General rule is that in any business, larger projects bring more stress and risk. It is no wonder that some of the creators of games fill their batteries in smaller, almost experimental projects. For developers Insomniac, known for Ratchet & Clank and Resistance series, such a project this year was the Song of the Deep – a simple 2D game that a small group of developers fulfill personal desires while the rest of his studios  is working on Spider-Man and VR titles. The result of this effort is thematically original underwater adventure, but conceptually already seen a hundred times a game metroidvania style.

Song of the Deep follows the story of 12-year Merryn who engages in the search for the missing father. This I chase leads into the ocean depths inhabited by ancient cultures, and she encounters them with the help of your submarine. The theme is closely related to Irish mythology and brings some interesting fantasy motifs. Sirens, water horses, sunken wrecks, suitcases with goods, dangerous creatures in dark caves – all these things are appropriate atmosphere that the game wants to create.

However, the atmosphere in the Song of the Deep is not able to convince me that I’m on the subject in the world, as it should be. Too often it is seemed like it was specifically designed for Merryn, not the fauna that inhabits it. It is strange, but interesting display of survival at sea had my initial stage of development in SPORE, and it lasted a maximum of 5-10 minutes. It is possible that the thing is totally personal and not because I’m not a fan of large bodies of water, but I’m a fan of metroidvania games, and Song of the Deep was not as exciting as Ori and the Blind Forest, Child of the Light, Guacamelee, Apotheon or Outland.

Symptomatic desire to explore every corner of the folder is present in this game, and get down to the main path is always rewarded useful additions and improvements for the submarine. In this regard, Song of the Deep meets all the conventions of the genre. It doesn’t miss challenges , but not draconian difficult because there are three different levels of difficulty, which is always good for this kind of games.

The visual style of the game is nothing special – aesthetically not encouraged not to censure. On the conceptual level occasionally causes problems because it brings several layers of objects in the background, and considering that this is a 2D game, is not always easy to recognize that the front layer objects. In other words, I noticed on some locations that are flown in shipwrecks because we did not look as if these objects are blocking the way.

Unfortunately, great music is little comfort when the Song of the Deep compares with similar genre games. Although for them, not behind the awakening of desire for exploration, with a few flaws in the design still is inferior to competition. Self is this solid title of which you do not expect true unique mechanics because neither the first nor the last attempt of this kind.