Matt Nava’s Giant Squid has done it again. Ever since the art director of Flower and Journey started his own studio, Giant Squid has done a wonderful job of delivering gorgeous and resonant games. While Abzû was essentially Journey in the ocean, their follow-up was the much more mechanically involved The Pathless. The studio’s third game, Sword of the Sea, goes back to focusing on exploration, although with an in-depth trick system and satisfying platforming mechanics, it’s clear the studio learned and incorporated a lot of lessons from their second game as well.

If you’ve played Journey or Abzû, then you’ll know what to expect at first. You find yourself in a familiar desert setting, interacting with the world via pings and exploring the world for a way to progress while also bringing life back to the barren world (prepare to see a lot of fish somehow flying through the sky). However, in Sword of the Sea, you’re doing it in a much more stylish fashion as you’ve got a hoverboard. This allows for much larger areas — the scale and scope are impressive — and for a greater variety of gorgeous-looking locales as the game continues.

The biggest difference from the two aforementioned titles is that there’s a lot more platforming. From jumping on flowers that launch you into the sky to using slopes to propel yourself across a gap, you spend a lot of time puzzle platforming to get where you need to be. It never veers into masocore territory, although a few sections near the end will definitely make you put all your mechanics together.

You unlock a variety of upgrades over time — rewarding players who explore and find the gems scattered across the land — and this eventually unlocks a trick system. Similar to SSX, you’ll eventually find yourself flipping and tweaking your board as you glide across the environment. It’s a really fun mechanic, and there are even some trick arenas that challenge you to get a high score (they’re too easy, though, so you’ll have to rely on trying to top your own score for a challenge).

As the game goes on, there are some great moments that I’d prefer not to give away that further circumvent and add to the gameplay. There are some wonderful surprises, including a final encounter that feels as epic as it should be. Once the game wraps, it isn’t the end, though, as there’s plenty of reason to jump into New Game Plus, as you can’t get all the upgrades in one run, and you’ll want to try to speedrun the game for a trophy as well. This is a game I’ll wind up playing three or four times and enjoying every second of it.

Sword of the Sea (PS5) Review: Final Verdict

A beautiful experience from start to finish, Sword of the Sea is one of the PS5’s best games. With its impactful imagery and responsive gameplay, Giant Squid’s third game will make you want to jump right back into New Game Plus to see everything it has to offer. Don’t overlook this exploration masterpiece.

Disclosure: The publisher provided a digital copy for our Sword of the Sea PS5 review. Reviewed on version 1.210.000.

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