Röki's music sounds as gorgeous as the game looks

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Röki’s music sounds as gorgeous as the game looksMusic to our ears

Music to our ears

Tales From The Forest

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The tune you’ll probably hear most in Röki’s second chapter, Tales FromThe Forestplays in the glistening snow groves of its enchanted woodland. Its soaring flute somehow makes the thick, silhouetted trees seem even taller as Tove jogs through the snowy undergrowth beneath, and the way it twists and overlaps with the accompanying violin makes it sound like birdsong whistling through the canopy up above. Combined with the running flurries of trilling ornaments bubbling away beneath it, this track is full of wide-eyed wonder that absolutely nails Tove’s childlike perspective on the world.

Forgotten Church

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Nokken

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There is a great sadness hanging over Nokken’s tale. A monster created in the depths of a lake, Nokken is one of the many creatures Tove encounters on her journey through the forest, and there is something strangely hypnotic about their musical motif. Is it chanting? Is it the sound you make when you swirl your finger round a half-full glass? Whatever it is, it immediately grips you in a kind of trance, leaving you powerless in its grasp. But even when the drums and the bells kick in to give it a sense of urgency and momentum, there’s no menace here, no sinister undertones. Maybe this monster isn’t so monstrous after all?

A Father’s Path

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You get the feeling that Tove’s dad is maybe a little bit useless when it comes to the whole parenting thing at the start of the game, but as the story goes on, you start to understand why. There is a relentless kind of urgency to A Father’s Path, and a determination to never give in. The glockenspiel (or maybe vibraphone?) just keeps going on and on, running through the same sequences as if it’s fighting to find a way forward. But it’s also tinged with frustration as the guitar twangs and slices through that delicate melody floating above it. There is hardship here, but ultimately, I think there is also a great deal of hope here, too.

Bedtime Stories

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Röki is out now onSteamandGOGfor £16 / $20.