Visual novel games always seem like a bit of a hard sell sometimes. I don’t know why, because some of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had have been during the playthrough of a visual novel.
The stumbling block for many is the price of some of the mainstream games that are right up there with normal triple A game releases. Winterlight – Where Silence Says It All is by no means a triple A production visual novel, but it punches well above its entry level, paltry price tag of £4.99. For that price tag, you get 32,000 words, three endings, some gorgeous artwork, and for the most part, excellent writing.
I fully completed one playthrough, which in three sittings, took around 3 hours to get through. Obviously, as the game is a VN (visual novel), I can’t give too much away from the story because the game IS the story.
I’ll explain as much as I dare without giving away spoilers. You play as Elías, a young man who returns to his old hometown after some time away. He has to come back home for a somber reason. While he is there, he starts to reconnect with the place and the people he once called home. This then starts to make him think and question himself: What it is he really wants from life and where does he really want to be? Where will he ultimately be himself? Where is he truly happiest? As one of the questions the game poses to you by extension through Elias, do you want a place to breathe or a place to spread your wings (that’s got you thinking now, dear reader, hasn’t it?)?
I’ve played a fair amount of VN games, but I have to admit that the mechanics and gameplay of this one are superb! Simple menus, easy to read text, it does all the basics right. But it doesn’t stop there. The narrative trots along at a great pace. Unlike other visual novels I’ve played, Winterlight never outstays its welcome. You are there long enough to enjoy the conversations and have a think but not long enough to get bored.
The same can be said about the artwork. Again, unlike many other higher production, so-called triple A VN games, Winterlight was brisk but not too quick to show you different visual scenes. Also, the music (I’ll mention this in a moment) regularly changed so as to not bore the player with the same cycle of bars over and over. You can, in fact (and this is genius for a VN game), simply skip the music tracks with the left and right bumper buttons at will.
And how great the music is! WOW. Most of it is just simple piano music with strings or wind instruments by the artist Scott Buckley. What makes it great, however, is that the music, no matter the scene or what track you choose, breathes more life into each scene. Even though each person’s playthrough will be unique to what they are listening to at the time, it all fits.
In short, the pacing of the game is superb! Some VN games get really, really tedious at times and become a slog to get through. Other VN games breeze over important conversations or dialogue far too quickly. Winterlight, for me, got its pacing spot on perfect in the visuals, narratives and the adaptable music score.
I do have a couple of issues, though, with the narrative. The main one would be each character delivered Star Wars Yoda-like kernels of wisdom in nearly each and every line. A lot of the responses were too perfect. When asked questions, the recipient rarely answers with a simple yes or no but, more often than not, with some one-line parable.
The game also set the scene with writing that, again, was a little too much. I’ll make the next two lines up, but you will get the gist.
“The steam from the coffee wafted into his face like a careless whisper.
While the pillow sat comfortably on his lap like an awaiting apology.”
Having writing like this is fine and does, indeed, make things really interesting. The problem is, it was too frequent, and at times the descriptions didn’t actually make sense. This led me to wonder how much of the script, if any, was AI-generated. Obviously, I can’t prove that any of it was, but “the seed of suspicion weighed heavily over the game like a pregnant rain-filled cloud” (see what I did there?). Even if the narrative, in part or whole, and the graphics, in part or whole, were AI-generated, it really doesn’t matter, and the package itself is excellent.
So then, there is the actual gameplay experience mixed with the choices you make. As I didn’t make the game, I won’t ever really know how and where the choices you make affect the different endings or gallery pictures. However, what I really liked and thoroughly enjoyed was, once I was introduced to the characters, I already knew how I wanted the story to progress. Thinking this way, I made conversation choices with that in mind, and thankfully, it led me to the exact spot I wanted for the ending I was hoping for. That was so satisfying, as was that particular ending.
I mention this because, so many times in other VN games, I get frustrated to find out that the right choice I should have picked to get to where I wanted the story to go was the complete opposite answer my character would have made or said at that moment in time. Here, though, everything made sense if you were consistent. Knowing this, I think I could work out how to get the other two endings if I so chose to do so. This is quite liberating for a VN game.
Finally, we have the overarching themes the game is all about. This is also another area in which the game excels as, without giving away spoilers, what happens and what you need to think about and decide are things pretty much most people will go through in their real lives. The narrative really will resonate with pretty much most people of any age over, say, twenty years old.
Summary
If you are interested in the VN genre and want to dabble your toes into such a game but don’t want to spend a fortune doing so, this is the game for you. £4.99 will get you a really well made, well written, great sounding, great looking, shortish but to the point experience. Your choices won’t blow your mind, but they will make you squirm. The game makes you, the player, really look into your own past, thoughts and desires of what you want for the important things in life.
Even VN veterans like me can still get some excellent time from this game. It’s not the best VN game I’ve ever played, but it’s certainly one of the most capable and a very enjoyable experience in such a little package.
Play the game the way I did, in handheld mode in a comfy chair, the rain plastering the window, a steaming hot chocolate by my side, and you will be fully transported into this beautiful world.
Developers: eastasiasoft, SMV Games
Publisher: eastasiasoft
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: 3rd December 2025
Gaming Respawn’s copy of Winterlight- Where Silence Says It All was provided by the publisher.
