Call of the Sea Review — H.P. Likecraft

When I first saw that Telephone call of the Body of water was going to be heavily inspired past the works of H.P. Lovecraft but wasn't gear up to exist a horror game, I was skeptical. To me, it seems similar the entreatment of Lovecraft's work are the cosmic horror elements. That said, while I do recall that Call of the Sea probably would have benefited from leaning more into those themes, I don't think I was giving the game enough credit with my skepticism.

Telephone call of the Sea is a outset-person adventure game and is the debut work from programmer Out of the Blue. The game is set in 1934 and follows the adventures of Norah Everhart equally she looks for her missing husband on a forgotten island in the South Pacific. Norah retraces the steps of her husband'southward expedition, which set out to find a cure for her mysterious affliction.

The main gameplay loop in Telephone call of the Sea comes from exploring each chapter to find clues nearly the trek's whereabouts and solving puzzles to uncover the island's mysteries. While the story is engaging and has enough intrigue to keep you wanting to find more than, the puzzles in the first half of the game miss a certain "oomph" for lack of a better term.

I just wish the puzzles were a piffling bit deeper.

Every bit things happen in the story and equally you detect puzzle items and clues, Norah writes down notes in a periodical that can exist accessed with the push of a button. By exploring the environments, you'll detect many clues to puzzle solutions that have been left behind by Norah'south hubby in the form of collectible documents. The problem is, once you lot've found all the clues to any given puzzle, the solution is essentially written out for you in Norah's journal.

This could accept been an first-class way to assist those who struggle with puzzles by giving them hints until they eventually find enough to come to the solution. Yet, it'south always unclear what the puzzle elements are until y'all've picked upwards the documents that lay it all out for you. Essentially, information technology's impossible to solve the puzzles without giving yourself the solution, and in the kickoff half of the game, Phone call of the Sea felt like it was playing itself.

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I just wish the puzzles were a little flake deeper. It feels like if y'all explore the expanse and read the numerous text documents, you'll only find the solution. In that location'due south very fiddling critical thinking because all you need to do earlier solving a puzzle is a very surface level scavenger hunt. This sort of easy puzzle solving does make some sense for the game equally it'south heavy on narrative, but it feels like the developers are afraid of you missing the story because of a puzzle.

It was an "ah-ha" moment that was absolutely earned, but information technology was a little likewise late…

You may have noticed that I said puzzles were unproblematic in the first half of the game. There's a specific puzzle involving the translation of an ancient linguistic communication that stumped me for over an hour. I kept thinking that there was something I missed or that I was making things as well complicated, but I just could not understand what I was looking at.

Eventually, I got through the section because I emailed the developers begging for help. They kindly walked me through it, but that section left me feeling like the difficulty curve was a little off. The only other puzzle that I struggled with was the final ane, simply I found its solution very gratifying. Information technology was challenging, but once I had gotten it, Call of the Body of water made me experience extremely clever. It was an "ah-ha" moment that was absolutely earned, but it was a footling too tardily—the final puzzle was the simply one where I felt truly engaged.

Puzzles aside, Norah is voiced by Cissy Jones who has washed great work in other games like Firewatch and The Walking Dead: Season One. Unsurprisingly, she continues to pull off a groovy performance in Call of the Body of water. She perfectly encapsulates Norah past using a slight transatlantic accent that captures the unabridged vibe of the game. Whatsoever issues I accept with her performance land more than towards the writing than the bodily Five.O.

While the first few chapters are intriguing and mysterious, the game completely lost me towards the end. Without wishing to spoil annihilation, some twists and reveals have left me with more questions than answers. Every bit I got closer to the end, I asked myself, "how? Why?" more than frequently. The game explains what's happening with Norah'south story moment to moment fine enough but doesn't provide a lot of background on why things are happening.

Additionally, there are pretty big existential and life-altering twists that happen every bit you uncover more about the isle that Norah takes pretty well. Given the circumstances, it felt odd that she just took everything at confront value. If I had found out that sure things were different than other things that I previously thought they were, I would exist a lot more shaken upward nigh it.

…it's not a horror game, simply the Lovecraftian influence tin be seen from the very start.

Telephone call of the Sea's narrative is weird and doesn't tie up its loose ends perfectly, only at to the lowest degree it's memorable. Whether or non the story resonated with me is irrelevant in that regard and makes me nearly desire to recommend it for that reason lonely.

Despite my distaste for the game'southward puzzles and narrative twists, if you're looking for something with temper and tone, Telephone call of the Body of water is your game. As I said before, information technology's not a horror game, but the Lovecraftian influence can be seen from the very start.

The art style, audio pattern, and environments capture elements from Lovecraft'southward work while not existence outright horrific. In that location are tense moments throughout that give the story an uneasy feeling, all based on its setting alone. Then, throw in some of the mysteries from the story'southward early hours, and y'all've got a stew cooking.

Out of the Blueish'southward Tatiana Delgado hit the nail on the head in a video released near the production of the game when she said, "we're trying to focus on the surreal and the oneiric more than than the horrific and the grim," and I retrieve that they evangelize on that.

Telephone call of the Ocean's biggest trouble is that information technology can't decide what kind of puzzle game it wants to exist.

Call of the Sea's biggest problem is that it tin't make up one's mind what kind of puzzle game it wants to be. On ane side, it has puzzles that just be to break up the flow of collecting documents and examining photographs. On the other side, there are a few challenging puzzles that accept critical thinking but stop the narrative'south step right in its tracks. It feels afraid to pick a side, so instead, it doesn't and leans on its story to do the heavy lifting. Unfortunately, Call of the Sea's narrative has a solid start but fizzles out in one case the mysteries are uncovered.

I think Call of the Sea is a fine commencement for Out of the Blue. It clearly has some places where it could accept been tuned upwardly, just overall a recommendation would have to come with a few caveats. Notwithstanding, because of its place as an Xbox exclusive that tin can be found on Game Pass, information technology's easy plenty to requite it a try.

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Source: https://www.dualshockers.com/call-of-the-sea-review-h-p-likecraft/

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