The internet can be difficult to parse at the best of times, especially if you’re trying to get a level-headed opinion on a video game so allow me to assist you by getting as much of the picture as I can and putting it all in one place in a Review RoundUp for… 

Sword of the Sea

Are you a fan of Journey? Maybe Abzu or The Pathless? Then Giant Squid has just the thing in their latest game – Sword of the Sea.

This is a fantastical skating/surfing game set in a dying world where you, the player, are tasked with using the titular Sword of the Sea to bring water and life back to some of the most stunning environments you will find in gaming.

Sitting at a strong 87 on OpenCritic and, funnily enough, 87% positive on Steam, opinions are pretty unanimous on this one.

Atmosphere and vibes are the name of the game in Sword of the Sea. If you’ve played any of the studios previous titles or seen their work in Journey then you will have a very strong idea of what to expect.

It’s a simple game that doesn’t really rely on complicated gameplay – instead, you drift from one objective to the next at a pace that allows you to really breathe in the environments and enjoy the *extremely* light puzzle solving. The experience is put before all else and that include the story and basically anything beyond exploration.

Being a 2-4 hour game, however, means that doesn’t really get to the chance to detract from the exceptional scenery and how smooth it is to simply move around which seems to have always been the game’s true focus. Creating evocative movement in a game can hard but when done right can be something really special.

I hear it also has fantastic DualSense controller support and it comes as a strong recommendation that you play that way.

Scores being as high as they are, despite more or less everyone I can find agreeing on this perspective, should tell you all you need to know. Sword of the Sea seems to have achieved its goals with such a degree of quality and in such a short span of time that its simple negatives don’t get the chance to bring the title down.

That said there are some genuine issues, namely technical, as there are a few mentions of quite substantial framerate issues even on higher end GPUs and one mention I found of a technical glitch that prevented going above 720p resolution. By no means is it everyone but it seems common enough to keep an eye out for.

It also does cost £24.99, closer to 30 in the ol’ American Dollar, which is a bit much for a game you are likely to finish in the one sitting so it will come down entirely on how you calculate value for money.

A title like this is quite specific on who it appeals to but as for who I recommend it to:

The most obvious is fans of the studios previous work, Journey especially as it has been labelled a very direct inspiration for Sword of the Sea

If a strong vibe is enough to carry a game for then you should be at home here but I would be more weary if you NEED strong narrative motivation or direction from the game – it is very content to just let you waddle around and enjoy the experience

And finally, if you have a penchant for tight experience that just really show off an element of design really well. Giant Squid has built a reputation on games that focus on movement and deliver a unique experience in that field with Sword of the Sea being no exception.

That’s it for The Review RoundUp for Sword of the Sea. Now go! I hear dune surfing to save the planet is wonderful this time of year.