything they put their minds too. They can take on a pack of ice wolves one minute and enjoy a playful snowball fight the next. The relationship between these two was full of enjoyment and laughter, I couldn’t get enough of it.

Combat

When playing the game you will experience some bouts of combat. It’s not terribly complicated, but you can still lose if you get complacent. Nunu isn’t very capable when it comes to fights, so Willump will have to manage the heavy lifting in this case. Nunu can throw magic snowballs from Willump’s back, freezing the enemies in place, but it’s up to the yeti to knock the enemies out. With only a light attack, heavy attack, and dodge the combos were short, but effective. Fights never lasted more than a minute.

Svellsongur

Nunu will always have his flute with him, a gift from his mother, and it will be used to enjoy a calming night next to the fire, solving some puzzles, and entrancing some of the wildlife. The notes played from the flute will be from any combination of four different buttons, making for around fifteen possible notes. You could play the flute for fun, or follow the symbols found on stones or floating in the air to play a specific song.

Puzzles

The puzzles in Song of Nunu were fun and came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some would involve a little thinking to get past, but not a lot, it is a game geared more toward a younger audience after all. They never felt like they took too long to get past, and not a lot of repeated puzzles. The smaller puzzles were used quite a bit, but the bigger ones felt unique, none of it felt like a chore to accomplish.

LoL Characters & Lore

To be completely honest, I’ve never played League of Legends, but I have a few friends who have, and they enjoyed the story and lore of the game. Nearly every named character met in the game is a character you can play as in League of Legends, so if you’re a fan of the game, I would say you could really enjoy seeing some of your favorite characters interact with each other and what role they played in this story.

Collectibles

While exploring the Feljord you can find small treasures off the beaten path, like special murals showing a story of the land, or giving a sad poro a cookie to brighten up it’s spirits. It was enjoyable looking for these small collectibles if only to add a little more to the entire story. After finding them they will show up in Nunu’s journal for easy access from then on if you want to read about it.

Final Thoughts:

Song of Nunu is geared toward a younger audience, I still really liked it none the less. The relationship between Nunu and Willump was constantly bringing a smile to my face. The entire game was played from Nunu’s perspective so that is who was controlled most of the time, but there were times Nunu’s little legs couldn’t get over a gap or we were under attack and he would ride on top of Willump. In those cases I would control both of them, I’d move Willump around attacking, and I could even control Nunu from the top, he could only throw snowballs or play his flute, but it still a really cool mechanic playing with both characters at once.

I don’t have any prior experience with the League of Legends universe, but I don’t think it took a lot away from the game. If I had prior experiences I may have been excited when some characters showed up and some of the fighting moves they used, I don’t know. It’s still a wholesome experience that I would recommend, especially for the younger ones. It did end up being a short game, but the puzzles didn’t hold me back. There were a few I lucked out on with the solution just kind of accidentally coming about as I was figuring out what was going on. It only took me around six hours to beat, and I only missed a couple collectibles.

I found it fascinating that it seemed to have a lot of different playstyles throughout the story, from platforming to stealth, it was easy to understand and move forward. The different sections of the game weren’t in depth but they added enough of a change so there wasn’t anywhere I felt bored. There were slower points in the game, but they usually had important dialogue between Nunu and Willump. Now we can’t understand Willump, he just grunts and growls, but Nunu can, and the game does an excellent job portraying what Willump is saying through Nunu and the overall feelings at that point.

Conclusion:

I liked this game a lot more than I would have expected and am very excited to get it rated and place it on a shelf.

The game was pleasing to look at, the colors worked well and the characters looked good throughout the entire game. It’s not your triple A super realistic graphics, but it was very consistent. The only problem I had was sometimes my depth perception was thrown off because it was mostly whites and blues, making some of the areas blend. I’m giving it a four.

The story was very good at portraying a strong bond that best friends have and what they must overcome together. I was surprised at how big the feelings were in the story of a kids game. They covered some emotional subjects while staying appropriate for younger audiences. It wasn’t mind blowing or anything, but I’m still handing out another four.

The gameplay as a whole, was good, but if you start to dial in to some specifics there were a few things that could have been better. The combat for instance was very simple, and the targeting was a little funky at times when trying to throw snowballs. Some of the mechanics I feel could have been a little more fleshed out so I’m going with a three.

Song of Nunu was short, so it would be very easy to replay. But like I said earlier I only missed a couple of things through one playthrough, and the story wasn’t compelling enough to go through again, once was definitely enough for me, so I’m giving it a one.

I had a lot of fun playing the game. The varying mechanics kept me engaged the entire time, the dialogue and characters were fun to listen to, overall it was an excellent experience. I’m handing out a five.

Giving song of a Nunu an overall score of three point four. Not bad, only really docked for replayablity. With that, Song of Nunu earns its spot right there on the mid shelf.

I would think if your into League of Legends you’ll want to check this game out. If you aren’t I’m not sure the price is really worth it, unless your getting it for the kiddos, then I’d say it would be a worth while purchase.