Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story Review (PC)

I had an imaginary friend growing up. You most definitely did, too. It’s okay to admit that you were once a young child with a wild imagination that manifested in the form of a gigantic imaginary buddy who played games with you, comforted you when you cry, and hugged you when you were scared. Things were more innocent, then. You didn’t have to worry about scary things like annual checkups at the doctor, teeth cleaning, taxes every April, and your phone dying because you forgot to plug it in last night.

Imagine, for a moment, if your imaginary friend was real. Think about your imaginary fuzzy friend being a gigantic pal who was always by your side. You could play with them in the snow, build snowpersons, have snowball fights, and go on adventures! How does that sound? That, my dear reader, is the gist of Nunu and Willump’s relationship in Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story. Oh – and you can HUG YOUR IMAGINARY FRIEND! Give Willump a hug!

Song of Nunu puts the player in control of Nunu, an orphan Notai child of the Freljord with an enchanted flute. Along with him is his gigantic, four-armed, fluffy, unintelligible, yet goofy yeti pal named Willump. Their tale is one of enchantment, discovery, and legend as they make their way across the frozen wilds of the Freljord. If you’re familiar with Nunu and Willump from Riot Games’ League of Legends, you should expect to experience a great deal of childish wonder thanks to Nunu being no older than eight years of age. He’s a wee tot and sees the world through the lens of endless adventure despite losing his entire family! For those familiar with Riot Forge’s previous games, you should expect to see the world of Runeterra through a more narrative-forward lens that has breathed life into Riot Games’ gigantic cast of magical characters. Either way, Song of Nunu is an adventure through emotions, leaning quite heavily into childishness and naivete that are often lost among players who’ve transitioned away from simpler games and into more mature titles.

As I’ve aged, I’ve become less and less interested in watching films from Disney and Pixar simply because of how I’ve connected with mature and emotional themes. On the gaming front, titles like God of War (2018) and Kentucky Route Zero have succeeded in forcing me to feel seemingly foreign feelings of trauma, intrigue, and the loss of innocence via tales of varying specificity and vagueness. Some emotions were pulled from me from explicit cutscenes of the loss of a major character, whereas other emotions emerged long after I finished the title and I thought back to what I played. As such, I’ve sought titles that made me feel something genuine, even if that feeling is something that made me feel less than happy.

Song of Nunu has made me feel things I’ve forgotten about. I sit before you a thirty-plus year-old player, one without children (anytime soon if not ever) sans those of my extended family members. I’ve become far removed from the feelings of wonder, naivete, and simplicity oft-expressed from those who’re coming of age and making their way through the world. Put simply, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a child. Playing this game reminded me of the silliness and ridiculousness of child-logic thanks to Nunu’s story and his journeys with his best friend Willump. It also reminded me of how fun life was when I was but a wee tot, sans the gigantic fluffy yeti and the snowball fights. I grew up in Los Angeles – sue me for lacking experience with frozen sky water.

This is all to say that Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story is one that is narrative and adventure first, everything else is second. And, most importantly, it succeeds incredibly well in pulling at players’ heartstrings from the first moment of the story all the way to its ending. The first scene, especially, sets players up to feel loss and concern as Nunu looks for his fuzzy pal in the middle of a blizzard. While this first scene sets the stage of something terrible to come, it’s brief. This one scene becomes quickly forgotten as the story shifts backward three days into where Nunu and Willump were prior to the blizzard. Thanks to this, you forget about this tragic moment because of how Song of Nunu directs your attention toward experiencing the joy and silliness of Nunu’s present.

Song of Nunu plays like a co-op adventure minus the 2P of a human sitting next to you using the subpar controller. You know what I’m talking about, folks with younger siblings. For those without siblings, think back to God of War (2018) or It Takes Two. Imagine if Kratos was a little boy with a knitted cap in the shape of a blue yeti while Atreus was a gigantic fluffy yeti. This is the basic gist of Song of Nunu – you control Nunu through most of the story while Willump tags along doing Willump things, occasionally tossing Nunu up onto his shoulders when navigating treacherous situations. And you throw snowballs! Snowballs are so underrated, y’all.

Thanks to Nunu being childish, it becomes very easy to fall in love with him, Willump, and their relationship as they go on their adventures through the Freljord. Song of Nunu excels in instilling immaturity, fun, and silliness despite the unseen existential threats tied to their journeys in finding the Heart of the Blue. When I played God of War for the first time last Thanksgiving, I slowly came around to appreciating Atreus – his immaturity was annoying at first, but that one moment caused me to worry about him. You know the one, folks. Unlike God of War, though, Song of Nunu treats players with cuteness overload very early on. It chips away at the player’s emotions like an ice sculptor creating a magnificent display, only revealing its most tender moments when players least expect it.

Let me be clear: I am not attempting to argue that Song of Nunu is equivalent to Santa Monica Studio’s God of War titles. It’s a more refined and simpler tale set in Riot Games’ Runeterra without the gruesomeness of Kratos’ past slaying mythical beasts and god(desse)s. Instead, Song of Nunu does everything in its power to tell a delightful story and fully immerse players in childishness without being tacky or heavy-handed forcing players to believe that the main characters are naïve beings. I would be incredibly surprised if Song of Nunu failed to put a smile on your face at least once.

