The 7th annual Gamescom Opening Night Live, hosted by Geoff Keighley, is in full swing. This year, Lofsöng was one of many games to debut a world premier trailer. Lofsöng, translated from Icelandic, means ‘a song of praise,’ and was announced by Unrelated Studio this past April.
Described as an “art-driven exploration puzzle adventure set across vast brutalist landscapes shaped by deep time,” players transform into a “childlike figure dressed in a weird and bulky headgear, accompanied by a shapeshifting origami companion.” In the universe of Lofsöng, “Earth has been a dead planet for a long time. What remains is a gray desert of dust and ashes, an Exclusion Zone stretching for miles into an everlasting nuclear winter.”
Normally in post apocalyptic games like this, other characters are able to communicate various dangers to the player, and give them directions to prevent them from getting lost. Lofsöng is no exception, but there is a twist: no functional dialogue is used in this game. Instead, players must listen to the Earth’s music and pay attention to its geometry in order to progress. It is noted, however, that this is a game that demands attention. Unrelated Studio is adamant that this is a game that conveys a message that does not end once the game is finished. “Beneath the surface lies a second layer of mysteries,” they write on their Steam page. “Secrets encoded in stone, in sound, in the world beyond the screen. The game does not end when the credits roll.”
For Gamescom Opening Night Live, Lofsöng’s first trailer was revealed. “What do we leave behind, and whom?” asks Alessandro Durando, creative director for Unrelated Studio. He goes on to explain that the game’s purpose is to help players ponder this question, telling the story of humanity’s past and possible future. The trailer opens with a meditative humming soundtrack, becoming faster and more percussive as the player character flies through the sky. The world is empty, filled only with snow dunes and various rocks, except for the player and their companion. Lofsöng does not have a planned release date yet, but can be wishlisted on Xbox Series X and S consoles, and Xbox PC and Steam for console players.
