Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story Review: Endearing Tale of Two (PS5)

Riot Games has steadily expanded its League of Legends Universe in different media. It has released the incredibly successful and popular first season of Arcane, with a second season on the way. Riot is also planning on releasing a fighting game in the League of Legends universe, and has released several single-player video-game tie-ins so far. Song of Nunu is the latest tie-in that follows a boy named Nunu and his large yeti companion, Willump. 

It’s a fun, yet simple videogame that reminded me of the type of games that came out in the early 2000s. This choice works in the game’s favor as these lighthearted characters take on a grand magical adventure. This Song of Nunu review will be spoiler-free.

Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. 

STORY – Journey Across Frelijord 

Nunu and Willump sees the boy and his yeti travel across Frelijord, a frozen land in search of the heart of blue. Meanwhile, Lissandra, the ice witch, is watching in the distance. What makes the story special is the bond between Nunu and Willump. For fans of League of Legends, it’s exciting to see where Nunu comes from exactly, how everything ties together, and their origin. These two characters are best pals whose chemistry shines in every cutscene. Nunu is incredibly sincere and innocent while Willump is playful yet fierce when he needs to be. It was a fun dynamic to watch unfold.

As mentioned previously, for those familiar with League of Legends, there are a lot of cool connections to other characters. I was quite interested in how certain things were related to one another in this world. Using Nunu and Willump as a perspective to tell a story in Frelijord was a great idea. It felt similar to how we watched Jinx and Vi’s perspective in Arcane and were able to understand Piltover and Zaun more.

Don’t make Willump angry!

I loved where this story went too. There are some obvious story beats that Song of Nunu uses but because I loved these two characters so much, it felt earned. There are some genuinely heartfelt moments in this game and I felt for Nunu so much. I also liked how a certain character was able to get information and how these recurring events gave us more information on characters. As this Song of Nunu review won’t go into spoilers, I’ll leave it at that. For those that have played the game, you’ll get what I mean. 

Gameplay – Old-School Fun

Song of Nunu is primarily an adventure game. As such, it has quite a few different gameplay mechanics such as traversal, combat, puzzles, and more. Nothing in here feels incredibly impressive on its own though. Everything is pretty straightforward. This game doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. For example, for combat, you’ll primarily be pressing square to attack, O to dodge, and triangle to freeze. There is no real expansion on it besides that. I think that works fine in this framework however as not only is it not the main purpose of Song of Nunu, but it’s also a lighter title. 

There are a lot of brave wolves in Frelijord!

As for the puzzles, I found them to be creative and the best gameplay element here. There were numerous puzzles where I had to think. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s something you’ll be able to figure out without a guide if you keep at it. Although there are two characters, you only control Nunu during these puzzle sequences, but you will guide Willump to wherever it is he needs to go. My favorite “puzzles” were the ones that required Nunu to use his flute. Several locations in Frelijord are only passable by playing a song.

The notes for the songs are different buttons on the controller. Apart from the first few times, these notes are not subsequently shown to the player. Song of Nunu encourages the player to learn where the notes are mapped on the controller and I loved that. It was incredibly satisfying seeing a song on screen and being able to play each note correctly without stumbling. 

These flute sequences with Nunu were fun to learn

Generally speaking, these elements made Song of Nunu’s 8-hour campaign an enjoyable time. That being said, certain gameplay loops didn’t work entirely for me. Traversal was fun but there were times when it also got a bit repetitive. “Dying” in the game just returns the player to wherever they were 10 seconds prior. As a result, if there was a line of dialogue, you’d hear it over and over again. Controlling these two characters during traversal sometimes felt stiff as well. Without spoilers, that didn’t work for me. included a tedious stealth portion later in the game. 

Graphics and Audio: Vibrant Adventure

Song of Nunu has a very charming art style to it that really fits the world here. Frelijord, despite being a seemingly barren and frozen wasteland, is incredibly vibrant in aesthetic. I would have thought the land would be darker but as Nunu and Willump traverse it, Frelijord becomes more beautiful. Later in the game, these two characters enter an area that is just overflowing with colors. I loved the use of ice and how it helps give a more bright and shiny aesthetic. It helped the colors really pop. 

Frelijord hosts some splendid views

And as the title suggests, there is a lot of music here. It’s one of the best aspects of Song of Nunu. As mentioned earlier, there are flute playing sequences where players have to the notes that appear on screen. These create music and it’s all very memorable. Outside these flute playing events though, the music never takes a backseat. Exploring new regions of Frelijord plays aggrandizing music. Some of it feels mysterious and almost treasure-like. Song of Nunu always hooked me in that regard. The music always pulled me right alongside these characters.

Have you played Song of Nunu? Do you agree or disagree with this Song of Nunu review? Let us know!

Song of Nunu was reviewed on PS5 with a review code provided by Tequila Works.