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Call of the Sea Review Thread

Astorian

Member
Seems like some reviews are starting to drop for this, will update as more come.

MC 78
OC 74

TheSixthAxis 9/10
Call of the Sea's original setting, narrative, and overall feel totally hooked me – even when I wasn’t playing I found myself working over the puzzles in my head. If you’re a fan of emotional stories and challenging logical puzzles then you should dive straight into this adventure.

Screen Rant 9/10
A perfectly-paced puzzle adventure that manages to pour more than the expected amount of heart into its story, it manages to combine a number of disparate elements into a hugely enjoyable game, and certainly not one to be missed.

GameSpew 8/10
If you’re not a huge fan of puzzles, then you might find Call of the Sea‘s gameplay more frustrating than satisfying. But if you enjoy solving logic problems, there’s a lot to love here. The game looks beautiful, and the island you find yourself on, complete with all of its mysteries, begs to be explored. Its few bugs aside, Call of the Sea is a satisfying adventure that will keep you gripped from start to finish.

Noisy Pixel 8/10
Call of the Sea is a puzzle adventure that should be played by all fans of the genre. Its writing and environments are strikingly immersive as the player and Norah find themselves traveling deeper down this rabbit hole of mystery. There are moments of confusion in its design, but all the tools are present to explore this beautifully charming adventure; my only wish is that it was longer.

Eurogamer Italy 8/10
Call of the Sea continues the tradition that sees the indie industry as a tireless forge of often unmissable gems and does so by moving beyond pure genres and also playing on contrasts. That contrast that perhaps pushes Norah to find comfort in an unknown so unfathomable and surreal as to be frighteningly fascinating.

Areajugones 7.2/10
Call of the Sea could be considered as a narrative puzzle game where the second element is much more relevant than the firs one; although both depend on each other to exist. With a series of puzzles that will take the player into a smooth back and forth between the frustrating process of looking for a solution to the problem and the satisfaction of finding it, Call of the Sea offers a proposal that follows the basic rules of the genre and It is topped off with beautiful art design and a plot that delivers what it promises.

GameWatcher 7/10
Call of the Sea feels like a mix between a puzzle game and a 1930s pulp novel. It blends these varied genres to mixed success; the puzzles are largely solid but you can find yourself banging your head against the wall in frustration for some, and the writing can be a bit campy but is carried by brilliant voice acting. While the game is decent, the visuals, the acting, and the setting are top notch. If entered with the right mindset, The Call of the Sea can be a good companion for an evening in.

DualShockers 6.5/10
Call of the Sea is a great start for developer Out of the Blue but didn't entirely capture me on any front, despite standout moments.

IGN Spain 7.5/10
Puzzles with a great design (mostly) and a story that captures without remedy from the first minute. A must for lovers of narrative adventures and puzzles.

PC Invasion 8/10
Call of the Sea might have an overly familiar premise and some less-than-stellar puzzles, but it's a gorgeous, enjoyable game boosted by strong production values and involved world design.

Jeuxvideo 6.5/10
When finished, Call of the Sea leaves a salty, unfinished aftertaste.

IGN 9/10

 
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Initial impressions of Call of Sea when trailers dropped was of a walking sim. Not that there's anything automatically wrong with being a walking sim, but the game's true nature is a story-driven puzzle game with a heavy emphasis on the puzzles. I think when you make a game without traditional conflict mechanics like combat, strong, engaging interaction design stands out. It sounds like Call of the Sea delivers, and seems like a savvy pick by Microsoft's Game Pass/publishing division.

The art design is simply lovely, too. So it has brains AND looks.
 

BabyYoda

Banned
Man I hate Microsoft's Store on PC. It took two days preloading this game (very slow internet) and once it finished, it had an update available, I clicked it expecting it to be a few Gb's tops and it begun the download again from scratch, all 35Gb's of it, /cry.

Shame, because the game looks like exactly my cup of tea, doesn't seem to have much buzz though. No surprise with Cyberpunk coming out I guess, I feel sorry for any other game (or any other entertainment really) releasing right now!
 
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Bliddo

Member
Playing now. Anyone else notice any frame issues? Seems to either drop frames from running and looking around or it’s just the way movement is handled.
Yeah, frame rate is jittery on a series x.
I’m enjoying it so far though.
 

Kerlurk

Banned
 
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JLB

Banned
Man I hate Microsoft's Store on PC. It took two days preloading this game (very slow internet) and once it finished, it had an update available, I clicked it expecting it to be a few Gb's tops and it begun the download again from scratch, all 35Gb's of it, /cry.

Shame, because the game looks like exactly my cup of tea, doesn't seem to have much buzz though. No surprise with Cyberpunk coming out I guess, I feel sorry for any other game (or any other entertainment really) releasing right now!

2 days?! Your internet should be beyond terrible.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
Playing now. Anyone else notice any frame issues? Seems to either drop frames from running and looking around or it’s just the way movement is handled.
More like stutter than simple framedrops, but I only noticed it at first chapter.
 

Denton

Member
Playing now. Anyone else notice any frame issues? Seems to either drop frames from running and looking around or it’s just the way movement is handled.
I tried PC gamepass version and also noticed weird jitter despite the game looking like it runs 60fps. I could not verify though because RTSS overlay does not load for some reason.
 

JORMBO

Darkness no more
It picked a bad week to release in, but I will give this one a shot eventually. It looks very interesting.
 

