When you look at the games that matter the most to me, it’s easy to pick up on a theme. There are underlying ideas or character beats that move me in some way. I like interpersonal relationships, navel gazing about society, and sad robots. So when I tell you that “Sword of the Sea” doesn’t have themes or a story that resonates with me, you’d be right to expect that I’d be disappointed.

In a small sense, I do wish that the cryptic lore and wordless cut scenes spoke to me. If those aspects evoked stronger emotions, it’d probably be a contender for my game of the year, but I ultimately don’t mind just shredding the shit out of some sand.

The widely recognized meets-meets-meets here is “Journey” meets “Tony Hawk” meets “Zelda,” and I don’t disagree. It’s definitely a lot heavier on the first element, but the addition of the skateboard/surfboard that is also a sword is hard to argue with.

Pulling off tricks on a half-pipe and maintaining momentum across obstacles feels incredible, and you’re doing all of that in some of the most gorgeous environments I’ve ever seen in a video game. Let the fish fly, man.

You’re floating, skating, and riding sea life around in the middle of a desert that is also an ocean, and it’s impossible to stop smiling like a doofus the entire time. Turns out, video games benefit from controlling well and looking good. Who knew?

It also ends up as an incredible streaming game. Because long stretches go by without needing to deal with any words, I’m able to zen out and play pretty darn well while holding a full conversation with my good friend Molly on a recent stream.

The same can be said for “Mario Kart” now that I think about it. Being able to effectively take my focus away from the game doesn’t make the game any less enjoyable though. I’ll take any help I can get when it comes to playing competently while hosting a show.

In a previous post, I discussed how the “more is more” of “The Pathless” hurt the experience for me, so I’m happy to report that “Sword of the Sea” strikes the right balance in terms of complexity.

It’s quite a bit more puzzle-y than “Abzû” but you can tell that pacing and flow were top of mind during the entire construction of this game. You’re almost always moving, and if you make a mistake, you can always try again.

Which is to say that they cut the fluff out.

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Image credit: “Sword of the Sea,” Giant Squid Studios