Embark on a strange mystery set in 1934 in Call of the Sea, available now on PC and Xbox, including via Game Pass. This first person mystery puzzler puts players in the role of Norah, a young woman who is afflicted with a disease. Her husband, Henry, went on an expedition in the South Pacific to seek a cure, but never returned. After receiving a strange package in the mail giving her some idea of where to go, and making his disappearance all the more real, she sets out to investigate a mysterious island near Tahiti.
Call of the Sea has a pretty compelling premise. As a fan of the ‘whodunit’ mysteries made popular by authors like Agatha Christie, a strong story and character driven mystery was something I was curious to explore. I also have garnered some appreciation for the ‘walking sim’ genre, having recently played through games like Layers of Fear. Though I understand ‘walking sim’ comes with a negative connotation, I take it to simply (and ideally) mean that the game is going to have a more relaxed pace, even if the material is intense, and that the game isn’t going to be punishing like a typical action title. That’s really how Call of the Sea plays out, too — players move about in a first person perspective, exploring their surroundings, finding puzzles and doorways to unlock, and coming across clues via notes and observations that are then put together to solve said puzzle and repeat. There is no time crunch or imminent danger, even though at the start of the game the sea captain who drops you off on the island says he will return in three days. That said, the game will run its course in only about five to six hours, with little to no reason to go back.
Pacing in Call of the Sea was probably the most problematic issue I had with it, while the curiosity of the story and the presentation were my favorite aspects. I’ll tackle both as I go along here. So first, at the start of the game, Norah is very talkative, and normally I wouldn’t be bothered by that, but there felt like an over abundance of explaining of things at the outset. It was a little bit suffocating. I appreciate it can be a hard balance to find between too much information and not enough, especially in this genre. Fortunately, the volume of dialog tempers down quickly. Also worth pointing out that the voice-acting and writing are very nicely done. Besides Norah’s expositions that the player hears, you also read notes in her journal as you play, where she jots down info about things you’ve encountered and accomplished and so on. Notes and other tidbits that you come across left behind by Henry make it clear that this married couple were close, and that adds to the suspense.
Upon reaching the island, which happens during the first fifteen minutes or so of play, Norah ‘feels better’ and is able to speed-walk a little bit instead of maintaining her previous very slow walk. This extra speed is welcomed because I found myself backtracking a lot in order to find clues and solve puzzles that I previously encountered. There are a lot of doors and gadgets and things to figure out in the puzzles, which are peppered into the gameplay heavily. Solve one, prepare for the next, with little gameplay in between. This gets kind of grating and I found myself stumbling through a few of the puzzles, which got in the way of the story. Though most puzzles are easy, some were a bit obtuse for me and I have to admit I loathed the extra back-tracking to try and rediscover the point of interest or clue that I missed.
Issues aside, though, Call of the Sea is pretty good. It was nice to play through a new story with new characters, even if the story design was somewhat familiar and the outcome (essentially the same despite which ending you choose) was fairly predictable. Solid voice-acting, good writing, and pretty graphics (nothing show-stopping, but they’re good) make for a nice presentation package on top of an alright game. If you’re looking for a more casual, story and character driven game to play this holiday, Call of the Sea is worth considering.
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