The Shore – Review – A place where the rational world meets cosmic indifference and where the truth leads to madness.

,,The oldest and strongest human emotion is fear and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

Throughout my life, I’ve played many different horror games, however, for someone who struggles with thalassophobia, nothing is quite as terrifying as a game like this. If, on top of that, we add creatures from H.P. Lovecraft’s works into the mix, we definitely have a recipe for a nightmare fuel. 

Based on the works by H.P. Lovecraft, The Shore doesn’t hold your hand at all while it throws you, without any explanation, onto an unknown island, where you play as a fisherman named Andrew searching for his daughter Ellie. This game is a walking simulator focused on narrative, with occasional puzzles you’ll come across along the way. 

Visually, the game is a real treat for fans of Lovecraft. The island is bleak and devoid of color, filled with dead sharks, scattered belongings, skeletons and wrecked ships, while the soundtrack creates an atmosphere that feels both eerie and, in a way, poetic. The game is divided into several sections. At the very beginning, you have the opportunity to learn more about the place and the various sailors who ended up there through letters you’ll find in bottles scattered along the shore.

The letters are very well written and with their morbid, mysterious tone they prepare you for everything that lies ahead. You’ll also notice various statues whose designs fit perfectly into a lovecraftian style, drawings depicting the strange anatomy of different creatures and objects that help explain the situation you’ve found yourself in, gradually introducing you to a world where science and the senses are too limited to grasp the true nature of reality. The longer you play, the more the game pulls you in, allowing you to witness events that fans of cosmic horror will especially appreciate, particularly because the design of creatures from mythos is exceptional. 

At one point, you’ll be forced to put on a diving suit and descend deep underwater, while at another, you’ll find yourself in entirely unknown universes, some of which are visually stunning and others terribly claustrophobic, successfully achieving the game’s core goal, which is making you feel small and insignificant in comparison to the beings you encounter. 

The gameplay is quite simple, except for sections where you’ll need to run and find ways to deal with monsters. At the beginning, your task is to explore and familiarize yourself with the island. There are items you can pick up that will help you open paths or solve puzzles, letters you collect to piece together a broader picture of what’s happening, items you can gather purely to pop some trophies and items that Andrew will simply pick up, comment on and leave behind. At any moment, you can check your inventory to see what you’ve found and kept, and one detail I found interesting is that every important item has a Cthulhu icon above it before you pick it up. 

The game is linear and it’s unlikely you will get lost, except during chase sequences, where the game requires you to use an artifact you acquire to both escape from monsters and slow them down temporarily until you find a way forward. Sometimes an enemy will grab you, in which case you have the option to fight them off, break free and continue running from the greater threat that will often be right behind you. You’ll also encounter a few puzzles that are fairly simple.

At times, you’ll need to find a specific item to place in a certain spot, arrange cubes to open a new path or use your artifact in a particular way to unlock a path. The puzzles don’t always have clear instructions, so even though they are simple, you might spend more time than expected figuring them out, searching for a required item or dying a few times while trying to find the correct path during a chase. 

Visually, the game truly looks beautiful, especially in certain segments where the level design stands out, complemented by an excellent soundtrack. Right from the start you’ll notice changes in the soundtrack as you reach more important, eerie parts of the island and later you’ll even experience just how epic it can sound during certain scenes. The voice acting is…okay. Andrew speaks in a soft, raspy voice that reflects his age, but the same can’t be said for the other characters, where voice acting doesn’t quite live up to expectations.