Sword of the Sea—Review

A Beautiful Adventure

From the beginning of Sword of the Sea, I immediately knew that I was in for another gorgeous journey from Giant Squid. Abzu and The Pathless were amazing games in their own right, but something about Sword of the Sea stuck with me on a whole other level. The gameplay, cinematics, music, and visuals—all of it came together as a game I'm sure to come back to time and time again. So, before I go into the things I loved most about the game, I'll just say that I wholly recommend you experience it for yourself.

Pure Artistry

I remember playing The Pathless for the first time and thinking, "This art style is literally perfect for me." Well, the second you surf out onto that first hill and see the environment I knew Giant Squid had outdone themselves when it comes to visuals. Of course this is all a matter of opinion and taste, but if you loved the art style of their previous games, I guarantee you'll love the style here.

The way the environment shifts and grows as you play really is awe-inspiring at times. Without going into spoiler territory, the last few areas of the game genuinely shocked me with how gorgeous they were.

Engaging Gameplay

I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed the gameplay of Sword of the Sea. Overall, the gameplay is generally a simple loop of surfing, jumping, collecting, and finding new ways of traversing, but I think its simplicity is what makes it so fun to play. A lot of games will try and add a myriad of ways to keep you engaged, but sometimes an easy-to-control and satisfying feeling is all you need for a shorter experience such as this.

The controls are intuitive, smooth, and typically very easy to pick up and play. In fact, I enjoyed the gameplay enough to get the platinum trophy (just so you know, I don't usually go for platinums).

Exploring the world

Okay, so I won't go into too much detail regarding exploration or the story for the sake of spoilers. However, the environments are not only beautiful, but they are also incredibly fun to explore. The vistas, the lighting, and the way the sand and water shifts while surfing along on your sword is not only cool but extremely satisfying.

Now, the only hiccups I had were the occasional frame rate drops: nothing too major, but just something to keep in mind. I played on the PS5, so your experience could be different depending on what platform you're playing on. Besides that, Sword of the Sea ran, looked, and played perfectly.

Final Thoughts

So, based on my experience and many, many hours of playing this game to get the platinum (that one trophy was a nightmare to obtain), I would without a doubt give Sword of the Sea a solid five hearts out of five! I loved every aspect of the game, and if you love a shorter, tighter experience with amazing music and a cryptic story, then I highly suggest you try it out. You won't regret it.