Some extra thoughts on
Song of the Deep...
I've seen some rather negative reviews of the game floating around, and frankly, I'm rather surprised by it. It's averaging under 70 on Metacritic. It's easily 8/10 territory. Nothing mind-blowing, but an excellent
Metroid-styled experience.
So, I also mentioned
Solar Jetman. The reason I mention it is that much like that game, your sub has a bit of momentum and heft, being underwater and all, and it feels at times like the physics of that game, although much more responsive and easy to control. You've even got a boost button to move much more quickly. You also have a grappling claw to pick things up, and while it seems like much of the game you'll be tossing shells and such at enemies a la
The Little Mermaid, you really end up doing more just with upgrades to your claw and your optional weapons.
Combat is fun, with a nice selection of weapons to use once you get rolling. But they're not actually that necessary, either. Honestly, I just bulldozed most stuff with the claw. You find charge upgrades for your subweapons, and can buy one for the claw, and that's more than enough to see you through.
Your subweapons use "tyne" energy, which partially recharges after a bit of time. You can expand this, along with your life meter. You also get a sonar for dark spaces, a searchlight (that can be upgraded), and you can also eventually get out of the sub and swim around. This ends up being key for quite a few puzzles, especially when you get the coral knife.
Speaking of the puzzles, a lot of reviews ragged on them. I enjoyed them, personally, because several of them (especially in Deeplight) revolve around reflecting beams of light around. I don't know why, but I have
always loved puzzles of that nature. They're not terribly difficult, but maybe a little tricky initially. There are also some puzzles where you have to drag bombs around, and those get a bit trickier, especially when you accidentally set one off early. It requires some pretty deft execution to get things right, even when you know what to do. I can see some of the younger set (or the impatient, crusty ol' reviewers) getting a bit frustrated, though.
So, I've mentioned upgrades, and while some can be found, the others can be bought. You find treasures along the way, and you'll want to be at least somewhat thorough with your exploration, although you won't be able to find it all on one go. You
will get enough to upgrade everything, though. I highly recommend the claw and boost upgrades, especially the latter; getting around more quickly is always a plus.
The game looks very nice. It reminds me a bit of
Child of Light. You'll run into a few framerate hiccups in some areas, but it's nothing game-breaking. The music is excellent, but be warned: it's of a very melancholy nature, and you might even find yourself feeling a little blue (har har) after playing for a while. There's
one song, though, that reminds me a lot of
Symphony of the Night's Abandoned Pit music. (It's totally that backing piano.)
It took me around 7-8 hours to finish up, collecting over 75% of the treasure. I spent another 1-2 hours mopping up the rest of the upgrades, and I might go back and snag all the rest of the treasures. Only like 18 out of 209 to go.
Anyway, for $15, you'll easily get your money's worth, and the game even has physical copies if you don't have an aversion to GameStop. Two thumbs up.