BabyYoda

Banned
2 days?! Your internet should be beyond terrible.
Well, it's my brothers mobile hotspot, so I only get to use it at full speed at night mostly. It's 630Kbps, yeah it's bad, but it is unlimited at least and good enough for 1080p video etc. I used to have 300Mbps Fibre, so it's rough, but we all are going through it atm in different ways, I'm just grateful to have access to the internet at all really.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
I tried PC gamepass version and also noticed weird jitter despite the game looking like it runs 60fps. I could not verify though because RTSS overlay does not load for some reason.
So PC version also have this? It's not frame drop like normally, but a fast frame drop stutter...most often see on the beach when you first arrive at the island.
 

KyoZz

Tag, you're it.
The game keeps crashing on the first loading screen, and now it is installing an update which is the size of the game (31.8GB)

tenor.gif
 
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Denton

Member
So PC version also have this? It's not frame drop like normally, but a fast frame drop stutter...most often see on the beach when you first arrive at the island.
I was only in the opening cabin but it was present there. Kinda weird stutter. I hope it will get patched or disappear later. But it's not like I am gonna play this game anytime soon, Night City is calling me.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
I was only in the opening cabin but it was present there. Kinda weird stutter. I hope it will get patched or disappear later. But it's not like I am gonna play this game anytime soon, Night City is calling me.
Well I think I finish it before that. Also really dissapointing lack of HDR...not sure what's up with that, especially this game would benefit a lot from it.
 
D

Deleted member 801069

Unconfirmed Member
This game made me realize I’m terrible at puzzle games
 
That 9/10 IGN review is really glowing
IGN Review said:
An adventure game is only as good as its puzzles, though, and in this regard Call of the Sea excels. As much as its story and aesthetic influences are clear to see, its gameplay is firmly rooted in classics such as the Myst series. Each chapter tends to have one large puzzle to solve in order to move onto the next area, and it’s surrounded by numerous smaller problems to solve in order to find the main solution.

I don't fully agree with the notion that "an adventure game is only as good as its puzzles" I'm happy to see a really nice looking, high production value, adventure game like this not taking the puzzle-lite route as has become the expectation in recent years. Looking forward to enjoying a nice story and working my brain a bit.
 

Ammogeddon

Member
Playing now. Anyone else notice any frame issues? Seems to either drop frames from running and looking around or it’s just the way movement is handled.

Yes and flickering black shadows at times. Blasted through chapter 1 earlier but the two issues combined gave me a headache by the end of it.
 

Trunim

Member
Just tried it out on xbox. The game looks horrible and the narration is bad. Uninstalled it. Not wasting time.
 
Finished it just now. I think I took the good ending. Right? Didn’t I? 🥺
The final star puzzle took me a bit.
A few glitches here and there but I made it.
Game got weird really fast. I think it might be in a style similar to an old Astounding SciFi magazine.
Or Tarzan meets the Martians.
Anyway I really liked this. Short and sweet.
 

jaysius

Banned
It's a pretty simple game, but the game is Ok-MEH nothing special.

There's not much depth, if you see a thing that's interactive then it's a piece to a puzzle that's nearby, at least the puzzles are OK.
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


 
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allymonty

Neo Member
I


pretty much sums the puzzles up.
If a sequence didnt work I just tried in a different order. The most unfair puzzle was the water life eternal blood puzzle. I dont think they gave enough clues.

Yeah I had to guess that one, no idea how that one was supposed to work. Can anyone explain?
 

turtlepowa

Banned
That's why i love the Game Pass. Sweet little game, one hard/unfair riddle and performance was not the best, but i had my fun.
 
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Freeman76

Member
Tried this on game pass, the first proper puzzle totally put me off this game. I love similar games, like The Witness, Portal, Talos etc, because the puzzles are well thought out. This totem puzzle was just stupid, putting the order of symbols down to how they would appear in the world isnt clever, made me feel like im wandering around aimlessly trying to stumble on an answer, not actually working something out. When I figured it out I didnt feel a sense of accomplishment like in those other gamee, i just thought 'really??'
 
Tried this on game pass, the first proper puzzle totally put me off this game. I love similar games, like The Witness, Portal, Talos etc, because the puzzles are well thought out. This totem puzzle was just stupid, putting the order of symbols down to how they would appear in the world isnt clever, made me feel like im wandering around aimlessly trying to stumble on an answer, not actually working something out. When I figured it out I didnt feel a sense of accomplishment like in those other gamee, i just thought 'really??'

It's the first puzzle chain in the game and it's meant more as in introduction to the setting and mechanics rather than an actual challenge. I think you just missed some of the clues. I mean, this is literally right on the other side of the totem.

kE7PCLv.png

I just finished playing through the game and I found all the puzzles to be really well balanced and fun to figure out. My favorites being the constellation puzzle and the sea organ one by the shipwrecked boat.
 
Not sure how many hours I've put into it but I'm on Chapter 6. Doesn't feel like I've played all that long and I'm digging the narrative but there is some back and forth on some of the less obvious stuff so far. Feels like a modern take on the old point and click adventure games of the late 90's. Most likely finish it this coming week sometime.
 

BLAUcopter

Gold Member
Played this for about 30 mins on series x. Not one to care too much about 30fps if done right but this was starting to make me feel sick. Poor FOV and sub 30 coupled with no HDR and rougher than I was expecting graphics, I'll wait for a patch or two if any before I delve back in.
 

mcjmetroid

Member
Played this for about 30 mins on series x. Not one to care too much about 30fps if done right but this was starting to make me feel sick. Poor FOV and sub 30 coupled with no HDR and rougher than I was expecting graphics, I'll wait for a patch or two if any before I delve back in.
I played on pc and same thing. Game made me feel funny.

I think it's just way too blurry. Even with FOV turned up full.
 

marcincz

Member
Great title. With PS debut I start to believe in physical release this, or next year.
 
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