Sword of the Sea Review – Echoes in Still Sands

From the very first trailer, Sword of the Sea had me. A largely serene yet mysterious world that you navigate on a hover sword, which is a hoverboard plus sword (but also a surfboard and snowboard), all wrapped up into one? The immaculate vibes of a Giant Squid title, a la ABZU and The Pathless, with a little bit of Journey sprinkled in? It hooked me instantly, which is also probably why I had reasonably high expectations.

From the very first moment, Sword of the Sea has it. As an ancient guardian who awakens on a single drop, you venture forth into this desert-filled world to unleash the water and restore prosperity. There is some deeper lore, but in terms of ambience and vibes, it’s simply breathtaking, almost Breath of the Wild-esque in its reveal.

As you step out into the sea of sands, cutting effortlessly through its dunes, the desolation gives way to vibrancy. Every time you release the water, various aquatic life springs forth, creating this sense of visual buoyancy, which extends to the gameplay as well, especially when hopping on jellyfish or surfing up greenery. Very little else matters as you glide through environments, performing sick tricks to no one in particular (with no risk of messing up, of course).

"Though all the mechanics really come together in the late game (and admittedly not for very long), they still offer a seamless platforming loop that’s very enjoyable. It doesn’t feel punishing at all, but the ease with which you can explore these giant areas is fun in its own right."

From spin tricks and flips to building momentum off half-pipes and leaping over gaps, Sword of the Sea controls as seamlessly as it unfolds. You can easily zone out in an environment, exploring ways to reach certain chests or happening upon collectible seashells. All the collected currency can be deposited at the mysterious merchants present throughout the world (who have a supernatural knack for appearing at the right times), which unlocks more tricks and even the ability to drop down. Which is nice, but you quickly realize their insignificance in the grand scheme of things.

As stylish as a triple front-flip off a mountain can be, it doesn’t really have any impact on the gameplay. You often default to the double-jump, spin, and grinding while traversing the world, embracing a more traditional platforming loop. Even if you care about the score, helpfully revealed while paused, the overall depth of the tricks feels extremely limited from the outset. While I completely understand Giant Squid’s goal – of supplanting this particular type of movement into an exploration game – any sense of style and competitiveness feels completely superficial.

I still need to emphasize the impeccable design of the environments and the pacing. Unlike The Pathless and its open world, Sword of the Sea offers more linear progression with much fewer distractions, as you traverse from one chapter to the next. Familiar locales like snowy mountains and lava-filled caverns still feel incredibly fresh to explore with very little downtime. Some visuals – a city emerging from beneath the sands, floating isles and ships amid a nighttime sky – are downright beautiful, boasting gorgeous and vibrant art direction. The depiction of water and marine biology reminds me of ABZU, and it’s delightful to spot whales and dolphins swimming through the skies seemingly without a care in the world. Being able to ride them and just calmly wade through, even if it is a small predetermined circle, is nice.

Though all the mechanics really come together in the late game (and admittedly not for very long), they still offer a seamless platforming loop that’s very enjoyable. It doesn’t feel punishing at all, but the ease with which you can explore these giant areas is fun in its own right. Other notable sequences also mix up the core gameplay in different ways, and while they can drag a bit, they’re a welcome change of pace.

"While the developer’s previous titles created a sense of emotional connection in their short runtime, Sword of the Sea doesn’t quite nail it. It also doesn’t help that the story starts winding down after hitting what feels like its stride."

Your goal is to essentially restore the Cycle, which becomes interrupted for an unknown reason (that quickly makes itself apparent in fiery consternation). It’s pretty straightforward, and as a result, the stakes can feel low-key until about halfway into the game. Maybe it’s because the focus is so squarely on feeling your way through and soaking up the atmosphere while lore is presented in snippets. The civilization that came before, their demise, the spiritual river that binds everything, so on and so forth. However, I didn’t find myself as invested as in The Pathless or ABZU.

Perhaps it’s because, as a cohesive narrative, there are way too many questions left unanswered. Who was the Minder in charge of that one empty city? What of the Ghost Warriors, whose massive bodies remain frozen in that field as sentries, guiding you from one place to the next? Are those merchants inextricably tied to the Cycle like the Guardian?

There’s also a very familiar-looking character with an important role that barely rises above being a cameo. But then again, they may also be the Champion spoken of in the tablets, given their abilities. Much of the lore, especially its themes of fire vs. water, life and death, spirits and humans, is open for ascribing one’s own meaning. That is, when it isn’t used to explain away why those Ghost Warriors are present in a snowy field (or why exactly it works the way that it does).

While the developer’s previous titles created a sense of emotional connection in their short runtime, Sword of the Sea doesn’t quite nail it. It also doesn’t help that the story starts winding down after hitting what feels like its stride. Overall playtime is shorter than The Pathless – and that’s with plenty of admiring the architecture and combing for secrets. Which isn’t a bad thing, given how much tighter this feels by comparison. I just couldn’t really shake the sensation of, “That’s it?”, even as the credits unfolded.

Sword of the Sea does offer some additional gameplay elements afterwards, which lean further into speed-running and exploration. There’s a Journey-like element to this, but unlike that title and its seamless co-op resulting in wonderfully emergent encounters to this day, I’m not sure if Giant Squid’s approach has as much staying power.

"As endearing as it can be to get lost among the waves, you need something to eventually anchor yourself, and for better or worse, Giant Squid doesn’t quite deliver on that front."

For as long as it lasts, Sword of the Sea is a beautiful, engrossing experience, one that’s easy to get lost in, and that’s in no small part thanks to Austin Wintory’s incredible score. It accentuates the quiet moments and presents some incredible vocal pieces throughout, often carrying the emotional weight when the plot fails to do so.

On the downside, as incredible as the art direction is, there were several performance issues, even with a GPU and RAM that surpass the recommended specs. Perhaps much of it is CPU-bound and my 11th gen i5 is the bottleneck, but frame rate drops occur even when dropping the resolution scaling and quality settings were set to Medium. Upscaling support may have helped with these issues, but there’s no denying that further optimization, or at the very least, better hardware, is needed in some areas.

Despite all these caveats, I would still recommend Sword of the Sea for those seeking a relatively light adventure with outstanding art direction, movement, and music. The fact that it fires on so many cylinders, from the world design to the overall joy of exploration, and yet fails to enthrall me in so many meaningful ways, remains baffling. But as endearing as it can be to get lost among the waves, you need something to eventually anchor yourself, and for better or worse, Giant Squid doesn’t quite deliver on that front.

This game was reviewed on PC.