Call Of The Sea... Reviewed!

Shout out to Raw Fury for supplying a copy of this game for a review.

Call of the Sea is... an interesting first-person adventure puzzle game. I'd call it an adventure, thriller, puzzle hybrid that starts out where it should just to gear you up for... to gear you up for a nifty adventure.

Story: Call of the Sea... takes place in 1934, and the story revolves around a female protagonist by the name of Norah. Not only are you in Norah's shoes, but this H.P. Lovecraft inspired story is based on her going on a quest to find out what happened to her husband... who ventured off to find a cure for her. Needless to say, she comes across some interesting things on this island that she doesn't find a need to weapon up for.

Not to rant or anything, but... (hmmm) I just couldn't help but wonder why in the world would someone venture off to an island with unknown dangers... and no weapon(s). Even if the weapon isn't used... I think it would've been more realistic to grab something. By the way, I had to attach thriller to this game, because of the things you come across. It's not considered a horror game.

Gameplay: The gameplay consists of you venturing around an island in the South Pacific, uncovering secrets of a lost civilization while connecting dots to uncover what happened to your husband and where he might be. In order to progress from one section to the next, you have to figure out the clues to overcome a variety of challenging puzzles.

Of course, you aren't just going from one puzzle to the next... you uncover more of the story and history of the island at the same time. The story actually goes from 0 to 20 to 60... and even if it's not considered a horror game, one part of the game (once it switches gears) really was out of the playbook of horror.

While I don't have a problem with the puzzles in the game, I kept going back to Norah traveling alone. There was a missed opportunity to add a survival element to this game with the fact that she was traveling to an unknown island to face who knows what. She didn't know how long the adventure would be, she would need food, and shelter... at least. That would have really transformed this game and took it to the next level.

Visuals: The visuals are like a quality cel shade (at least in some areas), that almost fades into full 3D models and textures after a certain occurrence. This is when the game really came alive for me... while maintaining the puzzle elements and your pursuit of finding Norah's husband. The environment is lush both on land... and in the sea, during those times when you swim the fishes.

Price: Pricewise, Call of the Sea... comes in at $19.99. That's the sweet spot for this otherworldly tale of mystery and love.

Story 4

Gameplay 3

Visuals 5

Price 5

4.25 out of 5 Cool Points

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First 30: Call of the Sea + Video Game Awards 2020!

DESCRIPTION

The Call of the Sea Deluxe Edition includes:

• Call of the Sea 
A first-person adventure puzzle game set in the 1930s that tells the story of Norah, a woman on the trail of her missing husband’s expedition. Explore a lush island paradise, solve puzzles, and unlock secrets in this otherworldly tale of mystery and love.

• The Call of the Sea Original Soundtrack 
A beautiful mix of adventure, mystery, romance, and melancholy, that sets the mood of the game and transports you to the mysterious nameless island, featuring 23 songs composed by Eduardo de la Iglesia.

• The Art of Call of the Sea
A selection of concept art, sketches, and 3D renders of the beautiful environments, characters, locations, and puzzles featured in the game. This downloadable book contains large, full-color pages, that take you on a journey in the definition of the art style and the different visual directions throughout Call of the Sea development.

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The Sinking City... Reviewed!

The Sinking City is... odd in an interesting way.

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you... things are moving in the image.

The Sinking City is an action adventure... horror game, placing you firmly into the drenched shoes of a detective by the name of... Charles Reed. In a (BioShock'sh + Silent Hill-like) world full of all types of crazy looking monsters, it doesn't hurt to have a character with special abilities and a Sherlock Holmes "Mind Palace" way of collecting evidence.

While interesting enough in terms of doing detective work, The Sinking City has moments of frustration (for me) that seem to drag on and on at times. I can't lie... I was bored and annoyed, but part of the challenge is to seek out and gather evidence (which should be more interesting to those with a major interest in detective related games, shows, and this H.P. Lovecraft story).

The detective work isn't always intriguing, until you start to build up the clues. When you start to gather those clues (look out)... that's when the game really starts to come to life and puts you hot on the trail of completing an objective.

The visuals in this game are fantastic, including the crazy looking monsters. This game also reminds me that Audio should be added in to the Visual category (Audio+Visuals) because it did a good job of delivering both (visuals more so)... and I love the way it sounds when you're onto something getting ready to solve it. You know something's getting ready to go down based on the build up. The sounds of the guns sound the best, followed by the voice overs.

One thing i'm not crazy about is how things begin to look when using retrocognition is used for too long. The detective feels like he's on one tripped out adventure with those illusions, psychosis and psychological episodes... and with the way it looks at times... i'm not that far behind).

The Sinking City takes place in the 1920s, and looks the part. Venturing into Oakmont... you can definitely tell that the sea is encroaching onto the island. You have dead sea life laying in the street... and it looks really cool in a grim way.

The monsters in this game want you as dead as the sea life (or is it sea dead?) that you come across... so beware and use your weapons wisely, bullets are currency too.

That shows how real things are, but... what doesn't help the mood are a lot of NPCs. There are people just walking around casually in this crazy place with friggin monsters running around (monsters!)... and few seem concerned that they could become a meal while going for a stroll. This takes away from the tension, which can be cool at times if you need a break from it... but i'd rather the NPCs make a mad dash for shelter or something. Even the NPCs ran in Crazy Taxi from almost two decades ago.

