#Sea of solitude seagulls plus#
#Sea of solitude seagulls series#

There were sections that made me uncomfortable and anxious in the best way possible.

It was a good kind of awful that was narratively eye-opening. From close calls with evil bullies to fumbling around in the dark, I felt like I was living the nightmare Kay’s brother Sunny faced every day. The school chapter, in particular, was my favorite. There are other sections in Sea of Solitude that made me uncomfortable and anxious in the best way possible. That said, the challenge of making it to the top of that tower was a welcome change of pace because it ramped up the otherwise easy platforming obstacles with plenty of jumps and some strategic gusts of air. This made it hard to tell where I’d been before when hunting collectibles and made certain sections, such as the skyscraper, dull to explore. There’s no real point to it, no story reason for doing so, and it seems unnecessarily rude to the seagulls.Įvery area you discover looks beautiful, but a lot of it also looks extremely similar. You just have to find seagulls and shoo them away. The other collectible you can track down is, by comparison, a snooze.

#Sea of solitude seagulls plus#

Plus exploring and enjoying the lovely environments was one of the best parts of Sea of Solitude. While these are optional to the main campaign, going out of my way to get them was a great way to add an extra challenge. They serve as both a fun thing to hunt for and an interesting and eerie reminder that others have been here before. Scattered throughout the world are different collectibles to find, the best of which are the messages in bottles.

#Sea of solitude seagulls series#

The voice acting didn’t help in this regard because the larger than life cadence of the monsters often made things feel like an overacted stage play rather than a series of real conversations. Intense screams and overuse of exclamations such as “leave me alone!” felt overly dramatic and consistently took me out of the story. If that was me, I would be asking for the bill early. It’s a shame that Sea of Solitude’s heavy-handed writing often gets in the way of the story it’s trying to tell, since it’s hard to buy into a relationship where someone says “you’re the kind of person I could imagine having kids with” on the first date. Things don’t always turn out how Kay wants, but eventually she accepts that the right decision isn’t necessarily the ideal one and that not all relationships can last. Most of all, I respect that Sea of Solitude isn’t all happy endings. Sea of Solitude's heavy-handed writing often gets in the way of the story it's trying to tell. And it was genuinely compelling, getting to know the winged monster that helped her take ownership of her shortcomings was lovely and heartbreaking all at once. For instance, one of the first story arcs deals with Kay neglecting her brother because she’s so infatuated with her boyfriend. Sea of Solitude does a good job tackling relatable situations that I don’t often see represented in games. And throughout the adventure, Kay is constantly reminiscing on her own behavior when it comes to the people in her life. The magic of it was replaced by disappointment.īut you’re not just avoiding monsters, there are also some you help turn human again by clearing corruptions and listening to their stories. But that same animation plays every time it catches you, so what was impressive initially felt like old news by the fifth or sixth time I saw it. The first time I saw Kay get caught by the sea monster and tossed in the air like a rag doll I was thrilled. There are two specific monsters that serve as recurring obstacles throughout the story: a sea monster that can make crossing over water from buildings to bouys a heart-pounding race and a shelled monster girl who blocks paths and loves to explain how you suck. It’s convenient and intuitive to use, and Sea of Solitude provides a good mix of sailing and exploring on foot to keep things fresh.

Your boat is your main mode of travel and it provides refuge from the darkness the monsters thrive on. It’s something to draw you through the world, but it’s rarely satisfying to pull off. Sometimes these corruptions are a challenge to reach, but more often than not they’re just a matter of walking right up to them and, well, pressing a button. This involves walking up to light that’s trapped by dark clouds and then holding down a specific button. Kay is tasked with getting rid of corruption swarms scattered around the world in the hopes of shining a little light for other monsters and herself.