Released on December 5, 2024, Symphonia for Xbox Series X|S offers a meticulous blend of custom level design and precision platforming, presenting unique features particularly appealing to speedrunners. Players are encouraged to dive into the world of speedrunning with insights from fellow gamers.
Right from the start, Symphonia was crafted with a focus on rewarding players for mastering control and timing. Although initially conceived as a conduit to introduce classical music to the gaming world, its seamless mechanics and adaptable level design quickly captivated the speedrunning community. The developers invested countless hours fine-tuning the character controls to ensure the game could satisfy both casual players and competitive speedrunners, offering extra depths for those ready to delve deeper. This concept is at the heart of the game’s mechanics and collectibles.
For those who revel in challenges, Symphonia has some surprises in store. The main character, Philemon, is a violinist journeying through the tranquil lands of Symphonia with the mission of reuniting prodigies from various orchestral groups. His violin bow acts as his primary tool, allowing players to navigate the game world in novel ways. Whether it’s as a pogo stick, a catapult, or a grapple, mastering these aerial maneuvers provides a satisfying experience. The precision required complements the speedrunning aspiration of maximizing efficiency and precision at every pixel and frame.
Several team members bring a personal history of speedrunning enthusiasm to the project. Their experiences range from being avid viewers to actually completing runs in games like Celeste and Katana Zero. Back in 2020, when Symphonia was still a college project, the team engaged in friendly speedrunning competitions, with some even keeping glitches secret to gain an edge. This passion extended beyond the development team, as shown by the overwhelming response to an early demo that saw half a million downloads and generated speedrun entries online. These encouraging reactions led the team to establish their studio and dedicate four years to bringing the complete game to fruition.
While the precision platforming genre has naturally drawn in speedrunners, the game was designed with their needs in mind, down to its levels. Even slight changes like moving a block a few pixels can inspire creative new routes. Collectible music notes placed in tricky spots add further incentive for players to take risks and explore. Much like the strawberries in Celeste, these collectibles reward exploration and experimentation through the game. Completing a full game run unlocks Shadow Philemon, your character’s double, which follows with a slight delay, eagerly waiting for any misstep. Moreover, unlockable abilities such as double jumps, surface transformations, and speed adjustments were originally intended as accessibility options but have also opened new gameplay possibilities.
Upon the game’s launch, the team was thrilled by the strong interest from speedrunners, and they supported the community with a dedicated Discord channel for collaboration and brainstorming.
Speedrunning has transformed from a niche interest to a worldwide cultural phenomenon over the past twenty years. The range of games featured in speedruns has expanded dramatically, with first-person shooters, platformers, and even RPGs and strategy games being part of the scene. Platforms like Twitch and YouTube have been pivotal in engaging a global audience, with events like Games Done Quick raising millions for charity. GDQ organizes major charity events twice a year, alongside regular broadcasts to maintain viewer interest.
The passion behind these creative endeavors is evident. Queuety, the lead of GDQ, explains why speedrunning is personally meaningful: “Speedrunning turns any game into both a puzzle and a competitive performance, something which fascinates me and keeps me coming back.”
Our publisher’s enthusiasm for the game’s speedrunning features is deeply rooted, with CEO Dieter Schoeller having previously dabbled in speedrunning classics like Quake 3 and Sonic during the ’90s. Dieter enjoys speedrunning because “the person to beat is no one but yourself.” This shared passion for speedrunning made our partnership with GDQ a perfect match. We were all excited when they showed interest in Symphonia and later featured the game in a segment of their latest GDQ Hotfix episode, an unforgettable moment where I had the chance to add commentary, supported by our dedicated community members running the game live.
If this write-up has sparked your curiosity about speedrunning, you’re in luck—the community is still growing, and there’s plenty of room to make your mark by joining in or exchanging ideas with other runners and developers. We’d be thrilled if you took the chance to tackle Symphonia and engage with our speedrunning discussions on Discord.
Whether you’re a veteran speedrunner or just a curious gamer, we hope you give Symphonia a try and enjoy its vibrant world in your own way.
