Song of the Deep

It’s been a while since I’ve played a game as enchanting and engrossing as Song of the Deep. It’s the type of game that you start to play and then before you know it hours have passed; every intention to turn it off met with an “I’ll just go there” or “I’ll just get that one treasure that’s close by”. It’s just a shame the experience is rather brief, as by the time the credits roll you’ll just be left wanting more. Whilst it will undoubtedly stand in the shadow of Ori and the Blind Forest for Xbox One and PC owners, it’s a wonderful title with enough of its own unique charm and scintillating g...

The game takes about eight hours to complete, although it would be closer to 12 if trying to 100% the game and find every little secret. With that said, the game is short and concise enough to keep players wanting to come back for more, and I can't wait to dive (pun intended) back into the game and look for everything I missed the first time through. Any Insomniac Games or Metroidvania fan probably won't be disappointed by picking this game up and trying it out.

If you’ve played Ubisoft’s Child of Light, you can expect a few similarities. The protagonist is a young girl looking for her family in a strange land, except this time you’re underwater in a submarine, and it’s not a turn-based RPG. Instead, you’ll find yourself slowly uncovering the vast labyrinth of caves and shipwrecks, upgrading as you go.

Insomniac Games has certainly been keeping itself busy lately. The studio has been launching game after game over the last couple of years, all of them of the quality you'd expect, and it seems it's prepared to tackle almost anything – big or small. Nestled in-between its successful re-imagining of the first Ratchet & Clank and its forthcoming Spider-Man title is Song of the Deep. While it may not have the bombast and the humour of Insomniac's other games, this 2D Metroidvania more than makes up for it with bucket-loads of charm.

Annoying puzzles aside, Song of the Deep is an excellently put together Metroidvania with a sweet tale to tell.

Despite its sparkling surface, Song of the Deep could use a bit more polish. That said, it hits more than it misses, and I can easily see myself coming back to its sprawling world every few years or so. With more development time in the form of a sequel (possibly using another mythos and setting), it could be something really special. For now what we’ve got is absolutely still worth playing.

I won’t lie. This game hits you right in the feels. This is a story driven by love,and begs the question how far would you go for the people you love. In Merryn’s case, it’s to the bottom of the ocean. The games artistry, music, and narration had me close to tears at a few key points. I thoroughly enjoyed the first part of the game. I only wish they had a clear definition of what they wanted the game to be. With such a hard turn from puzzles to strictly waves of enemies, the game lost it for me a little. It felt like a different game in the last couple of hours, and I missed the game I had sta...

Song of the Deep makes a fantastic first impression. Its gorgeous world, charming characters, and melancholy tone make for a unique and effective aesthetic. But once you get into the core of the mechanics, combat and puzzles become a slog thanks to its cumbersome controls and wonky physics. Still, I found myself willing to put up with all of these frustrations in order to delve deeper and deeper into this beautiful world.

A different take on the usual Metroidvania formula, but while the story and setting are charming the puzzles are rarely anything other than frustrating.

Song of the Deep's story is touching, its art is beautiful, and its soundtrack is lovely, all of which come together to make a visual treat. Then I had to actually play it and I found it frustrating at some times, boring at others, and quite glitchy. Some may be able to forgive it, but I can't see many doing so.

“Song of the Deep has too many bugs and design flaws to stay afloat.”

It's also really strange that this is a game by Insomniac. It seems to demonstrate none of the beautiful finesse found in the Ratchet & Clank games, nor the slick power of the Resistance series. In fact, it doesn't use their own in-house engine, but Unity. And they don't appear to have been entirely comfortable with it - it's twitchy, blippy, and when there's lots happening on screen, it slows down on a top-spec PC.