Song of the Deep

Song of the Deep developed by Insomniac Games, the same studio responsible for the Ratchet and Clank franchise, has surprisingly created a game so basic and devoid of personality. The game feels “safe”, designed to be as inoffensive as possible. It feels like the kind of nameless generic video game that would be featured in a TV show or movie. Much of its faults lie in the tedious puzzle solving, simple unengaging combat and very basic story. The only highlights are the soothing melodic soundtrack and the vivid art design. This pretty 2D metroidvania is so bland that I could barely remember anything of note when I reached the credits.

Song of the Deep is a story based on Irish folklore, about a young girl named Merryn finding her dad who is lost at sea. Merryn’s dad is a sailor and makes ends meet by fishing on his weathered vessel. One day, her dad never returns. Merryn decides to take it upon herself to find her dad by crafting a submarine and venturing beneath the surface. Merryn is surprised to discover that the sea’s depths are hiding more than just aquatic life, but multiple grounded vessels, a bounty of mythical creatures and an entire ancient civilization. The rest of the plot involves Merryn going from point to point, improving her submarine along the way to try to find her father.

I’m extremely disappointed about Song of the Deep because it has great mechanics but poor execution, it has the underwater traversal in Aquaria and the grappling hook mechanics in Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. This game should have been a slam dunk in theory, but nothing really connects. The exploration is slow, hampered by a limited speed boost and bothersome currents that often are in the opposite direction of where you want to go. Outside of exploration, the other core part of the game is the grappling hook on Merryn’s submarine. It is both a combat weapon and puzzle solving tool.

Most of the puzzles are timing based, such as requiring Merryn to grapple a mine and blow up a wall before the mine detonates. The problem is that the grappling mechanic is finicky where the physics of the grappled object would occasionally move in an unintended direction or get stuck in the environment. There were multiple occasions where the mine I was grappling detonated too early and I had to backtrack, wait for the mine to spawn again and try again. This issue gets exacerbated in the later stages where puzzles introduce enemies and environmental hazards that instantly kill Merryn. There is also a strange spike in difficulty halfway in the game when there are suddenly a series of complex laser puzzles to solve. The puzzles rarely feel fun, they are not tests of creative problem solving but more about executing a series of actions without making mistakes.

The combat is extremely lackluster. It is basically launching the grappling hook towards the direction of an enemy enough times until it dies. There is the occasional giant crab or nautilus that involves a bit more skill, where you have to dodge out of the way and attack its rear, but it never gets more complicated than that. You can grapple rocks to use as projectiles to take care of the foes, but I found mashing the grappling hook much easier especially once it is fully upgraded. Speaking of upgrades, most of the optional things you can do is collect gems and treasures which you can exchange with a hermit crab who can upgrade your vessel. Outside of the traversal and grappling hook upgrades, I found the other combat upgrades obsolete since the game never demands too much skill in combat.

So the puzzles and combat are a swing and a miss, but how about the story? Unfortunately the story is also weak. The narrative on its own is perfectly fine and charming, suitable for a younger audience looking to experience a fairy tale-like story. It’s just that the story never goes beyond that. There is very little character development and it doesn’t help that Merryn never speaks. The game’s only VO is narrated by a lovely sounding Irish speaker who comments on the story as it progresses. The problem is that the writing is tame and there is no humor or bite to cut through the vanilla narration. The story lacks that Pixar-like quality where both adults and kids can find something to enjoy.

I’m confused at who Song of the Deep is actually supposed to cater to. The story is clearly meant for young kids, but the puzzles are difficult enough where it requires adequate mastery of the controls. I guess it’s the kind of game where a parent plays and their kid(s) watch along. I pity the parents because the frustrating puzzles and basic combat simply are not engaging enough. At the end of day, Song of the Deep is for a very very niche audience and is hard to recommend for almost anyone to play.