Sword of the Sea is an adventure game where you surf across sand and sea to restore the lost ocean. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Sword of the Sea Review Overview
What is Sword of the Sea?
Sword of the Sea is an atmospheric adventure game developed and published by Giant Squid, released on August 20, 2025 for PS5 and PC. You play as The Wraith, a resurrected traveler on a quest to uncover the ancient sea buried beneath the sands of a desolate Necropolis. With your hoversword—a tool that blends skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding—you’ll glide across dunes and ruins, restoring the land and bringing sea life back to the world. But beware: beneath the waves, a lurking darkness stirs.
Sword of the Sea features:
⚫︎ Adventure
⚫︎ Exploration
⚫︎ Atmospheric
⚫︎ Skateboard Game
⚫︎ Third Person
⚫︎ Puzzle Game
⚫︎ Minimalist
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Steam |
 PSN |
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| Price | $29.99 | ||||
Sword of the Sea Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Enthralling and Atmospheric World Meditative and Relaxing Swordboarding Gameplay Rewards Your Curiosity |
The Game is Way Too Short Incredibly Easy Even for a Relaxing Game |
Sword of the Sea Overall Score - 90/100
Sword of the Sea is a captivating blend of exploration and artistry, offering a meditative experience centered on its fluid swordboarding mechanics. Its world of shifting sands and seas is both visually stunning and deliberately mysterious, rewarding players who approach with curiosity and a sense of adventure. The game unfolds less like a traditional narrative and more like poetry, carried by movement, atmosphere, and discovery.
Sword of the Sea Story - 9/10
The environmental storytelling in the Sword in the Sea is especially strong, painting a world that feels almost lost in time. It carries the sense that the less you know, the better—leaning into a soft, Ghibli-like fantasy that thrives on interpretation and quiet discovery. Scattered tablets hint at a civilization that once existed, deepening the mystery. The game also serves as the third entry in Giant Squid’s trilogy, following Abzû and The Pathless. While you don’t need to play those to enjoy this one, some moments may lose a bit of impact since it weaves in subtle callbacks and narrative threads from the earlier titles.
Sword of the Sea Gameplay - 8/10
The core gameplay of Sword of the Sea is refreshingly straightforward. Surfing across dunes and uncovering the ancient sea beneath them with your Hoversword feels fluid and precise, while the trick system adds flair and momentum to exploration. Puzzles and collectibles are scattered throughout, giving players small incentives to search every corner. It’s a meditative loop—relaxing, rewarding, and deeply satisfying to control. However, the lack of challenge holds it back at times. Most puzzles are easily solved, which can leave certain moments feeling less impactful or rewarding than they should. The world itself also sometimes feels smaller than it should—just when you want to lose yourself in its beauty, you find yourself wishing for more corners to search, more secrets to stumble upon, and more time to simply be in this place. Unfortunately, everything can be completed in five hours or less.
Sword of the Sea Visuals - 10/10
The visuals in this game are nothing short of breathtaking, delivering an atmosphere that captures both grandeur and intimacy. The environments are crafted with a minimalist yet highly creative design philosophy, blending the depths of the ocean, vast stretches of sand, and icy landscapes into a cohesive and striking open world. This careful balance of scale and restraint not only reinforces Giant Squid’s artistic vision but also cements their reputation for creating worlds that evoke awe while remaining spiritually resonant.
Sword of the Sea Audio - 10/10
The game’s audio design is deliberately understated, complementing the serene beauty of its world. Rather than leaning on bombastic compositions, the soundtrack relies on subdued piano melodies and sparse notes that create a sense of space and calm. This minimalist approach enhances the atmosphere, allowing the environments themselves to breathe while reinforcing the game’s meditative tone. It’s an audio direction that prioritizes subtlety over spectacle, yet achieves a profound emotional impact.
Sword of the Sea Value for Money - 8/10
As much as Sword of the Sea impresses, its biggest drawback is its length. The full experience—from story to exploration—can be completed in roughly five hours. At a $30 price point, the limited content feels a bit harder to justify. That said, those five hours are undeniably captivating, making the game a case of quality over quantity—though it might have been an even easier recommendation at a lower price. Fortunately, the game includes a New Game Plus, which adds features like a speed meter, offering plenty of incentive to dive back in.
Sword of the Sea Review: A Serene Journey on Shifting Sands
If there’s one thing you can count on Giant Squid for, it’s atmosphere. Their games carry a distinct artistic identity—immediately recognizable through their flowing visuals and sense of awe. That style traces back to founder Matt Nava, who served as the art director of Journey before forming Giant Squid. Since then, titles like ABZÛ and The Pathless have cemented the studio’s reputation for poetic, immersive experiences often described as “vibe games.” With Sword of the Sea, expectations were high, especially given its promise to merge the meditative beauty of Journey with the kinetic freedom of skateboarding across vast landscapes. The answer, for me, is a resounding yes. From the first glide, I was swept away.
Tony Hawk’s Magical Journey
If I had to describe the core gameplay loop of Sword of the Sea in the simplest way possible, it’s basically Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater meets Journey. You traverse the vast world of Necropolis with your trusty Hoversword, which glides seamlessly over sandy waves, ocean floors, and snowy peaks. It’s your one and only mode of transportation, so the developers had to nail this mechanic—and thankfully, they did.
