Someone said it right when they said that the way to play Silence is after a long, hard day, bundled up by the fire, with a cup of hot tea. It's a charming, sometimes funny, sometimes tearful game about a brother and a sister that end up in a magical world.
After the Whispered World, the focus seems to have shifted from mere beauty and puzzles to the presentation of a game as a whole. Gone is the irritating voice actoring and a lack of an interesting plot. Silence starts off with a gripping opening and presents you with characters you actually care for. I fell in love with Remie right away and her little quips and gestures. Her actress is great. The acting in general is light years ahead of the first game's. The animation, especially Remie's, is pretty good too, especially for such a small studio. The soundtrack is one of the best parts. I found myself listening to it again and again. The setting is quite beautiful. New projection technology was used to create the most 2D looking 3D scenes I've ever laid eyes on. Passing through certain spots felt like stepping inside a painting.
The puzzles are what you might describe as being on the casual side, but I see that as a benefit. If Silence's puzzles were harder, I feel they would've gotten in the way of the game's pacing.
The game is not without flaws. Some of the dialogue is strange in a few places and overall, the plot could have been done better. Various people have also mentioned that the game is too short for the asking price. Well, length does not equal having a good time. The Whispered World was a lot longer, with a lot more puzzles, but I never got to play it past the opening scene because boredom set in and I had better things to do. I played Silence all the way through and enjoyed it a lot more.
We put so much value in the length of games these days that we don't really notice what good value really is. Silence is a precious little gem in a market full of filler gameplay sludge. I think it's worth it.
