Sea of Solitude

 Xbox One
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 46 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 46
  3. Negative: 9 out of 46

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  1. Xbox_Alive
    Jul 8, 2019
    8
    Sea of Solitude is a gritty voyage on an emotional tale, set in a visually stunning world. In this world people turn into monsters if they too lonely, or sad. You awaken as Kay, partially turned into one of these monsters, afloat on a small boat in a flooded town and are introduced to what seems to be the only ray of hope left. Armed with only a mystical flare, and your wits, you navigateSea of Solitude is a gritty voyage on an emotional tale, set in a visually stunning world. In this world people turn into monsters if they too lonely, or sad. You awaken as Kay, partially turned into one of these monsters, afloat on a small boat in a flooded town and are introduced to what seems to be the only ray of hope left. Armed with only a mystical flare, and your wits, you navigate this town, and Kay's own emotional distress. Along the way you spend time helping others seek comfort, and their own humanity. The emotional turmoil is constant as you hop rooftops, and navigate the flooded streets. While you clamber about the remains, you can find messages in bottles hidden around the map, that add to the already fathomless ocean of feelings. Hanging out, and sometimes a bit out of the way, you will also find seagulls, that you can Shoo away and catch a bird's eye view of the immediate area. This is a deep and dark look into what it is to be human, and will grip your heartstrings as you move along the game. The game play is smooth, and fairly straightforward. The water physics are a wonder to watch, very well done. Given the story's overtone it's hard for me to say a 'Good' experience but it is an adventure worth having, and a well made game, that expresses exactly what it meant to!… Expand
  2. ZeSimoes
    Nov 10, 2020
    8
    Great story and art style. Didn't bought it on release because of a bad review from IGN that said it was too repetitive and boring. It is not. It's a short game that you'll probably finnish in an afternoon, and you'll also learn a thing or two about depression. I finished it in one sit cause I couldn't put the controller down.
  3. Hovis992tza
    Jan 28, 2021
    9
    I am a little late to this one but I am in love with art and the deep story hidden beneath the surface and a chance to put it right a few minor glitches but not game braking and didn’t detract for my enjoyment for that reason I would say a solid 9/10 and if you have Xbox game pass it a no brainier
  4. jyd1626
    Jan 22, 2021
    8
    Great story, however even when is was short the game felt kind of forced in some specific situations, but overall great game that takes real life issues and set that there is not a only solution for things. Great experience
  5. DKurac
    Apr 12, 2021
    10
    Very beautifully looking game with an incredible story amplified by great soundtrack. It is shorter game (about 3h) but if you are going to explore that nice world and collect bottles and seagulls, you can
    at least double that. Definitely a game to try in Game Pass.
  6. chocapic
    Nov 15, 2020
    7
    Juego muy bonito y emocional, pero extremadamente corto y con jugabilidad nula, es un walking simulator realmente. Aún así, muy recomendable, es más una experiencia que un juego como tal.
  7. Ekon
    Apr 9, 2022
    8
    This is a beautiful and visually stunning game with imaginative and impressive settings from chapter to chapter. It is about the difficult relationships that a young girl has with kids at school, her parents, boyfriend and brother. She can't seem to find the right approach with any of them, which leads to depression and frustration. The object of the game is to help 'Kay' to betterThis is a beautiful and visually stunning game with imaginative and impressive settings from chapter to chapter. It is about the difficult relationships that a young girl has with kids at school, her parents, boyfriend and brother. She can't seem to find the right approach with any of them, which leads to depression and frustration. The object of the game is to help 'Kay' to better understand herself and others in order for her to regain her confidence and self esteem. Everyone in the game starts out as a 'monster', including Kay, and as the game progresses and Kay makes strides, all the characters regain their physical humanity and of course the last person who will do so is the star of the show.… Expand
  8. grafix143
    Aug 28, 2019
    9
    Sea Of Solitude , this game really touched me in a way that a lot of games stopped doing.
    It has a great real life story with a twist, how family can be break up and how it feels when this happens.
    This divorce issue and parents fights in front of the kids and how this can affect our children without us knowing .

