A tight little puzzler that leaves the player wanting more, for better or worse
It's always difficult to tell how long a game should be, what feels like a "good" length. Call of the Sea I managed to beat in three sessions, probably adding up to around 5-6 hours, I got it for free on PlayStation Plus, but ultimately for it's cost at the time (~£15) I feel like I would have gotten my moneys worth.
And yet, I feel as if Call of the Sea should have more to offer. Off the top of my head, I'd guess that the game had around half a dozen proper puzzles, they're intricate sure, and unbelievably satisfying to figure out. They're truly engaging and built into the world wonderfully, and at no point did I feel they were unfair, nor did I think they were too easy, I had a "Eureka!" moment with each, which is something I admire in a puzzle game, to be able to strike that balance.
However, as mentioned, there's not many of them, and what's their is artificially expanded by climbing animations (admittedly not used frequently but they take so long that it irked me) and large maps that can feel hollow. Don't get me wrong, they're strikingly pretty (kudos to the art direction), but if you strip away the visuals, there's long stretches of nothing between puzzle elements.
In other games, you could argue these long walks give the player a chance to ruminate on the situation, to think on the story and try to piece things together, and I honestly think Call of the Sea could have pulled that off if they'd given more intrigue to the mystery, instead of holding its cards close to its chest for the most part before spelling it out for you, there's not much to ruminate on aside baseless speculation until the end.
Ultimately, Call of the Sea acts as a great novella, if a little hollow past the surface, there's not many layers to it. The puzzles are well thought out, and the story is very sweet, just lacking complexity. I feel as though it hits a funny point on the Goldilocks spectrum; it's not too short, it's not too long, but it's not just right.
It's always difficult to tell how long a game should be, what feels like a "good" length. Call of the Sea I managed to beat in three sessions, probably adding up to around 5-6 hours, I got it for free on PlayStation Plus, but ultimately for it's cost at the time (~£15) I feel like I would have gotten my moneys worth.
And yet, I feel as if Call of the Sea should have more to offer. Off the top of my head, I'd guess that the game had around half a dozen proper puzzles, they're intricate sure, and unbelievably satisfying to figure out. They're truly engaging and built into the world wonderfully, and at no point did I feel they were unfair, nor did I think they were too easy, I had a "Eureka!" moment with each, which is something I admire in a puzzle game, to be able to strike that balance.
However, as mentioned, there's not many of them, and what's their is artificially expanded by climbing animations (admittedly not used frequently but they take so long that it irked me) and large maps that can feel hollow. Don't get me wrong, they're strikingly pretty (kudos to the art direction), but if you strip away the visuals, there's long stretches of nothing between puzzle elements.
In other games, you could argue these long walks give the player a chance to ruminate on the situation, to think on the story and try to piece things together, and I honestly think Call of the Sea could have pulled that off if they'd given more intrigue to the mystery, instead of holding its cards close to its chest for the most part before spelling it out for you, there's not much to ruminate on aside baseless speculation until the end.
Ultimately, Call of the Sea acts as a great novella, if a little hollow past the surface, there's not many layers to it. The puzzles are well thought out, and the story is very sweet, just lacking complexity. I feel as though it hits a funny point on the Goldilocks spectrum; it's not too short, it's not too long, but it's not just right.