Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss Review

Narrative adventure games sometimes have trouble integrating meaningful gameplay. This is probably why there are many walking simulators that forgo it all together. Some titles opt to implement basic puzzles or simple metroidvania tools, but these do not always complement the story. A few try hard to blend gameplay with story, like in Return of the Obra Dinn that had players deciphering events via logical deduction and observation. Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss is a similar first-person adventure, as it involves the exploration of a shipwreck and asks players to solve mysteries by associating clues found in the deep blue. While this all sounds good on paper, things sometimes disintegrate when they are submerged for long enough.

Set in 1905, the game starts with a tragedy aboard the SS Thalassa, a privately owned steamship. You play as Cam, a silent protagonist who is one of several divers aboard. The crew seeks to recover treasures from a Spanish Galleon. While extracting a heavy statue, the crane malfunctions. A fellow diver and Cam’s best friend, Alex, gets stuck under some rigging. You race to the rescue, only to arrive just in time to watch her drown. This sets off a montage of depression as Cam leaves the ship behind and ceases all aquatic forays. After some time, word arrives that the SS Thalassa has sunk and all aboard are lost. It is time to dive the wreck to determine what happened, and maybe face some demons while you’re down there.

The introduction is slightly clunky and harbors some believability issues. Having a silent protagonist is odd because Cam is asked many questions and other characters respond to ‘answers’ that players cannot see or hear. Alex is only vaguely introduced before the accident, so her death barely registers above background lore. Still, it is clear that it has impacted Cam’s psyche, since Alex speaks to the player and we see echoes of a diver while trawling the wreck. Underwater, it is weird that the primitive hard-hat diving suit has no hose that would typically supply oxygen. Audio logs, recorded by a journalist who came on board, use an old phonograph system that somehow integrates into the suit for playback. Even the shipwreck’s paper journals and books are in remarkable condition considering they have being underwater for over a week. Obviously this is all for practical storytelling reasons, but some things are hard to explain away.

Structurally, the game is basically a walking simulator with regular action needed to solve mysteries. You explore the shipwreck to locate objects, letters, photos, and recordings. After finding enough clues, the game tells you that a mystery can be solved. Then you open a menu that poses questions based on what has been uncovered so far. Mysteries include identifying who secured the cargo and discovering why somebody stole the audio recordings. Solving one just requires choosing the right clues from a list that grows a bit unwieldy. If correct, the game might show off a cool memory flashback, with a holographic style like in Deliver Us The Moon, which may feed into further mysteries. Metroidvania tools, like bolt cutters and a wrench, are used to gate exploration, and there are shortcuts to open. The game will also occasionally throw up invisible walls with floating text that forces players to backtrack and conclude an important mystery.

While most mysteries are easy to solve, there are non-trivial bugbears. Evidence can be circumstantial and tenuous, and the question phrasing in the menu is sometimes confusing. Like when players must identify who helped a particular crew member, the answer, bizarrely, turns out to be the same person. Multiple clues may indicate basically the same thing, but only one can be used in a successful deduction. Mysteries have multiple stages, and it is too easy to get caught focusing on the crucial hidden details. When asked who was present at a meeting, it does not want the least obvious (and most important) character until later. Larger mysteries are also introduced well before the associated clues are available, which just muddies the water.

The most annoying part of the detective gameplay is the amount of legwork required. Certain objects can only be inspected after a specific mystery is solved, even though they are clearly visible beforehand. Occasionally it works well, like when a key is seen falling behind a desk in a holographic flashback, but mostly it is just padding. If you miss exploring an area or focus on a specific mystery, you may end up wandering around lost. At least the map does highlight areas that have undiscovered story-critical items. Nevertheless, the adventure probably needed to cut around half of its mysteries, not just for clarity but also brevity, because at 8 hours it gets long in the tooth.

Ignoring the mystery missteps, the overall story of the ship’s demise is adequate. It generally remains intriguing because of romances, feuds, mechanical issues, and a young stowaway. Aside from a bit of repetition, there is a consistent stream of new questions requiring players to explain who did what, when and why. When you combine the flashbacks, letters, and audio logs, most of the characters are memorable, aside from the neglected cook. Since the crew was also investigating the death of Alex, it allows Cam’s inner demons to emerge. Players will even see flashbacks of her alive and well, and more of this would have enhanced the flimsy emotional connection. Most of the voice actors are good, even if some of the dialogue is modernized, and Amelia Tyler (Baldur’s Gate III) stars as Alex.

In tech, the game is disappointing, especially considering its fairly basic graphics. It stutters almost constantly when moving, even through recently visited areas. Audio has similar consistent bugs where it jitters in and out while viewing those holographic memories. Visually the game is not trying to be realistic, with characters that look like cartoons and plain underwater vistas. It does craft an adequate atmosphere, but should have leaned further into horror—there are no bodies to find, despite the well-preserved shipwreck. The player’s animations are consistently slow and tedious, with 15 seconds required just to open a door or book. While this is appropriate for the underwater setting, it gets old and seems strange when realism is clearly not the game’s top priority.

Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss is a satisfactory combination of walking sim and detective game, despite a few notable problems. With a clunky start and some believability concerns, it takes a while before the game settles into an agreeable state. While most of the mysteries are easy to clear, there are prominent issues with some clues and deductions. Traipsing back and forth through the shipwreck is more irksome than interesting, despite a few good holographic memories to witness. And with the game’s stutters and audio problems, the modest underwater atmosphere is compromised. Conceptually, Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss is fine, but too often it feels like you're drowning while playing.