Sea of Solitude Reviews
The simplistic gameplay could have carried the sloppy story if it was more polished. Animation breaks and the bugginess of the collision happen far too frequently in such a short game. If Sea of Solitude: The Director’s Cut was marketed as a satire of pretentious, arty, non-engagement style indie games, it would probably fool everyone.
Whether in respect of its derivative gameplay structure or the bumper-sticker approach to an otherwise-sincere message, it doesn’t go any deeper than the wading pool.
Its repetitive tasks are like the usual arbitrary gates to reach a cutscene in a mediocre video game.
Not even striking art direction and sincere storytelling can save the unfortunate nature of Sea of Solitude. Marred by dull action and, at worst, frustrating sequences, Sea of Solitude ends up feeling like twice the length of its runtime. Those monsters and that world sure are gorgeous though.
Kay battles alone, and I just really wish the game allowed her story to be told a little more delicately, with more emotion and less force.
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
The attempt to copy the works of Team ICO was not successful, as well as the desire of the creator of Sea of Solitude to reveal a personal drama. Probably, Geppert chose the wrong format, but this does not make it easier for us.
Review in Russian | Read full review
It's hard to call Sea of Solitude a bad experience, but it feels very pedestrian at almost every turn. Bland gameplay means you'll rarely be doing anything too exciting, in turn making the short run time all the more suspect. Beautiful visuals and themes that may resonate with some are minor highlights, although they're not enough to make up for insipidity.
Addressing more personal mental issues is novel in gaming and that much is admirable but trying isn’t always enough. Storytelling matters as much as — if not more than — the story you’re trying to tell and the game’s clumsy script and amateurish performances demonstrate how one side can spoil the other.
Sea of Solitude: The Director’s Cut is difficult to quantify the efforts of. I can appreciate the premise of the scope of negativity it attempts to convey, and the voice actors were clearly invested in their roles. However, nothing it says manages to stick and leave a semblance of meaningful impact when it comes down to it. The writing is too direct, showing a lack of needed subtly for the darkest elements of the character-driven narrative to hit home.
A clearly personal story told in a bland repetitive 3D platformer with padded gameplay, terrible voice acting, and no subtlety.
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
While Sea of Solitude manages to be distinctive, it certainly isn't the only game to explore mental health in the past few years. And like many that attempt to tackle the topics and themes that come with this, Sea of Solitude struggles at times. When it gets things right, it's a touching experience with a lot to say, but too often what it has to say is drowned out by heavy-handed writing, poor line delivery, and unimaginative gameplay that juxtaposes a fantastical and metaphorical world.
Sea of Solitude sets up a strong premise and showcases a lot of heart, but its forgettable gameplay and mediocre storytelling hold it down.
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 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 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 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.
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.
Even if you’re fascinated by the story though, the tedium of actually playing Sea of Solitude will diminish its impact.