Sea of Solitude’s character vignettes are poignant and show relationships and issues I haven’t seen explored in this way in many games. The game succeeds in the former, but doesn’t provide enough space to achieve the latter. Instead, Kay’s focus becomes understanding the problems and pain the people she cares about most are dealing with, and trying to understand how said problems relate to her and how she moves through the world. But that’s not really how the game plays out. The player is meant to discover how this happened, and try to find a way to reverse it.
Originally, Sea of Solitude was pitched as a story about Kay, a young woman whose loneliness and other dark feelings have turned outward and given her a monstrous form. What’s conveyed less well, unfortunately, is the narrative we were promised at E3 2018. This is extremely key in a game that’s attempting to do trauma and mental illness justice. These sections can be frustrating mechanically, as it’s easy to lose your way, or fall off a platform and have to start over, but they effectively create a sense of tension that captures the panic and paranoia Kay is experiencing without having to rely on jump scares, over the top gore, or more traditional tropes of “madness” that horror usually deals in. Other segments inspire fear by flipping the aesthetics on their heads, swapping peaceful color for murky darkness that obscures the paths and platforms you need to traverse, or hides lurking enemies you have to evade in the shadows. Knowing that she’s always there, ready to snap you up in a pretty brutal, if repetitive, animation keeps things tense as you navigate the water, without the oppressive frustration that plagues games like Outlast. I’m normally not a fan of showing the monster in horror media, because our imaginations tend to be so much scarier, but the fishlike monster that stalks Kay throughout the different watery areas is effective because you can see and hear her. Sea of Solitude’s darker side shines so brightly because it’s able to effectively evoke the sublime horror that is the uncaring vastness of the ocean, and the mysterious monsters that lurk below its depths. There’s a sense of warmth and whimsy in these sections that handily distracts from the fact that the ocean has consumed the city around you.īut that’s the thing: the ocean has swallowed this city, and if given the chance, it, and its frightening denizens, will happily swallow you too. Moving through the world is a pleasure because even when the gameplay is less than stellar (the platforming and puzzle mechanics are pretty bare bones and leave much to be desired), it’s still a lovely jaunt. In a world where the standard of beauty for games is generally “how photorealistic is it,” Sea of Solitude’s pastel palette and soft, dreamy edges are a breath of fresh air. Berlin-based indie studio Jo-Mei’s new game, Sea of Solitude has managed to evoke this sense more than any other game I’ve played. It’s simultaneously the most beautiful and terrifying thing I’ve ever encountered. We will try to get back to you as soon as possible and will do our best to help you.The ocean has always been something that mystifies me. If you encounter any issue with your game, please let us know by filling out the form by clicking on the button below.
This support section is for owners of the Switch version of the game only.
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