Sea of Solitude Reviews
A clearly personal story told in a bland repetitive 3D platformer with padded gameplay, terrible voice acting, and no subtlety.
Despite some shortcomings in the narrative, Sea of Solitude champions its storytelling. It lands solidly on its own two feet, for the most part, and presents a fairly cathartic look at loneliness and depression.
Sea of Solitude isn't a bad game, but it's one that could've been far more profound if it handled its delicate subject matter with more care. There's an engaging story to be told, but all of its compelling narrative ideas are constantly undermined by its cringe-inducing voice acting and bad dialogue. Meanwhile, gameplay suffers from a general lack of things to do or discover in its beautiful world, leaving players with a sense of fatigue as the game wears on.
Sea of Solitude: The Director's Cut brings a strikingly emotional tale to the Nintendo Switch. Set sail through a sunken city to confront the inner demons of Kay and her loved ones. Uncover the past and discover the hardships that they had to endure.
Despite this, Sea of Solitude is as unique as it is charming, and certainly a title to check out if you’re looking for a break from looter shooters and multiplayer.
I wish I could say that Sea of Solitude excels in every way a game can. Though it offers an honest, raw depiction of how unfortunately disparate life can be and the toil that goes with that, it fires few shots as an interactive experience. A rather barren world and repetitive core loops only serve to mar what is an otherwise overwhelming sensory treat.
Sea of Solitude gives us a boat. And a light. And it accepts that we must sometimes think of ourselves as a contradiction of insignificance and grotesquery, as we wind our way through the path of recovery. That, monstrous though we may feel, we can still affect change in our lives, and the lives of others. Healing is possible, if complicated, non-linear, and often contradictory. Sea of Solitude wants us to see ourselves better than we do, but won't abandon us when we can't.
Sea of Solitude is an emotional journey with the bones of a truly gripping story of self-reflection and relativley satisfying climax, marred by its often ham-fisted writing and lack of subtlety. Even with gameplay variety as a sacrifice, the story itself does lack some nuance but tackles heavy topics headstrong in ways few games have done before.
I could go on and on about this game, but just know that games like Sea of Solitude are important. It personifies Kay's journey with mental health issues and brings to light different types of situations that people suffering from MHI might encounter. It also brings with it perspective that some people absolutely need should they know someone going through MHI and potentially a starting point when it comes to getting help for that individual.
On paper, Sea of Solitude is an interesting and introspective story about Kay, a young and lone girl in the throes of depression. But despite many efforts to make us feel for the poor girl, the EA Originals game suffers from way too many draft collisions, and a poor acting that do not tribune an obvious and tearful story.
Review in French | Read full review
Sea of Solitude sins at times with superficiality and naivety, sinking due to a somewhat listless art direction and a script that draws on many, too many stereotypes.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Sea of Solitude provides a detailed insight into the emotional world of a person who has to deal with losses and fears.
Review in German | Read full review
Sea of Solitude manages to strike a chord with its relatable themes despite a rough start.
Sea of Solitude tackles mental health issues through the medium of a video game.
Sea of Solitude is a masterpiece of storytelling, art-design and thematic visualisation. While not necessarily lengthy or mechanically deep it is an astoundingly well-crafted game that should be experienced by everyone
Its repetitive tasks are like the usual arbitrary gates to reach a cutscene in a mediocre video game.
Even if you’re fascinated by the story though, the tedium of actually playing Sea of Solitude will diminish its impact.
Sea of Solitude boasts an abundance of heart, and has a genuinely great look, but the gameplay struggles to rise above anything other than basic.
Sea of Solitude is an interactive story that has bits of a game peppered into it. Like gamey meat, it's not for everyone. Some players may want more to do than run around looking for seagulls and messages in bottles in between story moments and the occasional "fight" sequence. The story (which we have not spoiled here) is likely to resonate with many people, but for some it won't be enough to overcome a lack of fun gameplay to take players in between exposition. It is a worthy attempt, but just falls a bit short.
Despite a gorgeous look, Sea of Solitude lacks of a complex narrative or level design that puts it into pair with recent games inspired by mental issues.
Review in Spanish | Read full review