Sword of the Sea is what occurs when Matt Nava strides again into Journey’s shadow

Sword of the Sea is a recreation about letting go. Its fundamental mechanic includes browsing throughout huge desert dunes on a skinny blade, slicing by way of glittering sands and scaling historical towers on a quest to unearth the secrets and techniques of civilizations previous. It performs greatest while you neglect in regards to the controls fully, and simply give up to the slick physics and let your little character stream. With sufficient exploration, you’ll naturally uncover glowing orbs and shining gold gems, and the sands will rework into deep, crystal clear seas with fish swimming by way of the air, carving moist paths by way of the grime. Your character, wearing flowing robes and a gold masks, rides the orange hills and the blue waves with the identical simple athleticism, reacting immediately to each enter on the controller.

Cost up a bounce after which full sick tips with just a few fast inputs, or unleash a bubble of sonic vitality to smash close by vases, uncovering bits of foreign money within the shattered items. The protagonist strikes in no matter path you push, stopping instantly while you let go of the analog stick. There are big chains to grind, a hover means in some areas, and half pipes generously positioned across the environments. Management prompts pop up while you’re first launched to a capability, however the textual content fades rapidly and also you’re left alone within the desert. There are not any waypoints in Sword of the Sea, however the surroundings tells a transparent story, inviting you to unravel puzzles within the mysterious temples dotting the panorama. Discover glowing orbs on the rooftops and hidden down secret passageways to unlock the buildings’ secrets and techniques, opening up new areas.

I performed about 20 minutes of Sword of the Sea at Summer time Sport Fest, however I needed to surf its dunes for lots longer. It’s the form of recreation that makes the actual world fade away, regardless of how chaotic or intrusive your rapid environment are. It’s constructed on rhythm and vibes, and it encourages a meditative stream state from its first frames. Be taught the controls after which neglect them; play with pure instinct and it’ll most probably be the correct transfer.

“The sport is about browsing, and it is actually in regards to the strategy of studying to surf and getting snug with browsing, after which making an attempt issues which might be a little bit bit past your talents, failing, after which figuring it out and truly conducting them,” Sword of the Sea creator Matt Nava informed Engadget on the SGF present flooring. “And within the course of, you form of understand that browsing is all about harnessing the facility of one thing larger than your self. You’re not paddling — the waves carry you. The zoomed out digital camera, the little character; in numerous video games, they’re proper on the character, as a result of the character is the main focus. However on this recreation, it is about how the character is part of the surroundings, that’s the focus. And I believe that is a relentless in numerous the video games that we have made.”

Nava is the inventive director and co-founder of Large Squid, the studio behind Abzû and The Pathless. Even with these two profitable video games below his belt, Nava remains to be greatest often known as the artwork director of Journey, thatgamecompany’s pivotal multiplayer expertise that hit PlayStation 3 in 2012. Nava has spent the previous decade making an attempt to construct explicitly non-Journey-like video games with Large Squid, and whereas Abzû and The Pathless each have his distinctive visible stamp, they’re the other of Journey in some ways. The place Journey was set in a dry, desert panorama, Nava’s follow-up, Abzû, befell in an underwater world. After that, The Pathless was principally inexperienced, quite than dusty orange.

With Sword of the Sea, Nava let go. He dropped all preconceptions of what he ought to be making and mentally stated fuck it. He lastly allowed himself to manifest the sport that got here naturally to him.

“On this recreation, it is very a lot taking up, accepting and proclaiming that that is me,” Nava stated. “I did Journey. I am doing orange once more. And I am going again to the desert as a result of I’ve far more concepts that we could not do in that recreation … It’s like I’ve been residing in my very own shadow for a very long time in a bizarre method. It is like, why am I doing that? I ought to simply be who I’m and proceed to discover the artwork that’s my artwork.”

Sword of the Sea is a particular and particular recreation, and though it’s set in an orange desert, it does not really feel like Journey. The sport additionally consists of music by Austin Wintory, the Grammy-nominated composer behind Journey, Abzû and The Pathless. Collectively, Nava and Wintory type a formidable basis.

“Quite a lot of online game scores, they simply make a music monitor for the realm,” Nava stated. “If you happen to’re within the city, you hear city music, after which it simply repeats. However that is not the way it works right here. The music advances as your story advances, it displays the place you are in your browsing journey, what you are studying how, how far your character has gone on this character arc. And in order that’s the place the music of a video game like ours ought to be.”

As Nava and I chatted, somebody sat all the way down to play Sword of the Sea on a close-by display screen, and after I glanced up, I noticed that they have been gliding by way of an space I did not discover in my runthrough. An enormous animal skeleton was half-buried within the sand, vivid white vertebrae dotted with gold gems for the participant to gather. There are numerous secrets and techniques in Sword of the Sea, Nava assured me. The easiest way to search out them is to only let go and play.

Sword of the Sea is because of hit PlayStation 5, Steam and the Epic Games Store on August 19.