‘OPUS: Echo of Starsong’ Review – Emotional and Essential
The first game in Sigono's OPUS series, OPUS: The Day We Found Earth, came out on iOS and Android in 2015. That game was eventually made available on PC and Nintendo Switch, and OPUS: Rocket of Whispers followed the same pattern. I loved the first game so much that I've played it on every system. Even though I have some problems with how OPUS: Rocket of Whispers is played, I still think fans of the first game should try it out. When OPUS: Echo of Starsong ($8.99) was announced, I hoped it would be available on iOS because it looked so much bigger and better made than the first games.
OPUS: Echo of Starsong came out first on PC, and then Nintendo Switch got a better version with Chinese and Japanese voice acting. After that was fixed in the PC version, OPUS: Echo of Starsong came out on Xbox, including Xbox Game Pass. Usually, a game would first come out on PlayStation platforms and then make its way to mobile much later. However, OPUS: Echo of Starsong finally came out on iOS this week for a fraction of what it cost on other platforms, bringing all the updates and voice acting with it.
Even though the games are all set in the same world, OPUS: Echo of Starsong can be played on its own if you don't want to play the first two. OPUS: Echo of Starsong is mostly about the story. It has some point-and-click adventure-style gameplay, light puzzles, and decisions you need to make that involve some random number generation (RNG), just like Disco Elysium. I'm not going to give anything away about the story, but this is Sigono's best one yet, and I can't imagine anyone not being moved by it by the end of the dozen or so hours you'll spend here, depending on how much you focus on the main story or how much you focus on the side stories.
OPUS: Echo of Starsong is Sigono's most ambitious game so far. It is a huge improvement in almost every way, and the Japanese voice acting I've used during my playthroughs is very well done. This is not only the best Sigono game, but also one of my favorite iOS and Nintendo Switch games of the year. I just hope that future updates will fix the few problems I have with the iOS version.
Given how the game is played, I don't think most people would care much about controller support, but it is there. You can move around and move the conversation along with a controller, but you can't make decisions with it. For that, you will need to use touch controls. I also couldn't get my iPhone and iPad to share my progress. I don't know if iCloud save sync is included, but if it is, it didn't work for me. I hope that this will be done in the future.
Echo of Starsong works well on both PC and Steam Deck. There have been some performance issues with the Switch version, which have been fixed in some updates. Even on newer devices like the iPhone 14 Plus I played it on, OPUS: Echo of Starsong aims for 30fps on iOS. Sigono told me that there are currently no plans to add 60fps support to the game. In some ways, it looks better than the version for the Switch. On my iPad Pro (2020), it doesn't look as good as I had hoped. If you have Steam Deck, it's definitely the best portable experience right now, but if you don't, I'd recommend iOS over Switch.
Echo of Starsong is a must-have app for iPhone and iPad owners. Given how good the game is, I already thought it was too cheap on consoles and PC, but the iOS version is an even better deal since it costs less than half. This is Sigono's best work, and I can't wait to hear what the studio comes out with next. I just hope it won't take too long for Sigono's next game to come out on iOS and Switch. OPUS: Echo of Starsong is a game you should play if you like stories with memorable characters and great music. Even though I've played OPUS: Echo of Starsong on nearly three different platforms, I still can't believe how good it is.
