I’m not going to lie: I knew I’d be interested in The Silent Kingdom the very moment I laid eyes upon it for the first time. An anime-style RPG with gorgeous artwork, a dark storyline featuring a conflicted heroine and optional romance/roleplaying options for those hoping to spice up their adventures? Yes, thank you, I’ll take twelve copies. Seriously, though: first impressions are vital, and developer Lucky Cat, with this respectably-sized Early Access slice of The Silent Kingdom, managed to successfully glue me to my seat and get me thoroughly invested in – as well as excited for – whatever comes next in the story. Being described as an otome RPG with a focus on intricate storytelling and meaningful decision-making, the game delivers pretty much what you’d expect from such a promising moniker, and although I personally would’ve liked to see the RPG side of the equation given just as much attention as the narrative, I still walked away from the Early Access version feeling thoroughly satisfied – and hungry for more.
A cursed kingdom
The plot of The Silent Kingdom follows Princess Erinys, a young woman who one day comes to the bitter realization that nothing in her life is as it seems, and that her entire nation has fallen victim to a dreadful curse. I’m trying my best to tiptoe around saying exactly what happens because discovering even the basic setup for the story is part of the fun (and also because spoilers bad), but as you might imagine, it’s not exactly all sunshine and rainbows. For now, let me just say that the game most certainly won me over on the narrative front. Reminiscent of an engaging TV show or anime series that grabs your attention and never lets it go, The Silent Kingdom keeps its pacing tight and speedy, with ever-rising stakes, gruesome revelations, a constant barrage of interesting character moments, and a variety of morally ambiguous decisions that help give weight to your actions. There is drama, betrayal, murder, politics and intrigue, and it’s all presented in a beautifully written, yet easy to digest format. I really cannot emphasize enough just how much the game’s stellar writing adds to the overall experience – combined with an endless stream of dialogue choices and a powerful soundtrack, The Silent Kingdom’s narrative maintains a perpetually bittersweet mood that permeates the entirety of the Early Access campaign.
Roles to play, choices to make
Decisions are plentiful, and albeit a portion of them likely do not alter the narrative in drastic ways, the game masks this extremely well – granted, while certain choices do lead to optional scenes, even the ones that merely serve as roleplaying “fluff” contribute greatly to the idea that the player is able to shape Erinys’ personality and reactions to their liking. Will you be warm and open-hearted or stoic and practical? Are you ready to make morally questionable choices for the greater good, or will your conscience keep you in check? Roleplaying these personality types is very much possible; if you wish to be a tragic and burdened heroine who’s trying to do the right thing, you can do that. But you could also be a ruthless manipulator who believes that the end justifies the means. That said, with only the first chapter of the story available in Early Access, it remains to be seen just how large of an impact these choices will have in the future, but what’s currently on offer is already plenty satisfying on its own. At the moment, what I can say is that I appreciated what the game was trying to do, and enjoyed the markedly mature tone of its writing and narrative, as well as the sheer frequency and variety of its roleplaying opportunities. Additionally, this also lends a decent amount of replay value to the game. Let’s say you want to explore all the different optional scenes and dialogue choices, or maybe even romance the other guy this time around; there are certainly reasons to go back and redo things after your first playthrough, which is always nice to have in an RPG.
It’s similarly worth noting that the otome elements fit into the narrative rather well; while romance is entirely optional and the story always comes first, The Silent Kingdom never abandons this aspect of its DNA, delivering scenes that range from mesmerizingly titillating to endlessly romantic. What’s more, these scenes never come off as forced, and the men surrounding Erinys aren’t just there to be romanced – they’re integral parts of the plot, each with an important role to fill.
Story comes first – at the expense of gameplay
It has to be pointed out that the game most certainly feels like it’s trying to be a VN first and an RPG second – as a fan of both genres, I wasn’t particularly bothered by this, but I probably would’ve enjoyed some more balance. I predict this might lead to some potential disappointment among gamers who’d prefer more robust systems, more customization, and just… meatier gameplay segments in general. You know, like proper dungeons, for starters. Based on what I’ve experienced so far, The Silent Kingdom is more of an interactive visual novel than an RPG in the traditional sense – it occasionally lets you to fight a few enemies and solve a simple puzzle or two here and there, but otherwise, your time will mostly be spent walking around, exploring various locations and reading dialogue. Lots and lots of dialogue. Which I personally didn’t mind at all, as I found myself thoroughly enthralled by the writing and the story, but I figured I should let you know what you’re getting into.
Combat in The Silent Kingdom is fairly straightforward: it’s essentially a turn-based system with timed button presses that allow you to launch a second attack or mitigate incoming damage. Characters also have special attacks and enemies are occasionally weak to specific elements like ice, fire, and so on, but generally speaking, none of this really matters, as battles are never particularly tactical or engaging. I mean, it’s nice to have combat now and then as it helps to diversify the gameplay, but if you’re looking for genuine depth, you won’t find it here.
To be continued – hopefully sooner rather than later
The Silent KingdomPlatform: WindowsGenre: Adventure, RPGDeveloper: Lucky CatPublisher: Lucky CatRelease: 02/18/2025With its prologue and first chapter available in Early Access, The Silent Kingdom is off to a refreshingly strong start. It currently provides roughly 8 to 10 hours of adventuring in a world that lures you in with its colorful, anime-inspired art style, only to gut-punch you with its dark twists and hopelessly tragic setup. The somewhat shallow gameplay elements are certainly regrettable, but the terrific writing, intriguing characters and the plethora of dialogue choices and immersive roleplaying opportunities more than make up for the lack of more traditional RPG content. Put simply, The Silent Kingdom might not please diehard RPG fans looking for deep combat and gameplay, but anyone who’s primarily here for the story will surely not be disappointed.
