Oh sweet, another language game! I'm really into these as a concept, and I can say 'these' because there's at least a couple other games that have done it. Heaven's Vault (probably the most notable example) was a wonderful experience, albeit a bit janky. It really wanted you to get into the bones of how this one specific language worked and has a sky-high ceiling for how complex it can get, and it had a narrative focus, with branching paths and entire areas you may never see if you only play it once. There's a more obscure game called Tôtem that has you talking to strange alien entities, who are varying degrees of hostile, while trying to decipher what it is they're actually *saying*. A very cool premise, more puzzle-y, but also a kind of parlor game almost, a more complex 'Guess Who'. Really focuses on the 'what the fuck' factor, presenting you with baffling methods of communication that you have to engage with to 'win'.
Chants of Sennaar, the focus of this review, boasts a collection of 186 symbols, and challenges you to translate all of them, as well as understand the syntax of its constituent languageS. There's a collection of languages to decipher here, but unlike Totem, Chants wants you to translate between them. It feels the most formalistic of these, essentially, puzzle games, with trials laid out in the typical gamewise way of escalating difficulty on a theme - pull this lever and that lever and through a series of more complex interactions learn the words for these actions. Later on you might play a simple child's game that teaches you a few basic interactions (which is a neat metaphor for your knowledge and experience at this point).
By the time you've picked up more complex concepts, you'll have probably met someone who speaks a different language from the one you've been learning. The different speakers have trouble communicating with each other, and navigating this language barrier is a core theme of the game. The whole premise is based on the Tower of Babel - ascending through the tower's levels has you meeting new groups of people with new ways of speaking, and, ostensibly, trying to get them to talk to each other. It's a great setup and allows for a kind of deduction you might find in Return of the Obra Dinn, albeit not near as difficult.
And therein lies one of the flaws of Chants of Sennaar, I think. The game simply doesn't get as complexly into translation like Heaven's Vault does, and deduction is made easier thanks to a more forgiving confirmation mechanic than Obra Dinn (if you want to make it harder, ignore the journal). There's also less translating between languages than you would think. There are many translatable conversations, but they function more as tests than they do a normal sort of puzzle. There's enough of these dialogues to satisfy the themes of the game, and your personal development into a polyglot certainly fits as well, but it's not exactly the Death Stranding of making language connections. There are also places where the difficulty of learning a given language drops unsatisfyingly, especially in the fifth level.
Still, I don't think these shortcomings hurt the game too badly. I think anyone who likes puzzle games casually will enjoy it, and it's a fun taste if you've already played Heaven's Vault or if that game seems intimidating at first. Plus the art has a pleasing vectorized sort of look resembling Sable, with bright, striking colors and and an eye for using architecture to evoke mood. The music is also a treat, knowing when to stay light and airy and when to lay on oppressive tones. I had a very enjoyable time exploring its world and teasing out its depths as it unfolded, really Chants of Sennaar's overarching flaw is that it could be more, and just wasn't quite Great.