Call of the Sea

Since I started delving into reviewing games I've tried to branch out a bit from my typical genres. I've always been partial to RPGs above all, but action games like Ghost Recon or adventure titles like Tomb Raider have always been fun too. Then there are more narrative-driven games like The Last of Us or hack n' slash action like God of War. Call of the Sea might never have turned my head in the past, but there is definitely a place for peaceful puzzle games like this one that Out of the Blue developed.

Call of the Sea tells the story of a young woman hoping to find her husband on a remote island some 74 miles off the coast of Tahiti. Henry, the husband, went there with the intention of finding a cure for his wife. Our protagonist has an illness that has not only placed concerning dark spots all of her hands, but has rendered her somewhat immobile through exhaustion. As the exploration of the island continues, however, the player-controlled Norah discovers that she has more energy than she's had in years and begins to feel a kinship with the mysterious island she navigates.

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A first-person puzzle game inspired by HP Lovecraft (Cthulhu).

It's a low-budget indie game, and at first I was put off by the cartoony art and glitches. The glitches got significantly better after chapter 1 and were gone after chapter 2. And I quickly got used to the art and swept up in the story.

The story was really good, and I was filled with ever-growing dread and anticipation from the moment act 2 began. The main character's voice actor was really good. The puzzles were perfect. A few were headscratchers that stumped me for a while, but I never needed to look up a guide.

I tried to explore everything in one playthrough. I completed the game and had about 90% of everything (60% of achievements) after 8 hours. Another 1 or 2 hours for a quick run-through to grab the things I missed and get 100%.

If HP Lovecraft made a video game, it would be exactly like Call of the Sea. I think the ending was somewhat more logically understandable and less terrifying than most of his stories, but Call of the Sea is still a fantastic addition to the eldritch horror genre.