Sword of the Sea is the third game released by indie studio Giant Squid. It was formed by ex-thatgamecompany employees who had previously worked on that studio’s breakout game Journey. The previous two outings by Giant Squid wore its Journey inspiration on their sleeves with Abzu and The Pathless. Sword of the Sea follows a similar path, but you finally get to see the progression they’ve followed to get to a game that combines all the elements of the aforementioned games into one impeccable package.

This is going to be a short review because it’s so tough to distill such a “feeling” game into words, but I’m still putting this out there in case it can put this on someone’s radar.

Point 1: Vibes in Motion

All of the games made by these developers starting from Journey have always been about the vibes. It’s about how you feel as you see the landscape open up in front of you and the awe and joy as you move around the space. Movement specifically is the most satisfying part of this game.

Whether you are surfing on your sword through sand or ice or water, the momentum and reactiveness of the character will bring a joy to your face at regular intervals. When you don’t have dialogue or a traditional narrative, it’s the feeling of playing that has to carry the load, and this not only achieves that but in my opinion surpasses it. I spent plenty of time aimlessly surfing around just because it was fun even as objectives awaited me. 

And the game knows it too! There are architectural half pipes and grind rails to surf on and really immerse into the full breadth of what this movement can allow. It never gets old and as the environments change, you learn to add more adjustments to your movement repertoire that gives it more depth than meets the eye. With a runtime of 3-4 hours, it also doesn’t last long enough to ever get boring or overstay its welcome.

Point 2: Waves of Melodies

Another throughline in all of these games is the Austin Wintory soundtrack. These are far from his only game credits as he is credited on games such as The Order: 1886, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, and Hades 2. But I will always associate him with these games, with his beautiful soundtracks that capture the small details just as well as the expansive environments.

Every smile I had on my face while playing Sword of the Sea was accompanied by a great musical composition, and that has been the case since Journey. You can even feel those roots flourish here depending on the environments as the desert biome takes cues from Journey while the water sections pull from Abzu. The visual language accompanied by the small audio callbacks to those games adds a little something that at first is hard to pinpoint but washes over you with feelings of familiarity.

Point 3: Simplicity Maxxing

One thing people can always pinpoint with these games is the art style. Whether it’s the minimalist character design or the ethereal versions of earthly environments, there’s just something that makes you instantly feel like you know who made these games. The Pathless deviated from that a little but I think I can safely call Journey, Abzu and Sword of the Sea a spiritual trilogy. 

Whether it’s everyone’s cup of tea is a different matter, but it’s impossible to deny the beautiful art of these games and the design choices that inform them. Sword of the Sea is no different and adds more to the repertoire as environments mingle and coexist beautifully with contrasting colours and juxtaposed gradients. 

As simple as it may seem, there is a real alchemy to getting this right and Giant Squid manages to get it right every time. This art is my happy place and getting more of it is a great experience every time.

Point 4: The Final Form

As I mentioned, this feels like a continuation of the previous games made by these developers. But I mean that in almost every way. The previous games had very specific aspects you could point to that defined them: Journey had the desert, Abzu had underwater, and the Pathless had the focus on movement and momentum. 

Sword of the Sea truly takes every one of those elements and refines and combines them perfectly. Many of the environments are much like Journey with the main character design also harkening back to that. Meanwhile, the water sections are critical to the story of this game as the main character brings back life to the world by returning the water and the life forms that come with it. And finally, the movement mechanics with the sword surfboard is very reminiscent of the movement in The Pathless. They’ve tweaked it so that momentum doesn’t feel critical but just feels so good that you can’t help but want to build it yourself without the game asking for it.

The story structure here also reflects work done before as they push forward messages of cooperation and solidarity. Meanwhile, they’ve added some gamification to their repertoire with some points challenges here or there that at first feel out of place but then blend seamlessly into that grey zone between immersion and the fun you want to feel when you play a game. 

All in all, the DNA of this game is undeniable while still continuing to evolve. And I can’t wait to see where they go next.

So if you’ve played either Journey or Abzu and liked your experience, this is a no doubt great game for you to play. But even if you’ve never played them, this is the perfectioned version that I think anyone can enjoy especially at its 3-4 hour runtime. Take an afternoon and just immerse yourself in this and I guarantee you won’t regret it!