Fading Serenades review: A short-lived but wholesome adventure

Who hasn’t longed for an idyllic, peaceful life away from the 24/7 hustle? Fading Serenades delivers such an experience, though not without a few unique quirks to help it stand out from the countless other cosy games. Its premise is simple: deliver packages on a remote island. Yet, it easily captivates despite its simplicity. 

But beyond its nostalgic allure, does this title manage to offer anything of substance? Not necessarily in the depth of its meaning, but in the scope of its gameplay and narrative. That’s what this Fading Serenades review intends to find out. If you’re keen to hear more about this quaint island steeped in mystery, stick around. 

The Escapist recaps

• Fading Serenades is a new title in the cosy gaming genre, developed and published by solo developer Bernie Wicks.
• This retro inspired experience takes place on a remote island, in which the protagonist (Callum) will need to jump, hike, balance, and climb their way across difficult terrain. 
• Fading Serenades is a short game which can be completed in under six hours. 
• Fading Serenades release date is 23 October, and the title will be available on Steam. 

Wonderfully nostalgic

A hark back to the days of pixelated graphics isn’t difficult to find; there are so many indie games that tap into our nostalgia. But Fading Serenades is one of the best examples of this continued interest in retro gaming. 

From the moment I was introduced to Clifford Island, all I kept thinking about was how much it reminded me of classic Pokémon games. Bernie Wicks has captured that aesthetic perfectly, so that even when the dialogue or back and forth of quests gets repetitive, you’re so enchanted by the graphics that you don’t mind.

The pixel art style has the right amount of blockiness, vibrance, and detail that the 90s and 00s feel in tangible reach. That’s an incredibly impressive feat for any game, but even more so when it’s been created by a solo developer. 

As this Fading Serenades review will show, the game has some missteps that ultimately hold it back. However, its aesthetic and the nostalgia it exudes isn’t one of them. 

An intriguing but unfulfilling mystery

Fading Serenades’ narrative is where its brilliance begins to dull. Even though there’s a promising story just waiting to be told, repetitive dialogue, low stakes, and an underwhelming final decision leaves you unfulfilled. There’s no meat on these bones. 

Part of the problem comes from the slow pace of the game, in which finding out the truth becomes secondary to delivering parcels, or at least it did for me. Then there’s the problem of the same dialogue and quests being reused time and again, so that any snippets of story you do learn are easily missed because you’re powering through the same “I need mushrooms” quest for the eighth time. 

Finally, when Callum has amassed the knowledge he seeks and the end is in sight, the choice he’s left to make has minimal impact. Or rather, none we experience within the game. Although leaving the consequences open to interpretation is a valid creative choice, it’s one that offers little to no pay-off for players. There’s a lot of heart that’s gone into Fading Serenades. But its narrative stumbles halfway and doesn’t properly recover, sadly.

Never Idle

One issue you’ll never have while playing Fading Serenades is being idle. Every day you’ll be tasked with delivering and collecting packages from the NPCs of the island. Oh yes, the grind never stops, not even when you’re deep in the forests or atop a cliff. It’s one of those love-hate aspects of the genre that even the best cosy games include. 

Personally, I really enjoyed playing as a courier. In fact, I easily lost track of time by telling myself that I’d do one more run before turning the game off and going to bed. Dear reader, I did that a total of five times before I actually switched the game off. 

In some respects, Fading Serenades’ repetition acts as a calming routine that gives you a little dopamine hit every time you complete a full day of deliveries. And when you’re able to fit everything neatly into Callum’s backpack, why, that’s another huge dopamine boost right there. 

The monotony of being the one and only postal worker on Clifford Island is broken up by the mini games you need to complete when traversing the terrain. You can’t just walk across a log bridge – you have to maintain your balance, lest you fall in and damage the goods you’re carrying. 

Balancing is only one of the skills you must master; you’ll also need to quickly follow direction prompts to cross stepping stones, move the cursor into the allotted space before the time runs out while climbing, and time your dash jumps just right to avoid falling into the river. 

These mini games offer variation, however, they eventually become a little too familiar and do end up breeding some contempt. Bye Sweet Carole combatted this very issue by only having the balance mini game appear occasionally. Doing so adds an unpredictability, which I believe every game needs to some extent. 

Short but (mostly) sweet

Perfection is such a fallacy; even the most brilliant games fall short of it in one way or another. Therefore, Fading Serenades missing out on perfection is far from a slight on its developer. 

Within this brief but pleasant game is an adventure that delivers an enjoyable experience. With those long, dark nights now rolling in, I can’t think of a better way to spend an evening than traversing Clifford Island. 

Ask The Escapist