Soul Searching

Genre: Survival Adventure

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Nakana Bundle #1 (Soul Searching + A Night at the Races + Infini) along with A Night at the Races and Infini. It is also included in Nakana Bundle #4, along with Journey of the Broken Circle, Lydia, Mythic Ocean, and Stilstand. Additionally, this game is also in Nakana Bundle #6 (10 games), along with A Night at the Races, Cosmic Top Secret, Eqqo, Infini, Journey of the Broken Circle, Lydia, Mythic Ocean, Please, Touch The Artwork, and Stilstand.)

Soul Searching is a Survival Adventure game released on Nintendo Switch in 2019. This game puts players in the role of a traveler on a raft, heading across the ocean on a cryptic soul searching journey. It’s pretty clear that this is a game steeped in symbolism, but it’s less clear exactly what that symbolism actually means But the game certainly seems to think it’s important.

The presentation here is fairly minimalist and unimpressive, making use of extremely blocky pixelated 2D visuals. At the very least, the sound here is pretty good, with decent sounds for the lapping of the ocean waves and the various wildlife you’ll come across. There are also unintelligible noises used for speaking characters, and this is all backed by a placid instrumental soundtrack. Honestly, I feel like this game’s sound is one of its best elements, and it pretty much outclasses everything else here.

As for the gameplay, players are explained virtually nothing. Even getting on and off your raft is something you may well struggle with until you realize that blocking thing in the corner is meant to be a ladder. It’s clear that you have to manage your energy, hunger, and thirst, but less clear exactly how to do that. You’re given a map of local islands early on, but that map doesn’t appear to be accurate – in spots where islands were supposed to be, I only found an empty expanse of water, dotted by occasional pieces of gold i could leave the raft to retrieve.

I understand that fans of Survival Adventures prefer these games not to be hand-holdy, but this is ridiculous. Not only did I not feel like I was given any indication where I was supposed to go or what I was meant to do, I didn’t even feel like I was given any indication how to survive for more than a few minutes.

Maybe fans of the genre will find Soul Searching to be a charming, simplistic take on Survival Adventures, but I found it to be boring, tedious, and frustrating. I was just paddling my raft across an empty sea until I ran out of resources and died. If you think that’s my fault because I don’t “get it”, so be it. But I think the least the game could do is recognize I’m flailing and aimless and give me a proper nudge.

I’ll do you that favor myself – don’t get Soul Searching. There’s my nudge.

tl;dr – Soul Searching is a Survival Adventure game with a heavily-pixelated look where you paddle an oar across an empty ocean. The game gives players little instruction how to play the game, what to do, or how to survive. Even for Survival Adventure games, this is a painful, pointless slog of a game, and I highly recommend you avoid it.

Grade: D

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