I’m just going to say it. Most modern action RPGs are too loud. They scream at you with map markers, glowing trails, and combat systems that feel like they were designed by a committee focused on "player retention" rather than atmosphere. Then there’s Mark of the Unheard.
It’s quiet. It’s brooding. It’s exactly what the genre needed.
Developed by a small, dedicated team, this title has been quietly climbing the ranks of "must-play" lists for anyone who misses the feeling of actually being lost in a world. It doesn't hold your hand. Honestly, it barely even acknowledges you’re there at first. You play as a nameless protagonist in a world where sound is a currency, a weapon, and a curse all at once. The "Unheard" aren't just a faction; they are a thematic pillar that dictates how you interact with every single pixel on the screen.
If you’ve played Elden Ring or Lies of P, you might think you know the drill. You don’t. Not really.
The Combat System in Mark of the Unheard is Basically a Rhythm Game for Sadists
Most games use sound as window dressing. You hear a sword clank, you see a spark, you move on. In Mark of the Unheard, sound is the literal mechanic governing your survival. There’s this "Resonance" meter that builds up every time you make a noise—sprinting, clashing steel, or even using certain abilities.
Too much noise? You’re dead.
The enemies in this game don't just patrol; they listen. I spent forty minutes yesterday trying to bypass a group of "Echo-Walkers" in the Sunken Cathedral. I couldn't just dodge-roll my way through because the sound of my armor hitting the stone floor would alert the entire room. I had to learn the acoustic properties of the environment. Imagine a Soulslike where the floor texture actually matters for stealth. It’s stressful. It's brilliant. It makes every victory feel earned in a way that "press X to parry" just doesn't.
The weapons follow this logic too. You aren't just picking between a "fast" dagger and a "slow" hammer. You're picking between a "High Frequency" blade that can shatter crystalline shields but attracts enemies from three rooms away, and "Muted" bludgeons that deal less damage but keep you invisible to the ear. It’s a trade-off that forces you to rethink your entire build every time you hit a new biome.
Why the Narrative Style Works (And Why Some People Hate It)
The story isn't told through cutscenes. You won't find twenty-minute monologues explaining why the world ended. Instead, you find "Sound Echoes." These are brief, distorted audio clips left behind by the dead. You have to physically stand still and listen—actually listen—to piece together the lore.
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It’s polarizing.
Some players find it tedious. I get that. We’ve been conditioned to want instant gratification. But there’s something haunting about standing in a ruined hallway, hearing the faint sob of a mother from three hundred years ago, and realizing that the boss you’re about to fight is the child she was trying to save. It’s environmental storytelling that uses the ears instead of just the eyes.
Level Design and the "Verticality" Trap
We need to talk about the map. Mark of the Unheard features a world that is strictly interconnected, but it avoids the "Dark Souls clones" trap of just having elevators that go back to the first bonfire.
The world is built like an instrument.
Wind tunnels act as shortcuts, but they carry sound. If you open a specific door in the upper rafters of the Silent City, the wind might start howling through the lower levels, changing the enemy placements and difficulty of an entirely different zone. It’s a reactive world. It feels alive. Or, well, decaying, but in a way that feels consistent.
A lot of games claim to have "meaningful choices," but usually, that just means picking a dialogue option. Here, the choice is: do I open this shortcut and risk making the rest of the level louder and more dangerous? It’s a mechanical consequence, not a narrative one.
The Bosses are Audio-Visual Nightmares
I mean that in the best way possible.
The first major wall most players hit is the "Cacophony Sentinel." Most bosses have a "tell" you can see—a shoulder wind-up or a foot stomp. The Sentinel is different. His tells are auditory. You have to listen for the pitch shift in his hum to know if he’s about to lunge or release an AOE blast. It forces a level of focus that most games just don't require. You can't play this game while listening to a podcast or half-watching a YouTube video. It demands your full sensory attention.
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Technical Performance and Indie Limitations
Let’s be real for a second. This isn't a AAA game with a $200 million budget. You’re going to see some jank. The animations can occasionally feel stiff, and there were a few times where I got stuck on the geometry in the "Whispering Woods" area.