Replay value definitely arises with the various side quests, because it could have merely delivered the main story and left the game feeling super linear. So i'm glad they did their game justice in that regard... and did the Lovecraft fan base justice by giving more missions to serve up additional lore.

You get around 18 to 22 hours of main story, and about 35 to 40 hours of full game play if you complete all the side quests.

Another thing that adds to the replay value, are the types of... skills.

You get three different categories, which are... combat proficiency, vigor, and... mind.

Combat Proficiency... helps you improve the effectiveness of your traps, firebombs, grenades, (good old) accuracy, damage, and... guns' capacity.

Vigor skills deliver... the ability to hold more ammo, first aid, grenades, and more in your inventory. You also get reduced damage, increased melee damage, and increased health.

Mind skills deliver... increase the XP earning, increased sanity, double the rewards, and efficiency in crafting.

Tip: Start with Unnatural Recovery!

The Sinking City comes in at full retail price... which is an ambition price, but... it feels better at $49.99 to compete with some of the more polished titles.

Fun Factor 3.5

Replay Value 5

Visuals 5

Price 5

4.6 out of 5 Cool Points

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Lovecraft's Untold Stories

DESCRIPTION

Lovecraft’s Untold Stories is an action rogue-lite with RPG elements. You explore randomly generated levels based in H.P. Lovecraft stories, fighting cultists and all kinds of monsters from the Mythos, improving your weapons and gear, solving puzzles and challenges, and looking for clues and knowledge to defeat the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods.

LIVE H.P. LOVECRAFT’S STORIES 
Lovecraft’s Untold Stories is based on H.P. Lovecraft’s stories. You will experience first-hand the cosmic horror created by the genius of Providence. Every character will go through an investigation that will take them through different locations, from the creepy old Victorian mansion to the abandoned hospital where forbidden experiments take place or the jungle where lost tribes celebrate forgotten rituals, just to name a few. Levels are randomly generated: it will be a different experience every time you play. Also, they vary depending on the character you’re playing with. Look for items and clues to unlock secrets and new stories!5 CHARACTERS, 5 WAYS OF FIGHTING THE MYTHOS

You can play as 5 different characters, each with a different playstyle and storyline. A private detective, a witch, a thief, a professor, and even a ghoul—each with different stats, weapons, and combat moves, creating five entirely different gameplay experiences. The Detective offers a balanced playstyle, with average Health and Stamina. The Professor is a specialist in ranged combat, with less Health and a special shield granted by his weapon, the Tillinghast. The Witch does a lot of damage, has teleport abilities and elemental shields of fire and ice, but also a very low Health. The Thief is a specialist in melée combat that takes advantage of its stealth to maximize her damage. The ghoul does a lot of melée damage, has a high Health and regenerates itself, but can’t use medkits at all. DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE GREAT OLD ONES

The truth of the dark horrors that inhabit the universe is unbearable for any human mind. In the end, you can’t win against the Old Ones. Madness or death await you. But maybe you can delay the inevitable… If you face the Great Old Ones without any knowledge about them, you will go mad just by looking at their hideous features. But spread across every level you will find special items with information about the Great Old Ones. The more you know about them, the stronger your mind shall become – but knowledge is not easy to find, and if you are not thorough in your investigation you might get to the end of a storyline without finding everything that is to know. You will have to play with all the characters if you want to find all the information about every Great Old One! MADNESS AWAITS 

Insanity crawls behind every corner for those who face the Mythos. In your investigations, you will face different situations where you have to choose what to do – make the wrong decision and you will start losing your mind. In order to face the Great Old Ones, you need knowledge, and to find it you have to explore – but the more you explore the more events that shake your sanity you will find… Those who go mad under the influence of the Mythos take their own life to escape the eternal terror they are now looking at. Not all hope is lost, though – there are some ways to recover your sanity…KEY FEATURES

• Fight hundreds of different monsters from the Cthulhu Mythos in this intense action roguelike

• Explore Lovecraft’s stories: every character has a storyline that crosses randomly generated levels set in different locations from Lovecraft’s stories, such as the hospital, the jungle, or the port city just to name a few

• Face the Great Old Ones: Great Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Dagon, Shub-Niggurath, and Azathoth await you in special levels

• Investigate thoroughly: explore every corner to find secret levels and knowledge about the Great Old Ones

• Learn about the Mythos to fight them: to have a chance at fighting the Great Old Ones you need to acquire knowledge about them, or their mere presence will drive you insane

• Madness awaits: in the course of your adventures you will have to make some decisions, and taking the wrong ones will shake your sanity. If it gets too low, you will start losing your mind – and if you go mad you will take your own life to escape the horror

• Pick your hero: Choose between 5 different characters, the detective, the thief, the professor, the witch, and the ghoul

• Different playstyles: every investigator has a different combat style and skills, but levels also vary depending on who you’re playing them with – so the gameplay experience is totally different

• Collect and improve weapons, items, and artifacts. Each character has a set of weapons and items, and there are hundreds of other items you can find and use!

• Look for clues and special items to unlock secrets and new stories

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