The main gameplay elements of Song of Nunu are comprised of small minigames, puzzles, and combat sequences. Nothing is grindy, but the games themselves aren’t necessarily deep, either. Some are simple, like throwing snowballs at blast cones in the correct order or climbing up walls similar to Horizon Zero Dawn’s climbing mechanics; others are complex, like playing the flute by selecting specific notes in tune with the beat or moving puzzle pieces in a very specific order. Towards the end are some stealth-based sequences that border on frustrating, but these frustrating little bits avoid marring the overall feel of the story. The gameplay elements supplement the story rather than act as intermissions between skippable cutscenes.

Do I wish that Song of Nunu had combat that was more fully realized? Yes, without a doubt. Combat is intermittent in Song of Nunu, peaking in a final boss sequence reminiscent of Nier Automata’s platforming bullet hell. Though, this time it’s much less graphic. It would make sense for the lack of combat heaviness to be derivative of Nunu and Willump’s lack of combat experience; if this was the case, I would certainly hope that any future adventures of the snowy duo to involve deeper and more complex button combos against more Freljordan enemies. But, button mashing through Song of Nunu’s wolves can be cute. One such element emerges during a combat finisher, causing Nunu to appear in front of a weak enemy and pointing upward, only for Willump to fall from the sky and smoosh the enemy into smithereens.

Throwing snowballs and exploring ends up being fun, though. It makes sense for Nunu to suddenly want to engage in a snowball fight with Willump or ride on his back down a mountain through the snow. Every time Nunu decided to take on a snowball fight was unpredictable and spur of the moment, leaning into the childish nature of Nunu doing whatever he felt like doing to lighten the mood. Song of Nunu’s minigames were thematically appropriate – just like It Takes Two!

Because Song of Nunu is an adventure game, I expected the Freljord to be fully realized and interactive. It wasn’t the most interactive, but much of the world felt alive as I wandered through the frozen tundra. Nunu left footprints in the snow. Jumping into a snow pile caused a *poof* of frost to emerge from my feet. Birds flew away as I approached while small krugs (yes, the rocky monsters found on Summoner’s Rift in League of Legends) puttered about. While I wandered through the snow, Willump would do his own thing like draw on cave walls, creating snow persons, and sniffing flowers. Coming across a Poro (a small little puff ball with a gigantic tongue) would cause Nunu to recognize its existence and express wanting to feed it a Poro snack. I wasn’t able to interact with everything, but the important bits of the world recognized my existence and input and reacted to my presence.

You don’t need to be a longtime League of Legends player to appreciate Song of Nunu. There are some awesome Easter Eggs for keen-eyed League players, though. If you’ve read my reviews of CONVERGENCE or Ruined King, you’re probably familiar with how I’ve praised these earlier titles published by Riot Forge in getting players up to speed with a microcosm of Runeterran lore. Tequila Works has done no different with Song of Nunu in that major “plot” points that have been alluded to and are known by most League players are referenced in meaningful terms. Song of Nunu avoids burying the lede by keeping players in the loop and highlighting critical junctures.

Speaking of being a League fan – Riot Forge’s partnerships with developers like Tequila Works has made my investment in Riot Games’ universe pay off in spades. Song of Nunu is one of multiple games that has breathed life into Riot’s gigantic cast of characters, the majority of which have been shown off in cutscenes and cinematics for naught more than a handful of seconds. Song of Nunu fills in many of the blanks of champions’ origins without retconning their previous backstories or creating narrative disconnects. Seeing champions like Nunu and Willump, Volibear, and Braum interact with each other and the world around them makes them feel less like disparate entities and more like meaningful additions to the universe Riot has created over the years. These champions are not the only champions you can come across, mind you, so be on the lookout for more as you explore!

On the lore front, I’m curious to see where the Runeterran universe goes from here. In mid-October, it was announced that Runeterran lore would be refocused — tying up loose threads and making short-form stories canon. At that time, it was also announced that Song of Nunu was going to be made canon and connected to the larger shared stories of Riot’s narrative universe. Song of Nunu doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but it introduces brand new plot points that will definitely shift the future of Freljordan royalty. I’m intrigued yet cautiously optimistic.

I had a great time playing Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story. Outside of the multiple moments that tugged on my heartstrings and left me feeling all warm and fuzzy, I couldn’t help but smile multiple times throughout its story. The story alone kept me going while the minigames were fun, albeit some more than others. As a League of Legends player, it felt like multiple champions I have mained over the years were given justice and opportunities to shine in ways that they could have in a cinematic for a skinline. Except now, you could be the champions and see them interact with the world around them rather than run it down mid.

Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story is an excellent candidate for your holiday gift list, if not a candidate for something to play this holiday season. It excels in crafting an emotional tale that hits all the right notes of childishness and the wonders of childhood while also encouraging players forward. It’s not the deepest game, but it is a masterclass in storytelling and worldbuilding. Don’t worry if you’re unfamiliar with any of Riot’s previous games – your yeti pal, Willump, will give you a gigantic hug either way.

A copy of Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story was provided by the publisher for the sole purpose of this review.