But honestly? It doesn't matter.
The art direction carries the weight. The use of negative space and shadow is masterful. It reminds me of the early days of Team Ico—Shadow of the Colossus vibes where the atmosphere is so thick you can almost taste the dust in the air. The developers prioritized the "vibe" over the "fidelity," and it was the right call.
Is Mark of the Unheard Too Hard?
"Difficulty" is a loaded word in gaming. Is it hard? Yes. Is it unfair? No.
The game operates on a very strict set of rules. Once you understand that noise equals danger, the game becomes a puzzle. If you try to play it like Devil May Cry, you will have a miserable time. You will die constantly. You will probably rage-uninstall. But if you approach it as a survival-horror RPG, it clicks.
There’s a specific item called the "Tuning Fork" that acts as your primary healing mechanic. You don't just drink a potion. You have to strike the fork and wait for the vibration to settle. It takes about four seconds. In a boss fight, four seconds is an eternity. It forces you to find "pockets of silence" in the middle of chaos. It’s a brilliant subversion of the standard healing loop.
Real-World Community Reception
If you look at the Steam forums or the dedicated subreddits, the conversation around Mark of the Unheard is fascinating. People are sharing "sound maps"—blueprints of levels marked with where the floorboards creak or where the wind dampens your footsteps.
I’ve seen players arguing about the "True Ending," which apparently requires you to complete the final three hours of the game without triggering a single "High Resonance" event. I haven't done it. I don't know if I'm good enough. But the fact that the community is digging this deep into the mechanics shows that there's real substance here.
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How to Actually Get Good at Mark of the Unheard
If you’re just starting out, stop running. Seriously. Walking is your best friend.
- Invest in "Dampening" Gear Early. Don't worry about your attack stats for the first few hours. If they can't hear you, you don't need to hit them as often.
- Watch the Dust. The visual effects in the game aren't just for show. If you see dust rising from the floor, it means you're moving too fast and generating noise.
- The "Hum" Mechanic. You can "hum" to lure enemies. It’s a basic distraction, but the pitch matters. High-pitched hums attract smaller enemies; low-pitched hums attract the big guys. Use this to separate groups.
- Environment Traps. Many areas have hanging bells or glass shards. You can use your ranged "Slingshot" (which uses pebbles) to hit these from a distance, drawing enemies away from the path you actually want to take.
The Cultural Impact of the Unheard
We are seeing a shift in the indie scene. For a long time, every "Soulslike" was just trying to be Dark Souls but harder. Mark of the Unheard represents a move toward "Sensory RPGs." It’s about more than just stats; it’s about how the player perceives the world.
It reminds me of how A Quiet Place changed horror movies. It wasn't about the monsters; it was about the silence. This game does the same for the RPG genre. It makes the absence of sound feel heavy.
Final Thoughts on the Experience
There is a moment about halfway through the game, in a location called "The Void of Echoes," where the game strips away all sound entirely. It is pure silence. No footsteps, no wind, no combat noise. It is the most terrifying level I have ever played in an RPG. You realize just how much you’ve come to rely on your ears to navigate.
That’s the mark of a great game. It teaches you a language and then takes it away to see if you’ve actually been paying attention.
Mark of the Unheard isn't for everyone. It’s slow, it’s punishing, and it requires a level of patience that many people simply don't have when they sit down to play a game after work. But if you’re tired of the same old "map-clearing" simulators, this is the antidote. It’s a masterpiece of tension.
To get the most out of your first playthrough, I highly recommend using a high-quality pair of open-back headphones. The directional audio is pinpoint accurate, and playing through standard TV speakers honestly does the game a massive disservice. You need to be able to hear the "weight" of the air shifting behind you.
Check the system requirements before buying, as the volumetric fog and sound processing can be surprisingly taxing on mid-range PCs. Once you're in, take it slow. The world of the Unheard is meant to be felt, not rushed. Start by focusing on the "Vibration" stat in your character sheet—it’s the most underrated attribute for survival in the early game. If you can master the art of the silent kill before reaching the first major bridge, the rest of the game's difficulty curve will feel much more manageable.