    this game gave me a new point of view to think of in my real life .
  9. edilios
    Jul 6, 2019
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. es un buen juego te distrae tiene una mecanica simple esta bien para pasar el rato… Expand
  10. SuperkenGaming
    Apr 9, 2021
    7
    Sea of Solitude
    Don’t play this on the PS5
    I loved Sea of Solitude, this is a game that touches on depression, anxiety, and loss… you play as Kay, shes a monster, in a sea of monsters that all represent somebody from her real life.. And first things first… don’t play this on the playstation 5, its completely unplayable, that isn’t an exaggeration, this broken, 0/10 there… so I had to    Sea of Solitude
    Don’t play this on the PS5
    I loved Sea of Solitude, this is a game that touches on depression, anxiety, and loss… you play as Kay, shes a monster, in a sea of monsters that all represent somebody from her real life..
    And first things first… don’t play this on the playstation 5, its completely unplayable, that isn’t an exaggeration, this broken, 0/10 there… so I had to dust off the ole PS4 for this one… Sea of Solitude is a 3 hour long game that can be thrown onto the same family tree of like an ico game.. its that kind of feeling.. obviously nowhere near as complex, but I just found myself in a trance like state, following this light around, cleansing areas, defeating that sections boss, learning your lesson, and unlocking the next area… youre free to explore as much or as little as youd like, collecting pittles and shooing seguls.. but there isn’t much to explore as again this is a very tiny game, but it was a nice bite size.. It ended right on time.. not feeling too long or too short… this really was a nice story focused unique experience…
    I love these types of games that don’t hit you over the head with puzzles and fighting, youre just exploring, interacting with the things you gotta interact with, no searching, no stress… just getting lost in the world and enjoying the ride…
    Though admittedly some will find experiences like this to be lacking, I however love every once in a while just taking a break and going through a game like this that isn’t so game heavy..
    I nice pallet cleanser in between other stuff.
    I also found the story telling to be touching and thought provoking, so there is definitely some substance here.
    I give Sea of Solitude
    a 7/10    … Expand
  11. DuffySteffanni
    Feb 7, 2023
    10
    One of my favorite games. I picked this up by random. It's very focused on mental illness. It does so in a unique perfect way. There is nothing like this. It feels like a glass of ice water after walking across a desert. It's games like this that keep me a gamer. Every line is perfectly poetic. Every character is relatable and well thought out. The story is perfect. 100% A+
  12. Nerevarinho
    Mar 21, 2023
    4
    I was so excited about this game after hearing a talk from the game designer. But the disappointment was big. When the part with the bullying starts and the dialogue gets interesting, that's when you get annoyed by annoying enemies who destroy the whole moment and where you can't even concentrate on the dialogues to get the content. This is such bad design, it almost wasn't worth theI was so excited about this game after hearing a talk from the game designer. But the disappointment was big. When the part with the bullying starts and the dialogue gets interesting, that's when you get annoyed by annoying enemies who destroy the whole moment and where you can't even concentrate on the dialogues to get the content. This is such bad design, it almost wasn't worth the effort to tell a story in the game. A lot of effort was put into mediocre jump and run and annoying enemies.… Expand
  13. kevinbiohazard
    Aug 8, 2022
    6
    Story: 8/10
    Gameplay: 6/10
    Graphics:7/10
    Music: 8/10
    Replay: 5/10
    Buying Advice: 6/10
  14. 3t3rnal
    Jan 11, 2021
    7
    Overall a pretty solid story driven small scale game, most of the issues for me were technical, and the price is a bit too high for what it offers, especially since it is not really an Indie game, given the backing by EA.

    The story, focusing on human relations and mental health and effect of one on the other and vice versa, is a bit generic and is definitely no masterpiece, but is    Overall a pretty solid story driven small scale game, most of the issues for me were technical, and the price is a bit too high for what it offers, especially since it is not really an Indie game, given the backing by EA.

    The story, focusing on human relations and mental health and effect of one on the other and vice versa, is a bit generic and is definitely no masterpiece, but is reasonably well written, and executed, and supported by solid, if at times a bit emotionally bland (given the subject) voice-acting. The movement is well paced and gives enough time to admire the scenery, but is still quick enough to see / feel you are progressing further at a good pace. Platforming is overall decent, but nothing special - it is not very challenging, the game overall is not, although there are some parts which contain either very timing sensitive approach, or precision - the latter of which is not a very good thing and the reason will be explained further down.

    The game world is technically open, but the progression is a bit streamlined, but there are parts in the story where you can explore a bit. It also changes throughout the story, so backtracking through some parts of it later into the story is barely noticeable.

    The art style of the game, and the interconnection between visuals and audio is top notch - this is the part of the game where it truly hits beyond it "class". The visuals are somewhat simplistic and cartoonish, but not in a childish or over done way, the color palette is wonderful, and while overall the graphic style is on the simpler side, there is just the right amount of detail in the right places.

    Sound and music, however, is even better. The ambience is simple, but wonderful and very high quality, helping immersion a lot, but the "star" here is music, and not only in terms of it being very fitting, but the use of it is also exceptionally good in regards to revealing the true mood of the current situation - where the visuals reveal the surface mood of the current situation in the game, it is the music and the sounds which will truly tell you what is going on. With the audio and music being so good, the game also makes a great use of silence - when this game goes silent, it hits you like a hammer, more so than any increase in music volume or tempo ever could.

    The game also has a set of collectibles, some of which reveal some pretty interesting information regarding the story, which also kind of provides an explanation to some game systems / mechanics - for example, why you do not really die - more like get knocked out and then wake up - perhaps as if the failure was just a bad dream.

