Where do I start with this game. This is easily the best video game made in the last ten years and easily makes it into the ranks of best games ever made. It is hard to say something that hasn’t already been said about this game.
I’ve played many critically acclaimed games that have also won their respective game of the year competitions. Overwatch, God of War, Baldur’s Gate 3. Those are all great games, but frankly the team at Sandfall created an experience a step above the rest.
Lightning in a bottle is the best way to describe it. It is impossible to create on demand. It just happens. About every 10 years the stars align, and a group of people are able to come together and make a masterpiece.
I’ll keep the first part of my review spoiler free. Here are the important parts.
Review
Combat
I want to start with the combat because this is what scares most people away. Yes, it is turn based. But it is by far the best take on turn based RPG combat that’s ever existed. It is not boring. The animations are clean and concise, and you are actively involved with the parry system the whole time.
I would even go as far to say that this is a parry-focused combat system more than it is a turn-based combat system. I was honestly surprised at how much I liked it, as I generally do not like parry-based combat systems very much. But in this case, they did it really well.
There are two things that make it really good in my opinion.
First is that you take no damage on a successful parry, and every attack can be parried. This allows for a ton of skill expression as it means that no matter your level, you can beat every fight in the game as long as you hit enough parries. Instead of grinding for levels, you just keep practicing against the hard enemies until you get the timings for the parries down. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was a critical shortcoming of the Sea of Stars combat system.
Second, you have the option to dodge. If you suck at parries and want something easier, just go for the dodge instead. This helps casuals with tough attacks a lot.
Story
The story is amazing. What this game does better than pretty much every other game is letting the player live in obscurity. While there is always a clear objective, the player is always left wondering why so many things are the way they are. Then slowly clues start to come together, and finally there is the big reveal. I literally stopped playing the game for twenty minutes just so I could piece everything together, and it was beautiful.
The paintress is a great a great example of this. You don’t know why she is painting the number every year on the monolith. But you do know that she is causing an immense amount of suffering and she must be stopped. She is ever present. From nearly every place on the map you can see the monolith with that imposing number on it.
It’s just enough to keep the story moving, but you don’t know why she looks so sad.
My only gripe with the story is that it is quite depressing. While it is an amazing story, it can wear on you a bit.
Music
The music in this game is next level. Here is a little exerpt from my favorite song. (Lumiere)
The sound design is just overall incredible. One of the strongest parts of this game’s storytelling is how they seamlessly transition from dialogue to fights, and the music is what makes this happen. Here is a video to show what I mean.
For context, Gustave and Lune were having a pretty serious conversation when a new enemy shows up. This enemy is bigger than anything the player has yet seen.
(Video contains minor spoilers)
Let me bring a couple things to your attention just to show how good the storytelling and sound design is.
- The music starts deep and depressing, perfectly matching the atmosphere of the difficult conversation that just happened.
- Then you hear the first massive “thump”, the music immediately becomes suspensful as the player wonders what it could be.
- The new monster (nevron) appears, and you can feel its weight. Its movement is unnatural. It is something to be scared off, and the music builds another layer of suspense).
- Then Gustave gets up to enter the battle. Look how stiffly he walks. This is motion capture at its finest. It’s a subtle detail, but it really drives home the mental state he is in. He can’t handle everything that is happening, but he just has to get up and face the task at hand.
- Finally, the music reaches its peak with a seamless transition to the battle screen. The stakes for this battle couldn’t be any higher.
Rating
Here are my ratings with the tiny little nitpicks for why they didn’t make 10/10 (Nothing is perfect, but know that it is very unlikely for any other game to surpass these scores).
- Gameplay: 9.2/10 – I’m not a huge fan of parries, but this game sold me on it.
- Story: 9/10 – Couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks. (Was kinda depressing though)
And with that we go on to the spoiler section
Spoilers
This will be less organized, but I just need to dump out my thoughts on some of the major story points of the game.
The Reveal
What a bitter reveal at the end of act 2. I knew Verso was up to something by this point. But learning that the expedition defeated the wrong enemy was gut wrenching. By defeating the paintress, they defeated the only person preserving their world.
What drove this especially deep for me was Gustave’s journal. I diligently wrote in it every chance I got. I was so excited to see what the payoff would be when his apprentices finally saw it. I was invested in it, and to see that all the effort put into it was for nothing is a reflection on the expedition as a whole.
Then act 3 begins, and it was the single greatest piece of storytelling I’ve ever experienced. Full stop. Everything is revealed, it is so much to comprehend, but given some time to think about it, everything falls into place, and it all makes sense.
Figuring out the difference between the painted and real family was huge. It caused me to reflect on literally the entire story that had happened up until now and reevaluate every decision that was made by both sides of the family.
The Ending
Who did you choose?
I’ll start with a quote from Renoir.
Life keeps forcing cruel choices.
If I had to sum up this game in one sentence that would be it. Renoir is faced with an impossible task. Destroy the canvas and with the last remnants of his son’s soul. Or let his wife and daughter waste away in a painted world. Both decisions have cruel outcomes for his family.
Then Maelle convinces him that she will leave the canvas if he doesn’t destroy it. With great sadness Renoir leaves the canvas.
Then the cruelest revelation of all. Painted Verso calls out Maelle on her Lie. She is not going to leave the canvas. And in doing so she keeps Verso’s tired soul around forever. Sounds great, until you realize that the young boys wasting away throughout the game are actually Verso. Painted Verso realizes that his real counterpart just wants to be done. He wants to stop the pain he has caused.
Verso is then forced with his own impossible decision. Destroy his world, liberate his tired soul, and force Maelle to face reality. Or save his world and give Maelle a chance to live a better life inside the Canvas than outside.
Then he quotes papah.
Life Keeps forcing cruel choices.
That hits hard. He makes a decision no-one should ever have to make. He has always been on Maelle’s side, inside and outside the painting. And now he has to turn against her. (Though in reality this is still in line with his character, he is saving her once again.)
I personally take Verso’s side, but it is a heart-wrenching decision to make. Real Renoir is the most rationale man in the whole story. He is the “bad-guy” but he is just trying to save his family. Ultimately, he is doing what is best for them.
I will say that there are still some moral dilemmas though. Playing through the first half of the game again, it is hard to argue that the people inside that painting aren’t real. They obviously are capable of understanding their world, and destroying it is an awful thing to do to them. But keeping them around comes at the cost of Verso’s soul. Is it reasonable to allow one person to suffer so that everyone else may live? Where is the line? What about two people? When does it just turn into slavery?
Having watched Maelle’s ending, it just doesn’t feel right to stay in the painting. It is ultimately a fabricated world. And hearing Verso’s pleas at the end is chilling. He pleads for her to let him go. And she doesn’t. She instead paints a reality that is… perfect for her.
Leave a Comment