The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is an adventure RPG that is fully blind accessible. Its graphics are nothing more than floating points of light, like what you see when you close your eyes. The game relies on story and binaural sound effects to push players through. In this case, this is enough.

The lack of visuals is portrayed in the narrative. You play as Alex, a princess who has been blind since birth.

On a journey to her castle, her carriage is attacked by an invading army, leaving her alone and helpless. Well, maybe not helpless. As you continue to learn through flashbacks, she was taught to fight at a young age, relying solely on sound to defeat her enemies.

Movement is done with the left analog stick, weapon use with the right. Early on, we are told to approach a river for some water. If you head in the right direction, the river flow becomes stronger. Unfortunately, your drink is cut by the wolves. You can hear them growl out of range, but when that growl becomes noticeably more distinct, you tap the right stick in the direction you want to swing your weapon.

Angry wolves are one thing, but what about human opponents? There, you hear breathing, the creaking of leather armor, or the clanking of metal. All the while, we hear Alex’s thoughts. Has she learned anything from her past that can help her escape the myriad of dangerous situations she finds herself in? Even meeting people is difficult. Friend or Foe?” he shouts when he notices someone approaching. Sometimes this is not revealed until the person realizes they are blind, as this can obviously affect their intentions.

For those of us used to the rich visuals of RPGs, you might think that a 5 to 6 hour game played in total darkness could be impossible.

But it doesn’t for a few simple reasons. First, there’s the fact that it follows standard action/adventure tropes, and that provides some familiarity to the unusual darkness. Rat extermination mission? Control.

Second, the voice acting is top notch. I’m the kind of guy who will set the audio to Japanese just to avoid subpar English acting. That’s obviously not an option here, given the lack of subtitles, but the acting is excellent. Alex faces danger with a restrained determination that is neither too vulnerable nor too confident. She seems real, as do most of the people she meets. Some of the acting is a little over the top, but most of it is grounded and effective.

Of course, the sound effects are also excellent. It should be during combat, where picking up even the tiniest of sounds is key to victory. The left/right divide is obviously clear. Attacks from the front were initially harder to detect, mainly because they sometimes sounded like they were coming from above or behind. Once I figured out that the forward attack worked on anything that wasn’t coming from the sides, that wasn’t a problem.

Perhaps the most impressive audio feature, however, is the ambient effects. The amount of audio detail and balancing of a simple carriage ride was very nice. I can’t describe why—it’s something you just have to hear—except to say that you never realize how much audio detail is omitted from graphics-driven games to create a sense of place.

Of course, considering the game’s reliance on sound, the developers recommend that you play The Vale: Shadow of the Crown on headphones. I didn’t even try this game in docked mode, and thankfully I have a fantastic set of Sennheiser on-ear headphones that are up to the task. This also means that it will be difficult to play where external noises can interfere with what is happening in the game. This might not be something you should try on noisy commutes.

However, the game isn’t all about fighting. Being an RPG, the game knows to provide traders with item upgrades, quests to accept for various rewards, and key decisions to make along the way. Deciding to travel at night can help you avoid detection by the invading army, but it limits the amount of help you’ll get from your sighted travelers.

It also helps that your upgrades and other UI interactions are guided by a friendly narrator. This is key for visually impaired players, of course, and provides the option for sighted players to stay fully in character as Alex.

In my view, The Vale: Shadow of the Crown’s greatest achievement is that it became more than just a unique gaming experience. After about half an hour, I was hooked on the story, characters and audio presentation. I wanted to complete it not as an experiment, but as a gamer who enjoys quality adventures. I look forward to playing more of the development team at Fallen Squirrel and can’t wait to see how they are able to evolve gaming for blind and visually impaired players.