    Unfortunately, the good part is over, now onto the not so good - While the game is technically sound in regards to stable FPS, and no crashes, there are a couple things that could use a bit more polish in regards to some in-game mechanics and movement physics.

    The movement is very imprecise and especially jumping can be problematic in certain parts of the game, the hit-boxes are very hit and miss - some of them are way too simplistic and do not fit the actual object you see, while others are overly detailed and will cause you to get to stuck on random bits and pieces. There are also some parts where you will slide down a sloped surface, and others where you will not - sometimes next to each other This is a particularly frustrating issue with the platforming sections which require precise jumps - there are not many, fortunately, but it is still very annoying.

    In regards to platforming, there is also one more complaint - the "punishment" for missing some jumps is not very consistent with the difficulty of the jumps themselves, nor with how far into the game you are, which can lead to some more frustration.

    The boat you use to traverse over the body of water also feels nothing like a real boat, it actually feels like some placeholder mechanics were put in, and then never really worked on - maybe because of time constraints. The physics of the boat also feel very odd in many instances and it only really ever resembles the handling of a boat at full speed. Anyways, spinning around like a fidget spinner is amusing, but a bit off from the overall feelings the game tries to invoke.

    The last issue I had with the game are repetitive encounters with "enemies", which often force you to repeat simple, but tedious tasks to trick them into "destroying" themselves, as you cannot engage them directly. This by itself would perhaps not be such an issue if it was more spread out throughout the game - so more individual encounters, but more breaks in between and less repeating at the same time, but most of the encounters lock you in a small arena and then force you to do the same thing 4-5-6 or even more times, and while discovering the methods of defeating the various enemies is pretty satisfying, it's nothing ground breaking, and will get repetitive and boring really quickly.    … Expand
  15. SaberOfXebec
    Jul 25, 2023
    5
    Its have good visual design with good music but there is no game play and the story was decent.
  16. MundoIndie
    Jul 23, 2023
    9
    Sea of solitude, es un juego de plataformas/puzzle en 3D, dónde tomas el control de Kay, una adolescente que tendrá que luchar contra su pasado elmcualntoma forma de moaustros oscuros y los tendrá que ir sanando para desentrañar el pasado (que es muy doloroso) para poder tener la calma y el aprendizaje al final del juego.
    Aún cuando la duración es aproximadamente de 3 horas (si no buscas    Sea of solitude, es un juego de plataformas/puzzle en 3D, dónde tomas el control de Kay, una adolescente que tendrá que luchar contra su pasado elmcualntoma forma de moaustros oscuros y los tendrá que ir sanando para desentrañar el pasado (que es muy doloroso) para poder tener la calma y el aprendizaje al final del juego.
    Aún cuando la duración es aproximadamente de 3 horas (si no buscas los coleccionables) es totalmente grato jugar cada minuto, la jugabilidad es muy buena, los gráficos y arte son maravillosos con oscuridad y luz magníficamente llevado.
    Es el juego más hermoso que he jugado en mucho tiempo.
    Que bueno que no estoy deprimido o parecido, ya me hubiera cortado las venas con la historia.
    Qué buen guion tiene.
    Lo grande de este juego es que cualquiera lo puede jugar ya que su dificultad no es pesada (la historia sí es lo es). Para alguno este punto no será bueno, sobre todo los que buscan dificultad, pero si buscas historia y pasar un buen momento este juego es realmente para ti.
    El apartado musical es bueno pero no llega a ser entrañable o será parte de los clásicos, pero cumple.

    Cornelia Geppert es la mejor guionista/directora artística de los videojuegos.
    Klemens Reckford es un genio diseñando niveles.

    ¡Por fin Electronic Arts hace un juego que no es FIFA!
    Juéguenlo    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

100
#100 Best Xbox One Game of 2019
53
#53 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2019
40
#40 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. M3
    Aug 10, 2019
    70
    Even tough the story is a bit unevenly told; we cannot stop playing Sea of Solitude until Kay has reached the end of her journey. Partly because the story always manages to motivate us to go further, partly because the adventure is not long enough for the shortcomings to become too intrusive. When it is all said and done, Sea of ​​Solitude is a gripping but uneven journey that is worth taking.
    Read full review
  2. Official Xbox Magazine UK
    Aug 8, 2019
    80
    A brave, harrowing exploration of a troubled psyche which proves very powerful indeed. [Issue#180, p.83]
  3. Gamers' Temple
    Aug 6, 2019
    74
    Sea of Solitude certainly has a unique look and feel to it, but the novelty alone is not enough to carry the game. Your enjoyment of it will come down to how much you connect to Kay and her story because the gameplay alone will not be enough to compel you to play until the end. Even if you're just in it for the story, there are times when that story will also feel like a slog, especially when you face the monsters that represent Kay's endlessly bickering parents. The game is certainly an unusual experience, but it will probably leave you wishing that it was a more compelling one.
    Read full review
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