Song of the Deep Reviews
A lovely setting can't quite make up for a game that plays things a little too safely.
Song of the Deep makes a fantastic first impression. Its gorgeous world, charming characters, and melancholy tone make for a unique and effective aesthetic. But once you get into the core of the mechanics, combat and puzzles become a slog thanks to its cumbersome controls and wonky physics. Still, I found myself willing to put up with all of these frustrations in order to delve deeper and deeper into this beautiful world.
A different take on the usual Metroidvania formula, but while the story and setting are charming the puzzles are rarely anything other than frustrating.
An undersea adventure that is more about seeing the sights than captivating gameplay.
A charming story and enjoyable combat make the journey worth taking even if sub-par puzzles, technical issues, and frustrating controls drag down the experience
Though its patience-testing puzzles hit a few sour notes, Song of the Deep still delivers a rich, imaginative undersea adventure.
At around six hours long, Song of the Deep doesn't have enough time to become a disaster, and there are redeeming aspects of it. The character, the voiceover, the presentation are all a change of pace from the video game status quo, and the sense of discovery the first half offers is welcome. But it's hard to shake the feeling of a game with potential that never quite figures out how to deliver on it.
Insomniac Games' Song of the Deep is an excellent metroidvania whose underwater setting gives the genre a nice twist. Its map is impressively large, and it packs many inventive puzzles that are fun to solve. It looks and sounds brilliant too. The boss battles are a little on the weak side however, but they don't take the shine off what is otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable and very sweet exploration game.
Despite its sparkling surface, Song of the Deep could use a bit more polish. That said, it hits more than it misses, and I can easily see myself coming back to its sprawling world every few years or so. With more development time in the form of a sequel (possibly using another mythos and setting), it could be something really special. For now what we've got is absolutely still worth playing.
Combat also comes into play occasionally. It's a secondary trait to the puzzle-solving play, accented by how long it takes to get a traditional weapon for your tiny submarine. Until then, you simply have to make-do with a grappling claw. Upgrades are available that add qualities like extra damage or special attributes to your shots, though it seems as if a few unmarked upgrades would be necessary to handle some of the more difficult combat scenarios.
If you like Metroidvania games and the Child of Light/Ori and the Blind Forest atmospheres, Song of the Deep's gonna give you a lot of satisfaction.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Beautiful, charming and touching, Song of the Deep provides an enjoyable, worthy adventure despite its issues.
Annoying puzzles aside, Song of the Deep is an excellently put together Metroidvania with a sweet tale to tell.
It’s wildly derivative, which is such a peculiar thing to see from such a developer, but I’m glad it exists. It’s just… well, it’s fine.
Enchanting and charming, Song of the Deep is a children’s-fairy-tale-turned-video-game that’s full of wonder and vibrant beauty. The gameplay is both solid and enjoyable, but not without hiccups and hindrances.
Even just moving from one zone to the next can leave you feeling like a child reading an adventure novel, imagining all of the cool new worlds just ready to be explored.
Song of the Deep is a nice, solid length, beautiful side scrolling adventure game that will take most players anywhere from 6 to 10 hours to complete. Lots of hidden treasures to find, upgrades to purchase, and secret areas to discover. Genre wise it’s not doing anything that most other games haven’t done before it, but the setting and story are unique and just captivating enough to provide players with a wonderful undersea fairy tale.
Song of the Deep is a very nice Metroidvania game featuring a huge map to explore, plenty of secrets to discover, and a huge array of different situations and puzzles which make the experience incredibly varied. Other highlights are its beautiful presentation, seamless storytelling style and excellent soundtrack/voice acting. Some irritating puzzles, made so by physics, mediocre boss battles and a few performance hiccups are just minor issues and, thankfully, they are not enough to make this beautiful song go out of tune. Highly recommended to Metroidvania fans and to all those who enjoy well crafted experiences.
Beautiful, plays well – but could have been better.