I don’t mind simple controls as long as they feel satisfying, and here they feel incredible. Compared to a similar game like Star Overdrive, which had fun skating but sometimes felt clunky and unpolished, Sword of the Sea is the opposite: fluid, intuitive, and effortless. The Hoversword feels amazing to ride, whether you’re carving through dunes, grinding on chains and bones, or flipping through seaweed. It’s slick and responsive, never floaty or frustrating. Sometimes I’d spend minutes just skating around, pulling tricks, and enjoying how good the movement felt.
That’s what makes Sword of the Sea so special—the act of play feels like poetry in motion. With your Hoversword beneath you, you carve lines across golden sands, soar into flips, and uncover oceans hidden beneath the desert. The rhythm is meditative, almost musical, where every trick and every discovery feels like another verse in a song. So, what exactly do you do in this world? Let’s dive into that next.
A World That Evokes Awe and Invites Curiosity
The world of Necropolis can only be described as awe-inspiring. The world of Sword of the Sea feels like a dream you’ve stumbled into, ancient yet untouched, where silence speaks louder than words. There’s hardly any UI, no overworld map, just you and the world to explore. You find tablets scattered across the land, fragments of a civilization long gone, each one a puzzle piece in a story that’s never told outright. It’s the kind of mystery that invites you to lean in closer, to listen between the lines.
The moment you step into the sands of Necropolis, you just lose yourself. I found myself stuck at times, simply staring at the world, wondering how something could look so beautiful and surreal. It’s mesmerizing, and it only becomes more so the deeper you explore, especially once you start opening the sea to the land. In certain areas, interacting with ancient structures floods the world with water, and sea life begins to drift through the air. Seaweed and all kinds of marine creatures blend with sand or snow, creating an image that feels like an abstract painting.
Honestly, this might be Giant Squid’s best-looking game yet. The world shimmers with beauty, weaving spiritual dreamscapes that linger long after you’ve put the controller down.
What makes it even more special is how seamlessly this beauty ties into traversal. The ocean not only transforms the landscape visually, but it also opens up new paths and routes to explore. Because of this, exploration feels natural and rewarding. The interconnected design of each level flows beautifully, from sandy ruins of ancient civilizations to vast horizons where dolphins leap alongside you as you surf through open seas. The soundtrack complements this atmosphere perfectly, alternating between sharp, sublime melodies and moments of pure silence. It all makes the experience deeply immersive.
The game constantly encourages curiosity. If you notice something shimmering in the distance, there’s almost always something worth discovering—whether it’s currency to unlock new skateboard tricks, hidden traversal routes, or fragments of the story. In one instance, I spotted a patch of seaweed stretching toward a rocky formation. Following it led me to a hidden cavern filled with water and a treasure chest waiting at the end. It’s moments like these that highlight the incredible detail and design at play. Every corner feels alive with the promise of discovery, and the sense of wonder never fades.
Surfing Shouldn’t Be This Short and Easy
Sword of the Sea is a breathtaking experience, but one that feels over too soon. In less than five hours, you can finish the story and uncover nearly everything the game has to offer. For a world so visually rich and awe-inspiring, that brevity comes across as a missed opportunity. The Necropolis feels like it’s waiting to be explored in greater depth, yet the game keeps you on a narrow path, steering you toward an early ending rather than encouraging a deeper journey.
The difficulty is another sticking point. Giant Squid’s earlier game The Pathless offered occasional challenges that required focus, but here the meditative approach feels pared down a little too much. Puzzles often come down to jumping on jellyfish or gliding toward a distant switch, and over time, these mechanics can start to feel repetitive. A few clever twists—time trials, or more environmental puzzles—could have added more variety without disrupting the game’s calm rhythm.
Yes, You Should
Despite some gripes, Sword of the Sea delivers a deeply satisfying experience. The game is relatively short, and its difficulty leans toward the easier side, yet every moment feels purposeful and immersive. The world is gorgeous, the traversal fluid, and the exploration consistently rewarding. While the price point might feel a little steep given its length, the quality of design, atmosphere, and gameplay more than justifies the cost. Fans of Giant Squid’s previous work or atmospheric titles like Journey will find themselves completely absorbed.
Additionally, the inclusion of a New Game Plus mode adds replay value, giving players a reason to revisit the world and experience the joy of exploration again. In short, while the game emphasizes quality over quantity, it succeeds spectacularly in crafting a memorable, mesmerizing adventure. Players with a PlayStation Plus Extra or Premium membership can access Sword of the Sea for free immediately, offering a great opportunity to dive in right away.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam Wishlist Only |
PSN |
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| Price | $29.99 | ||||
Sword of the Sea FAQ
Is Sword of the Sea Coming to the Nintendo Switch?
No, Sword of the Sea is not currently announced for Nintendo Switch.
Is Sword of the Sea Available on PS Plus?
PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members can play Sword of the Sea for free right now.
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Sword of the Sea Product Information
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| Title | Sword of the Sea |
|---|---|
| Release Date | August 20, 2025 |
| Developer | Giant Squid |
| Publisher | Giant Squid |
| Supported Platforms | PC, PS5 |
| Genre | Adventure, Singleplayer |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | 1 |
| Official Website | Sword of the Sea Website |
