Review - The Shore

Nikolas Tolgyesi
2 hours ago
4 min read

Developer: Ares Dragonis

Publisher: Dragonis Games

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, PC

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5

They got me again. The promise of a mind-scrambling adventure sucked me right in. This time, the journey begins on an island with a big old lighthouse standing watch over the unsettled sea. On a side note, I have always been fascinated by lighthouses and was always on the lookout for a game featuring these maritime relics. When The Shore came along with a lighthouse on the cover, my fate was sealed.

More Than Meets the Eye

You start as Andrew, a father desperately searching for his missing daughter. What he was hoping was going to be a quick S&R event turns into a spooky nightmare unlike anything imaginable. A request from a bodiless mask sees you come face to face with hideous monsters that can rip you to shreds in seconds, and environments, some strangely calm, that spring to life with deadly force.

As the story progresses, you will navigate the island you begin on, boarding a boat in the distance that will prove to be the first of many dire mistakes in the desperate quest for rescue. You will then come across a ritualistic pit that leads you to an all-too-calm and almost peaceful spit of rocky land surrounded by large pillars. Here, you must solve a puzzle to open a realm that I can only describe as a creepy Halloween attraction. Next, you will navigate areas of both island terrain and undersea paths that only take you deeper into the darkness. After falling down an underwater hole, there is officially no escape, and you can only trek onwards. I am not quite sure how the mask convinced me to jump, but that is a debate for another time. The next leg is a particularly brutal task, as the monsters can now regenerate in this atmosphere that looks similar to that of an intestinal tract, meaning elimination is not an option. Using all the exploration sense you can muster up, there is eventually a way forward.

The final portion of the game sees you interact with an almighty ghastly being, followed by additional navigation of the intestinal tunnel to reach the final arena, where you must solve a puzzle to reveal the big bad, did I mention repulsive, mythical god. Finally, you can see your daughter at the end of a corridor. But there’s a catch, of course; you cannot simply run to her. Without spoiling the grand finale, the ending was heartbreakingly perfect.

Spectacularly Unsettling

As mentioned above, the fact that you are traveling in a dark, disgusting, grueling passage where the walls resemble something doctors get grossed out by is exactly what I loved about The Shore. To add to this, tentacles attacking you as you pass bring strategy and caution to the story.

If that was all there was to the gameplay, it would be quite dull. But the eerie stillness at the beginning really throws you for a loop and can trigger a sense of complacency. Be warned, however, you will need all your senses to make it through this adventure in one piece.

You Cannot Help But Squirm Uncomfortably

There are few things that cause more unease than facing a deserted island surrounded by calm waters and grey skies. It never ends well. To add, seeing only rock walls and caves along a rocky beach means help likely is not near. How about boats that have washed up on shore in pieces? The corpses inside probably won’t help much either. The trails running inland quickly remind you that you are trapped. There’s no arguing that.

A rogue monolith and cursed ball of spherical matter you come across will surely rock you to sleep gently. If that doesn’t do the trick, one of the most stomach-turning monsters I have seen will offer up bedtime stories of a sort, no problem. Dwarfing players, these monsters are big, ugly, mean, and have tentacles that are lightning fast. Outrunning them in a narrow dark hallway is no walk in the park.

There is one particular puzzle that almost got the better of me. You may be wondering how this relates to this section, but let me assure you that this is one of those moments where you will really need to pay attention to your surroundings. Make sure you search extremely carefully along the beach if you get stuck.

Hitting the Ground Running. Literally

Contrary to what you may have thought that title meant, this is my one and only major critique of The Shore. In the interest of accessibility, the run button really needs to be moved to one of the front buttons. While your inventory is cool and interactive, it is seldom needed, especially not in the later stages of the game. The run button could have easily been moved to "Cross," and the interact button could have been pushed up to "Triangle," with the inventory button being moved to "L1." Due to the amount of running required to survive, I would kill (not literally) for this to be included in a future patch.

The Mixture of Exploration and Puzzles Was Blissful

A game of only puzzles or only open world does not scratch that appealing itch. When a game finds the balance, it changes the entire experience. With the ability to roam the island and try to make sense of your surroundings or progress through the story, you have that invaluable choice on how you want to play.

Short and Sweet

At roughly 90 minutes in length, commitment is not a problem. Everything needed to get the full experience is packed nicely into this bite-sized tale. It needs to be stressed that a lighthouse was a unique and curious choice that made The Shore a winner in my books. It would be amazing to see a sequel take advantage of the momentum this title has and send players into the next psychological terror.