Song of Nunu was provided by Riot Forge for review. Thank you!
Back at Gamescom a couple of months ago, I got to meet with Riot Forge and talk to them about their upcoming game, Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story. While it didn’t have epic battle sequences, deep narratives, or statements about the gruesome nature of the real world that many bigger games have, it does have one thing I don’t see in many other games currently: love. The game’s premise revolves around a brotherly bond that becomes deeper through shared experiences, and I was all there for it. Now that I have had a chance to play through the full game, I can confidently say this feeling persists, and it’s wonderful.
Song of Nunu follows League of Legends heroes Nunu and Willump as they travel through the Freljord, searching for the Heart of the Blue and Nunu’s mother. As you travel around in this 3D platformer, you will come across other heroes like Braum and Ornn as you traverse the beautiful snowy landscapes. There is some fighting, but the majority of your time will be spent solving puzzles, climbing walls, and taking in the gorgeous sights. It was a nice change of pace and kept me relaxed and enjoying every moment.
While it does create some engaging moments, even for the areas I wasn’t as much a fan of, the story completely won me over. I have always been a bit of a sucker for seeing characters from outside the game, but still involved in the series, appear, but the heartwarming tale of Nunu and Willump is one I cherished. Watching as their familial bond strengthened as they worked together to complete their goals was something I was enjoying as much as some of the bigger games released this year!
And apart from a couple of areas, the game runs superb on the Steam Deck!
Song of Nunu – Steam Deck Performance
For the most part, Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story doesn’t have much issue with performance and can hit 60 FPS in a majority of areas, but with some of the larger levels, I did notice larger drops. I wanted to optimize these areas for a consistent, stable framerate throughout the game. Through testing, I saw one setting that affected performance: Rendering Quality. Setting this to anything above “Low” tends to drop the framerate in these more significant areas to below 30.
Otherwise, the game runs flawlessly but can be pushed for visuals and framerate without compromising in the open areas.
Recommended Settings
Choosing a recommended group of settings was difficult for this game. There was a lot of leeway due to the game running perfectly in smaller areas, but in the end, I decided the quality build was the way to go. It does mean a cap of 30 FPS, but with every other setting on its highest (other than Render Quality), the game looks as best as it can with no sub-30 framerate dips.
Framerate Build
The other option I was on the fence of when choosing my recommended setting. The framerate build can hit 50 FPS throughout the whole game, and that smoothness feels amazing. In the closed-off areas, the battery drain can go as low as 10W, but the open areas can hit upwards of 21W. Most areas will be on the lower side, but with the times that go up too high, I decided not to keep it at recommended. This is a solid option and will still be okay on battery for the most part.
Battery Build
With a mix of lower settings and a 30 FPS cap, we can get a stable framerate with a TDP limit of 7. Thanks to its limit, we can get around 14W of battery drain max in the larger areas, and even lower on the smaller ones! This is fantastic for those who want lower temps and to extend their battery as long as possible.
Accessibility
To make the game easier to play, Tequila Works (the developer) has put in a solid amount of accessibility options. You can change subtitle color and whether there’s a background and toggle colorblind mode. There are also toggles for combat, QTE, and climb jump assist, as well as visual hints, camera shake, and an optional story mode so your characters never take damage. There are options to change crosshair size and audio volume and change camera speed.
I also want to make special mention that the game supports 13 different audio languages, not just text. These include English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Turkish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, and Russian.
Song of Nunu doesn’t support 16:10 resolutions, which is a bummer, but it does support both cloud saves and gamepad controls.
Conclusion
Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story may not have a dark, deep story or over-the-top action, but it succeeds tremendously without it. Visually, it is wonderful, and I loved the emphasis on puzzle-solving in creative ways. The biggest win is the heartwarming tale that it tells. Seeing the bond between the two protagonists grow, even when met with challenges to their relationship, was inspiring and a nice change of pace.
There are some areas that drain a little more than they should, but for the majority of the game, Song of Nunu performs admirably, and I can happily recommend playing this on the Steam Deck!
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you’re looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we’ve got your back.
