Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 84 | 11 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 94% | 89 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 92% | 87 | 1821 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Mar 25, 2025) · 300 reviews sampled · 1821 total reviews in window · weighted 233.6 up / 18.1 down · computed 5h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (11)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 80
“All in all, Symphony of War is a mechanically sound turn-based tactical RPG that hearkens back to the best games in its genre. Dancing Dragon is clearly a team full of passionate folks who have bright futures ahead of them. It shines through in every layer of this experience, with its chapters of lore, a serious approach to war, a light approach to characters, and an intricately detailed visual style and gameplay system.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“The latest from Dancing Dragon Games, Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga, blew away my expectations. Starting off with a traditional RPG with Steamborn into a more customized turned based RPG with strategy elements in Echoes of Aetheria, the first installment of Symphony of War designed with RPG Maker Ace is a prime example of why RPG Maker Games, and their developers, are worth looking into and The Nephilim Saga is shining proof.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Increased enthusiasm for tactical role-playing games in recent years is leading to a wealth of fun indie experiences in the genre. Dancing Dragon Games, a small JRPG developer, partnered with Dark Deity publisher Freedom Games for its own entry, Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga. It isn’t just an homage, though, offering overlaid tactical systems that make it feel mechanically distinct. The scrappy release isn’t much of a looker (though there’s some nice sprite work!), but the gameplay is what matters, and there’s a lot of thought to it.”
read full review ↗ - 81
“Novel tactical mechanics make this indie a contender for the best strategy RPG this year.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga has deep mechanics that are certainly addicting, so long as you can overlook some narrative snags here and there.”
read full review ↗ - 88
“Returning players are in for a treat with Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga - Legends.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Symphony of Ware: The Nephilim Saga pulls from classics such as Fire Emblem and Ogre Battle to create a brand new IP that impresses and leaves us wanting more.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Tactical gameplay is both Symphony of War's strength and weakness. The systems are excellent and interact well with each other, but the level design is unfortunately poor and not very creative. The title, even so, is a great game, recommended for TRPG fans and especially for Fire Emblem fans.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga is surprising and a little underwhelming at first. But, if one gives it time to reveal its systems, it offers plenty of tactical depth and a solid narrative. The fact that there’s no direct control over combat makes it more important to think about force composition and careful squad deployment. I never became fully invested in the story, but the tactical puzzles were always fun to work through.”
read full review ↗ - 83
“Perfection is not stationed in Tahnra yet, but despite this, Symphony of War is still a strong and compelling turn-based strategy thanks to the amazing mix of simplicity and depth of its mechanics.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“The sound design is supported by an old fashioned art design that gets the job done. Sometimes it looks like a very attractive GBA game and sometimes the portraits are distractingly higher res than the character models. Classic game weirdness! And that’s the thing- Symphony of War doesn’t get perfect marks across the board. But it adds up to more than a sum of its parts. Once you start noticing how elegantly all of Symphony of War’s systems interact, you’ll never be able to go back.”
read full review ↗
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COGconnectedPatch history
- Patch 1.10.23 is now live!Mar 25, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Version 1.10.2 Small fixesSep 27, 2023
- Version 1.10.1 is live!Sep 20, 2023
- Symphony of War Small Update 1.10.04Sep 9, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Small update 1.10.02Aug 30, 2023
- Symphony of War: Legends DLC is live!Aug 28, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Symphony of War 1.05.1 Minor UpdateMay 21, 2023
- Chinese localization updateMay 6, 2023
- Symphony of War 1.05 is Live!May 1, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Symphony of War Hotfix 1.04.4Feb 15, 2023
- Hotfix 1.04.2Feb 8, 2023
- 1.04.1 HotfixFeb 7, 2023
- Symphony of War 1.04 is Live!Feb 6, 2023
- Symphony of War 1.03 is live!Nov 1, 2022
- Version 1.02.2 Halloween event is Live!Oct 25, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- 1.01.1 Rollback option availableSep 24, 2022
- 1.02.1 HotfixSep 24, 2022
- Symphony of War Version 1.02 is live!Sep 23, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- V1.01 Patch NotesJul 8, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- 1.0b2Jun 21, 2022
- V1.0b Patch NotesJun 20, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- Upcoming patch 1.0b notesJun 17, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- V1.0a Patch NotesJun 13, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- Demo 2.4 is up!May 28, 2022
- Demo 2.3 is up!May 18, 2022
- Symphony of War DEMO has been updated!May 5, 2022
- Symphony of War DEMO 2.0 Is up!Apr 27, 2022
- April Dev Update!Apr 9, 2022