Nice to see a new Lovecraftian videogame that’s a rare thing… a roaring success when first released. At least, a success judging by the spoiler-packed reviews.
Trailed a few months back in Digital Art Live, the first reviews for the new Call of the Sea game are now in…
Call of the Sea is an amazing, albeit short, adventure puzzle game. It’s a fully engrossing experience that’s tense, but not scary, and is the perfect game to show to people if they’re interested in the Lovecraftian genre but aren’t fans of [post-1960s] horror. … the thing I love most about Call of the Sea is that it’s not a horror game, yet it’s fully inspired by the Lovecraftian horror genre. A fully optimized and glitchless package. Out of the Blue Games couldn’t have designed a better game for their debut.” (Gaming Trend review).
Call of the Sea is solid adventure with tons of atmosphere [and] shrouded in mystery and easy to dive into. […] it’s hard to ignore just how challenging and charming the title is. (The Escapist)
Call of the Sea is a gorgeous game. It has more of a cartoony style to it, but the levels are highly atmospheric and feature lovely vistas and beautiful use of vibrant color. The areas also feel lived-in and believable. This is certainly the kind of game where you’ll stop and gawk at the scenery every now and again.” (PC Invasion)
There are puzzles, but apparently seamlessly integrated into the story and not fiendish or illogical (as one knocking ‘review’, seemingly from a leftist anti-fan, would have it). The Games Radar review seems to have it about right, on the puzzles…
The puzzles are beautifully balanced too, not so complex you immediately head to YouTube for a solution feeling like your math teacher was totally right about your failures, but not so easy they feel like last-minute set dressing. … It’s a great story, told with heart, and the perfect narration.
It appears to riff on Lovecraft’s idea at the end of “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”, the one encapsulated in the ideas and plans the “Innsmouth” protagonist has for his cousin in the Canton madhouse, as he spirals up to a new sort of ‘sanity’.
Also ‘fresh from the sea’, New Horror Express interviews film-maker Chad Ferrin on The Deep Ones…
A Lovecraftian horror picture done very much in the 80s mould [… the movie] will be released in the U.S. on 1st May 2021.