‘Fading Serenades’ Review: A Bite-Sized Delivery Game

When I first came across Fading Serenades, I was immediately captured by its art style that takes a lot of visual cues from the Game Boy Colour era of gaming, one that I missed by a few years. From the previews I saw the game looked like a blast and I was not disappointed. Read our review for Fading Serenades below.

Fading Serenades follows Callum, Clifford’s Island’s newest courier who arrives from the futuristic mainland. He’s joined by his personal drone, Par, now a radio, as the island is retro not adapting to the New Energy lifestyle of the mainland. As the game progresses, we learn that Callum is here for more than being a courier and the secrets of the island slowly unravel.

I think it’s important to start off with the gameplay as I know it won’t be for everyone. Given that it’s an item delivery game you will find yourself running across the map constantly as you navigate the terrain looking for the various NPCs. The game does offer a map but it’s restricted to the post office meaning you’ll have to plan your route in advance and rely on your memory to locate certain areas faster. I enjoyed the inventory management system as it felt like a little puzzle to solve every once in a while.

Each delivery rewards you with credits, which can be used to restore your stamina or purchase various upgrades, some enhance your quality of life, while others are necessary to progress through the story. I found all the upgrades exceptionally worthwhile, while I ignored the pamphlets until I neared the end of the game they became extremely useful, allowing me to finish all my tasks with plenty of time to spare each day. The upgrades were fairly price,d even though at some points I had to dedicate a few in-game days to doing extra tasks like fishing to earn enough credits.

Navigating throughout the island was personally a simple task once I understood the layout however due to some of the routes I took, the minigames, which I enjoyed at the start became a little tiresome early on as I raced against the clock before 10 PM. The rock jumping minigame in particular felt  a little strange at some points as the time rapidly increased and I had to rely on my reaction time to get the correct input. On the occasions that I made it past 10 PM I was pleased to know that there wasn’t much of a noticeable penalty, I only noticed that my day would start 3 hours later from 6 AM to 9 AM instead. 

I found the game to be mostly bug-free. There have been a few situations that I’ve noticed particularly in a task from the Baron who in the dialogue, mentions bringing a Cod to Rose however once claimed, you are actually required to deliver the Cod to Donna.” There’s also a matter of the sprinting minigame which I’ve often failed because the pop up would appear on screen too late and timing the fishing input is a bit difficult as it feels like you have to get it just right. Overall, the mechanics are pretty straightforward and easy to understand. I only really found myself struggling with the rock climbing minigame a little bit until I realised what I was doing wrong.

Moving on to the art style, I’ve said it before and I’ll always say that I absolutely adore pixel art games and Fading Serenades is no exception. I also loved the scanlines option as it gave the game a retro feel which is further accompanied by the way the camera moves. The camera only focuses on a section or “block” of the map which only changes once the character leaves that space. The areas are all well designed, over my many travels across the map I couldn’t stop but stare at everything each zone had to offer and admire how lively it felt, especially with the few animals roaming about.

I found the whole mystery of the story pretty fun, though I was able to figure out why our character came to the island pretty early on. The way the game describes some things such as “after 10 PM the island gets weird” kept me a bit on edge, I expected the game to get a bit creepy as we progressed, and while that didn’t entirely happen the feeling was still there throughout which added to the overall experience. The story is rather short but I booted into the game with that in mind and still felt like the game had a lot to offer, especially when you include the achievements players can work on. 

The game does end pretty abruptly leaving whatever happens next to the player’s imagination and I was a little bummed out about that. The ending of the game offers you two choices and I was surprised when I couldn’t find any footage on that second choice. This prompted me to replay the game from an earlier part than I expected (as I forgot to save right before the end of the game). The second ending plays out the same, leaving it to the players to interpret, but I was happy to see how quickly I was able to get back to that point.

Overall I found Fading Serenades to be a delightful adventure for fans of this genre. The gameplay as I mentioned won’t be for everyone as it requires a lot of running around the map but it’s also that gameplay that allows you to really remember the zones, their little quirks, and how well crafted they are. The story, while short, is still a fun mystery to solve over the course of a single day or maybe weekend, involving a fun cast of characters.

Fading Serenades is developed by Bernie Wick and is available on Steam for $9.99 USD.

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