The game does not have a direct story similarly to Journey and Abzu. It's narrative is given to the player through the imagery and the gameplay. The plot and narrative is down to who ever is playing it to interpretate it. We play as Wraith, a warrior previously petrified who awaken by drop of water. Wraith was inside a deep cave next to other
stones that looked similar to him. In his hands he had an ancient sword, which he uses to ride. Going outside the cave, the players are introduced into a sandy wasteland where the sand flows and acts like water. The wasteland has no signs of either water and life, which makes us wonder how did our character awaken. Wraith surfs the sand and comes across
crystals and glowy surfaces where his blade reacts to it. By interacting with them, his blade is capable of restoring both the water and the lost animals. Once again our character seems to be driven to a certain distant location. In fact every fish that is brought back seems to be sloating towards that direction making it obvious that thats where our
character needs to go.
As we proceed to restore the wasteland by bringing back the ocean and its animals we notice that we are not alone. Another figure seems to be following us from a distance and only moves closer when we restore back certain godly beings. These "gods" re animals petrifies inside temples and only Wraith can restore them back to their mighty days. Unfortunately,
Wraith's acts seems to have also awaken a dark force which is outhere to stop our character's mission, the mighty and dark Leviathan.
For those who re most interested about the world of the Sword of the Sea, various old stone tablets exists that reveal information about it's world and it's story.
The story of the game is very interesting but i can see how some people may be confused. Similar to the other games, the stone tablets reveal all information about the past but they can easily be missed or be spotted at the wrong time. The player will have to
piece the information together like a puzzle in order to complete the story of the world. The Wraiths story on the other hand, is more straight forward but mysteries do rise up. As mentioned, we don't know why our character was awaken and we do not know how
the story completed. On a bigger scale, the game does seem to be a part of the same universe with the other titles. If you dont believe me, complete the game to 100%.
Sword of the Sea is a relaxing action adventure where we control Wraith, a mysterious character who awakens in a cave and controls an ancient blade. This blade is a hoversword which Wraith uses to surf around the land. Similar to the other games, Wraith is capable
of moving in a three dimensional space and is capable of reaching high grounds by double jumbing. Whilst on air the player can use different tricks given that they unlocked them. Usually Tricks allow the player to stay longer on air and reach longer distance. Once the game is completed
a chain combo unlocks a boost mechanic. When landing a trick a ghost ball will appear spinning around Wraith. The player can have up to five Boost spheres. When the player fully collects the shells another ability is unlocked which allows Wraith to not only triple jumb, but also to generate
Water from his hover board to cover more distance on air.
In order to proceed through the game, the player has to solve puzzles or interact with certain items. The hero does not have a voice and instead is making a scream like sound. All the highlighted surfaces(Stone tablets, blue diamonds, blue holes) are interacting with Wraith who will use his blade
to trigger the event or will open the dialog box. Upon riding the giant animals the animals will perform a trick with the rider, usually the animal makes a spin.
Throughout the landscapes there are ancient latterns. The player will have to ride the hoversword through them in order to light em up. Once all the lanterns are lit, the puzzle is complete and a path will be revealed or unlocked for the character to progress through. The other type of puzzle usually has a
stone with an open mouth and floating bubble somewhere near. Wraith will suround himself with the bubble and will have to place it in the mouth of the statue. The bubble will be destroyed if Wraith rides through falling sand or if he touches lava. Most of the puzzles are easy and straight forward.
The best way to describe the game is, imagine the scenery of the Journey, that meets the magic of Abzu, combining the speed momentum of the pathless with a unique style of SSX. I personally fell in love with the game from the very first moment i moved the board. Just like the previous games, the adventure is quite relaxing. You always know where you are heading and the control of the hoversword is so smooth and absolute. You have the 100 % control of it. The tricks are satisfying to land and every ramp screams "use me to fly". Aside from the core gameplay, the part that elevates the experience is the Exploration. You see a ramp up in the distant mountains and think you can't reach it but if you DO there is a thing expecting you. Most of the things found usually reward the player with money which we can use to buy tricks and others.
The Sword of the Sea is not a big game. The main narrative can be completed relatively fast. As seen by the trophies, Speed Surfer requires the players to complete the game in less than 2hours indicating that people can complete it within that time span. I personally completed the game in NG+ within 1 hour, 9 minutes and 18 seconds. My first playthrough lasted 7-8 hours in which i was able to restore all the water in each area the Wraith visits. Whilst restoring the water in certain areas, some main ones some hidden ones, major animals return which the Wraith can ride . Some of the big areas also have a time challenge. The player can interact with an hourglass and will have 1 minute to achieve a high score. The score is achieved by performing tricks and chainning combos. There are also gold things that the player act as money which the player can spent on a Merchant to purchase tricks. As mentioned in the story, the player can explore and find ancient Stone tablets. These tablets reveal information about the world and are usually hidden. Hidden as well there are frogs scattered around the land. Most important collectable is the Sea shells. There are 50 hidden shells which reward the player with two major things. One is the last Wraith upgrade ability and the other one is a hidden secret ending which may or may not tie the game with others ;) . One thing worth mentionning is that the game rewards exploration.
The graphics of the movie are reminising of the Pathless, Abzu and the Journey as the graphics are very similar. The world is beatifully design with alot of detail on its environment. It is stunning and the environment interacts fully with Wraith. The faster the
hoversword moves the more the sand flies around him. Similarly, when the water is restored, the water moves realistically around him. The player cannot swim under water but they can perform a dive which will temporarily place him underwater. The cutscenes and the ingame
moments look of the same quality. Lastly, the sea weed and the chains also react to the Wraith's weight pressure. Every area looks unique, whether in the sand, the snow, the lava or even the inside of the temple.
The music of the game is quite interesting. When you re moving around the environment the music is calm and yet has a mysterius tone in the background. The Wraith doesnt talk but makes a sound similar to the ones of the diver(Abzu) or the traveller(Journey). The sound effects
of the hoversword(speeding, grinding tricks), animals and the gem crystals/money are very good. During the important sequents and the boss encounter the music hits different. Epic instrumentals are being used that escort the action scenes like cheese and wine.
In conclusion, Sword of the Sea is yet another amazing game developed by GiantSquid who re currently three on three successfull games. The concept is similar to the other titles where we control a character, Wraith, who is mysteriously awaken in a world drowned in sand. We ride a hoversword which is capable of restoring water back to the land and bringing back the animals. The plot is given to us visually through the game and more details about the characters and the world can be found in the ancient stone tablets scattered around the land and inside temples. Gameplay wise, Wraith rides his hoversword in style. The game is fast pasedand allows for some crazy tricks. The puzzles are easy to solve and the path is usually easy to pick back up in case you went away to epxlore. Exploration is a massive thing with the game as every area you think hides somethingm it usually does, whether its a trick challenge, a frog, sea shells or stone tablets. Graphically the game is stunning following the same art direction as the past entires and musically a nice choir performs amazing tracks. A normal playthrough can take up to 8 hours, a speedrun closer to one and a completion around 12(less with a guide).
This is a video of me reviewing the game