Song of the Deep Reviews
Song of the Deep's story is touching, its art is beautiful, and its soundtrack is lovely, all of which come together to make a visual treat. Then I had to actually play it and I found it frustrating at some times, boring at others, and quite glitchy. Some may be able to forgive it, but I can't see many doing so.
Despite some of the puzzles becoming a major pain in the last few hours of the game, it’s pretty easy to recommend Song of the Deep. It’s a relaxing undersea adventure with a compelling storyline and an earnest and endearing protagonist that you genuinely want to help with completing the task of locating her father.
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.
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
Song of the Deep isn’t a bad metroidvania; it’s just very basic. It doesn’t do anything particularly well, outside of maybe its endearing story, but it isn’t absolutely unplayable either.
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.
Song of the Deep has everything going for it: the great art style, cool story, and fun Gameplay. However, it falls short in the final segments where it changes everything that makes the game great. As a result, this one may be tough to come back to after players have finished it.
The beautiful soundtrack and incredible visuals, paired with an emotional story of loss and survival, is worth venturing 20,000 leagues under the sea for.
You'll find out while deep under the sea, that this adventure should have remained on shore. With uninteresting puzzles and mixed controls, you may want to think twice,
A different take on the usual Metroidvania formula, but while the story and setting are charming the puzzles are rarely anything other than frustrating.
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 gorgeous and has some creative ideas, but lacks the polish to make it a must-play.
Song of the Deep is quite often a fantastic voyage, full of rich detail and swimming with charm, but it does little mechanically to rise above similar, better titles. At its best, it’s an entertaining way to spend a few hours in a wonderfully-built ocean world. At its worst, it’s a cheap. uninspired and frustrating slog.
On the surface, everything about Merryn’s adventure is absolutely charming. The deeper you and Merryn go, the game loses its luster, but it’s still worth undertaking the journey if this style of adventure game sings to you. Just be aware it may not be a complete pleasure cruise.
Beautiful, charming and touching, Song of the Deep provides an enjoyable, worthy adventure despite its issues.
A lovely setting can't quite make up for a game that plays things a little too safely.
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.
Despite the unusual fluctuations in difficulty, Song of the Deep is nonetheless a fun game that appeals to your sense of adventure. A wealth of interesting areas to explore will keep you glued to the game for hours.
I won't lie. This game hits you right in the feels. This is a story driven by love and begs the question how far would you go for the people you love. In Merryn's case, it's to the bottom of the ocean. The games artistry, music, and narration had me close to tears at a few key points. I thoroughly enjoyed the first part of the game. I only wish they had a clear definition of what they wanted the game to be. With such a hard turn from puzzles to strictly waves of enemies, the game lost it for me a little. It felt like a different game in the last couple of hours, and I missed the game I had started six hours back.
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.