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Sea of Solitude Review – Sunken in the Dark Sea

After Fe, Sea of Solitude is now another title in EA’s program “EA Originals”. The title by indie developer Jo-Mei is a dark adventure in which you slip into the role of the young woman Kay and explore a flooded city.

Find out here what’s hidden in the sea, what demons you have to face and if it’s worth taking a look at Sea of Solitude.

As a monster among monsters

Loneliness turns people into monsters. This is the premise of Sea of Solitude. The focus is on a feeling that everyone knows – including our protagonist Kay. And who wouldn’t feel lonely if he found himself alone on a boat in the middle of the sea?

This is how Sea of Solitude begins and explains to us directly where the name of the game comes from. A dark sea, a cloudy sky and the desire to change.

A journey begins not only to influence yourself, but also the lives of those around you. Kay doesn’t remain alone all the time – she always encounters other monsters. Some of them are friendly, others not. And also these were all people with their own history.

A wonderful and oppressive world

The world of Sea of Solitude is changing. One moment it is dark and frightening, the next bright, friendly and inviting. On a graphic level it is in any case beautifully realized. Depending on saturation, the artstyle can seem colorful as well as eerie and is suitable for both versions of the game world.


However, the atmosphere is always as Sea of Solitude intended it to be, underlining the story that is being told. Also the musical background is wonderfully fitting and is supported by the cleverly chosen sound effects.

It’s these that create the horror elements of the game. There aren’t any jumpscares, but there are some parts that make you feel very uncomfortable as a player. All in all, the game tells more of a story of growth and change, which tells more of tragedies than of horror.

Known Gameplay

Sea of Solitude does not reinvent the wheel with gameplay. You can always ask the game to tell you where to go next. First and foremost, your task is to get from A to B without being caught by a monster.

These passages are well implemented. You can’t just run through them, but they’re no challenge for the experienced player. Death doesn’t have very serious consequences, the game saves regularly automatically and doesn’t let you do too much again. So the danger of frustration is eliminated.

From time to time, Sea of Solitude adds a little variety to the gameplay by, for example, having to find an item – sometimes you’re chased by a monster.

In addition to the main story, there are optional things to collect, some of which extend the story. These are sometimes more and sometimes less hidden. So if you want to see everything you should have a good look around. These Collectibles are not necessary to understand the whole story.

As deep as you want

One aspect that I particularly liked is the fact that it’s up to each player to decide how much they want to see in the story.

In the course of her journey, Kay encounters other people who have become monsters. Each of them carries his own form of loneliness around with him, of which I’m sure every player knows at least one.
Whether you simply accept the stories and fates of the individual characters and let them sprinkle you with them, or whether you want to start thinking about them yourself and take a message with you is up to you. Sea of Solitude can be enjoyed in both ways.

It’s also not necessary to think about how much symbolism there is in the different aspects of the game. You can, because there’s a lot to it, but the game is also so beautiful.

Fulness

With Sea of Solitude EA has added another wonderful title to its indie program. The world and atmosphere are fantastic, just like the story itself. Unfortunately the game is a bit short with about four hours playing time and a bit expensive at the moment for about 20€.

Nevertheless, there is little to complain about the quality of the game. The main aspect of the game is its story, which it tells in a wonderful way.

Pro
Contra
Story
95%
+ Emotionally and beautifully told
+ characters develop appropriately
– Relative short
Gameplay
90%
+ Variety
Balance
75%
+ save score often automatically – Little challenge
Control
90%
+ Simple, intuitive control
Graphic & Sound
90%
+ Pleasant soundtrack
+ Matching sound effects

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

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