Silent Hope is a spin-off of the second generation that is expected to deliver a lot

The development of a successful series and the creation of a spin-off, whether directly or as a form of spiritual successor, is not uncommon in the gaming industry. Persona emerged as a derivative of Shin Megami Tensei. Nier came into existence from Drakengard. Disgaea was born from the Rhapsody series. What is less common is a spin-off of a game that itself is a spin-off. That precisely is Silent Hope.

You may have recognized the adorable, chubby cow in the trailer of Silent Hope, the mascot of the Story of Seasons series. That is because Silent Hope is a derivative of Rune Factory, which in turn is a spin-off of Story of Seasons.

At Gamescom, I had the opportunity to converse with the producer of Silent Hope, Makoto Shioda, and the scenario writer, Honoka Moriwaki, who shared with me that Silent Hope shares its world with Rune Factory. Shioda-san explained that it is loosely based on Rune Factory, allowing for no limitations on the background story or mechanics, granting them creative freedom to develop new themes and ideas.

However, he also mentioned that there was one aspect they were keen on retaining: "There is one thing we wanted to preserve from the Rune Factory world. When defeating monsters, we do not use the term 'kill.' Instead, we simply send them back to their original world. We also utilize the same terminology. The reason we wanted to maintain this is that it is a distinctive characteristic of Rune Factory that sets it apart from other role-playing games."

Story of Seasons is a farming simulation with social aspects, whereas Rune Factory blended these ideas with RPG mechanics such as exploring dungeons, creating a fresh fusion. Silent Hope takes it a step further and appears to focus more on a hack-and-slash action RPG with some crafting and farming elements, albeit in lesser quantities.

Given the abundance of RPGs appearing on store shelves nowadays, it is more important than ever for games to stand out from the crowd. For Silent Hope, this means not only living up to the expectations set by its two older sibling series but also forging its own path to success.

Shioda-san explains that they want to emphasize the action in Silent Hope as an action RPG. The various combat styles, weapons, and leveling - they want players to enjoy all of that. "Typically, in action RPGs, you have one character and can switch their weapons, but we have seven characters, each possessing specific weapons. You can either enjoy all these characters or use one character in a traditional manner."

The character you choose does not influence the course of the story, but it allows you to switch your playstyle at any time by switching to a different character, providing a more diverse gameplay experience. Some characters are more suitable for newcomers and offer balanced playstyles, such as the Wanderer, while someone like the Wizard might be better suited for a more experienced player. Shioda-san tells me that his favorite character is the Farmer, while Moriwaki-san prefers the Wanderer.

Moriwaki-san tells me that the team wanted to find a theme for Silent Hope that felt familiar and could somehow resonate with people in their everyday lives. She tells me, "Through the setting of a wordless world, we want to encourage players to contemplate the true meaning of words in our daily lives."

However, this theme and setting posed a new challenge for the team: How do you tell a story in a wordless world? Moriwaki-san explains, "Usually, stories are conveyed through dialogue between characters. However, since we have chosen this theme, that is no longer possible. Therefore, we have invented a new form of communication through the Princess. The Princess tells them what to do, and they respond, even though they do not directly communicate with each other."

In Silent Hope, there is a lot of dungeon exploration. You will venture into the Abyss, a dungeon that changes every time you enter it. You fight your way through to collect items and resources before returning to the base camp. In your camp, you can enhance your equipment and benefit from each character's non-combat specialties, such as cooking, farming, or carpentry.

This repeated grinding to make your characters stronger feels almost like a rogue-like game, but Shioda-san assures me that Silent Hope is not as merciless. You can simply restart from the next checkpoint if you fall in battle, and you also don't lose all of your weapons or items.

Silent Hope has an adorably charming style with cute chibi characters embarking on adventures in a vibrant and captivating environment. The combination of the focus on dungeon dives and the contrast of gameplay in the base camp is an intriguing blend, and I am eager to see how well this comes together at launch. Only time will tell if Silent Hope can achieve the same success as Story of Seasons and Rune Factory, and we will find out when it releases on October 3rd for Nintendo Switch and PC.