Harry has traveled the world in search of a cure for Norah, and neither of them are doing well. A mysterious package leads Norah to the island where Harry was last seen – off the coast of Tahiti. Despite the fact that Call of the Sea bills itself as a Lovecraftian mystery game, it falls short on the mystery front. You’ll traverse the island, find clues and solve puzzles to uncover Harry’s whereabouts and Norah’s mysterious illness in six chapters. The puzzles themselves make the game, the perfect blend of challenging and doable. As Norah explores her environment, she’ll scribble notes that’ll help her solve puzzles. There’s nothing more frustrating than having to exit a puzzle to see these notes. For simpler puzzles, it’s not an issue, but for more complex ones it’s a pain.
Norah’s travel logs give context to the story, unraveling Harry’s and his crew’s fate and bringing the island to life. It’s a lot to read, and it doesn’t feel like the best way to unravel such a rich story, especially with so many things to miss. You don’t spend enough time with the characters to care about their fates, and the story is entirely predictable. The game gives you a choice at the end, and it’s sort of a “so what” decision. In the end, it’s a meaningless decision since I don’t care either way.
Besides looking pretty, the game is totally evocative of its 1930s setting. The dialogue is hammy, which makes the game feel like an old B-movie, but when you combine it with the Lovecraftian influence, it’s not awful. Despite being mostly fun, Call of the Sea falls short on the mystery it tries to reveal. The story is a little lackluster and predictable, but it’s visually appealing and fits its period.
