All the while Kay is chased by monsters of her own creation manifestations of her spiteful hatred, sadness, and selfishness. Kay has to reconcile her ambivalence to her younger brother’s constant mistreatment by bullies at school, her parents’ tumultuous marriage and emotional disconnect, and supporting her boyfriend’s mental health despite his own demons. Jo-Mei tackles some of the most sensitive topics of depression and anxiety head-on, never shying away from a difficult or disturbing situation. Sea of Solitude‘s clear development focus was to tell a gripping and story in a beautiful way, and to an extent they succeeded. The remaining acts trend the game towards a more linear path, so it’s best to knock out all the exploration early before the story really ramps up. The first act is very open-ended and exploration based, allowing players to explore a majority of the sunken metro area in their boat before progressing the story. The game has no issue injecting variety in its design, with intense tonal and environmental shifts occurring throughout the game that always creates a new perspective on an area of the city or the sea.
Weather swaps from sunny and warm to stormy and dark, all depending on where Kay is in the world and what she’s interacting with. Sea of Solitude‘s environments constantly shift with the rising and lowering of the tide, opening up several parts of the city previously unreachable. In the early stages of the game, it’s hard not to feel a desire for exploration and see what the city has to hide.
A subtle soundtrack ranges from sublime to melancholy, intense to calming, as the waves crash against the facades of buildings. The sunken city itself, inspired by real-life Berlin, has a beautiful art-style blending the warmer colors of the buildings with the cooler ocean and sky enveloping it. Little does she know that she’s become the very darkness in her life she’s cultivated through years of selfish abuse of the friends and family around her. Dazed and confused, Kay has taken on a dark demon-like appearance seemingly without reason. Players follow the story of Kay, a young woman in a depressive and traumatic state, adrift in a tiny boat surrounded by a city submerged in the ocean.
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Platform(s): PC (Reviewed), PS4, Xbox One
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Let this message serve as a potential trigger warning before you begin reading the full review. I do want to note real quick before we begin this review: While the review itself doesn’t go particularly in-depth with some of the emotional trauma featured in the game, readers should know that this game delves into issues of depression, anxiety and other forms of emotional trauma that may be disturbing to those affected by these issues in life. Despite some areas of writing and acting that lacked nuance, and gameplay taking a backseat to the story, Sea of Solitude does have poignant and beautiful moments in its 3-4 hour run-time that can make the experience worthwhile.
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Sea of Solitude aims to capture the desolation of personal trauma and how to cope when you feel alone and there’s nobody who can help you. Self-reflection in times of great emotional pain can be harrowingly difficult, both to experience and express outwardly.
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