Every so often, it’s good to have a recreation that simply washes over you for a couple of hours. I like a difficult boss or a head-scratching puzzle as a lot as the subsequent man, however typically I’d moderately simply not hassle with all of that fuss and have some easy enjoyable gliding about a stupendous world, an expertise that Sword of the Sea is all too glad to offer.
You awaken as an historical guardian in a world that may be very sandy, and put merely, your aim is to make it not so sandy. You’ll be utilizing your sword like a surfboard to journey the dunes with a motion system that’s dead-simple however extraordinarily satisfying, with how simply you glide over the terrain, solely sometimes breaking to do a lightweight little bit of puzzle-platforming.
To open the paths earlier than you, you’ll want to succeed in switches, keep away from obstacles, sure over massive gaps, and the like, and you’ve got a quite simple moveset to take action. You employ the fundamental motion to construct up momentum, then you’ll be able to cost your leap to totally different intensities, earlier than double-jumping in mid-air to hold that momentum and get extra distance, and in the event you want just a bit additional push, you’ll be able to carry out tips to softly stall your descent and eke out just a bit additional distance.
This trick system does get some enjoyable makes use of too, as alongside the way in which you’ll discover some skatepark-style areas the place you’ll must get air, wall journey, and carry out tips to construct up your combo to beat a excessive rating in a set period of time. These are fully optionally available distractions, however they do showcase that the motion system is extra in-depth than it might first seem.
Your reward for doing all of this – for reaching every little goal – is that you just get to observe this barren, desert land rework right into a vibrant and delightful ocean. The cruel vivid browns are changed with glowing blues and greens, with an ideal number of vibrant sea life gliding by each the water and the air, dancing like stars within the night time sky.
After you’ve been looking at sand for thus lengthy, the transformation is an unbelievable sight to behold, however the recreation makes positive you get to really feel it in addition to see it with a quite simple trick: you go sooner when on water. That’s all it takes so that you can really feel rewarded for going by the hassle of restoring life to the realm; you get to expertise this non permanent rush of additional pace and momentum that takes you to the subsequent space, the place you’ll must do it yet again.
And that’s the sport. You do this on repeat for about three hours, sometimes unlocking a brand new little little bit of motion tech to maintain issues fascinating, in addition to going by your basic run of desert world, ice world, lava world, to verify the beautiful visuals by no means get too mundane.
There may be additionally a narrative, although it takes the less-is-more strategy. You will discover nodes round that provides you with the lore and historical past of the world, however by way of what’s on the principle path, it’s a easy story of two strangers coming collectively in an odd world to fight a power seemingly larger than them. The cutscenes are all fairly quick and candy, and even with none actual fight, it nonetheless managed to climax satisfyingly in a “remaining boss” of kinds, so I can’t complain.
The puzzles aren’t significantly difficult, however that enjoyable, easy-going vibe is strictly what the sport is after, and it’s not prefer it doesn’t know find out how to tug in your gamer mind both. There’s a easy foreign money you’ll be able to accumulate by discovering chests all through the world. You possibly can then spend it to unlock new tips and further little bits of motion. They don’t essentially change the expertise, however they’re a pleasant little distraction that tugs you off the crushed path every so often. They maintain your mind engaged simply sufficient that you just by no means get bored.
Plus, when you beat the sport for the primary time, it lays out a problem. After the credit roll, you’ll get a stats display screen telling you the way lengthy you took to beat the sport, mixed along with your complete trick rating throughout the sport to provide you a remaining excessive rating. Since my preliminary, leisurely run by the sport solely took just below three hours, I instantly felt that temptation to drop again in and attempt to blitz by it for a greater rating.
I like that the sport waits till after your first playthrough to current this concept to you. It is aware of precisely the way it desires you to expertise what it has to supply the primary time round – you’re imagined to lose your self on this planet. Then, when you’ve had that have, it’s more than pleased to provide you issues like an on-screen speedometer and score-counter if you wish to go round once more with a extra gamified focus.
Like Abzu earlier than it, Sword of the Sea is an easy recreation that’s value anybody’s time, particularly because it gained’t take up a lot of it. It’s the type of calming title you could slip right into a single night and simply let your self be carried alongside by its satisfying motion, attractive visuals, and easy-going challenges.
Sword of the Sea. 8. PC. . Sword of the Sea
