Shinsekai: Into the Depths

Genre: Metroidvania

Players: 1

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Review:

Shinsekai is a Metroidvania… sorta’ (more on this later) that was originally released on iOS in 2019 and ported to the Switch a year later, and it has you as a human living in a post-apocalyptic underwater realm being overtaken by deadly encroaching ice that forces him out of his home, searching for resources to craft equipment that can withstand deeper waters so he can outrun the ice and, hopefully, find a safe haven.

The games visuals here are decent but nothing extraordinary, using polygonal 3D graphics to depict underwater caves you work through on a 2D plane. However, while the graphics here are adequate, the sound is fantastic, doing a great job of making you feel the water sloshing around you with every muffled movement, while also providing a surprisingly light soundtrack to go with the somewhat bleak setting.

The gameplay makes full use of the underwater setting here too, with players challenged to always keep an eye on their air supply, which doubles as their health meter and their jetpack of sorts. It’s a clever mechanic that has players trying to decide if they should let loose a bit more air to ensure they make a jump, or if they should hold onto their supply. In addition, players must decide whether to use their headlamp to find minerals needed for upgrades, or if doing so will attract too much attention from dangerous wildlife.

Except… well, the wildlife seemed to attack me regardless of what I did. On top of this, it is absurdly easy to take fall damage in this game, which means players will always feel the pull to let loose some air on even the lightest of drops. It kinda’ undercuts the cleverness of the game’s systems when one of the two options is pretty much always the preferable one.

However, this game has more problems than this. The controls here are clumsy and slow to respond, which is understandable given the aquatic environment, but even giving it some leeway for this, it still felt really clunky, especially when I needed to quickly attack or evade an aggressive creature. Simply turning around and giving one a thwack after he charged through me was an ordeal in and of itself.

Plus, I can’t help but feel like calling this game a Metroidvania is a bit misleading. Don’t get me wrong, there is exploration, upgrades, and returning to former locales… but the way the ice closes in and cuts of prior areas at scripted points really cuts down on the feeling of opening up more and more of the world that you often get in a good Metroidvania.

Shinsekai is still fairly unique, and this unique design as well as its superb sound design make it worth giving a look, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed by the game’s sluggish controls, limited use of the Metroidvania, and the host of small frustrations and missed opportunities I felt the game had. I feel like there’s the seed of an idea for a truly great Metroidvania here, but these issues keep it from getting to that point.

tl;dr – Shinsekai is a Metroidvania, albeit a somewhat limited one, where players explore the depths of a post-apocalyptic series of underwater caves to escape an encroaching ice. This is a pretty unique experience, and the sound design here in particular is excellent, but numerous game design and control issues make it far more frustrating and limited than it could be. Still worth a look, but it doesn’t quite meet its full potential.

Grade: B-

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