Samudra Demo First Impressions

With Steam’s Autumn Edition Game Festival newly underway, I’ve found myself yet again in the delightful — if time-consuming — position of sifting through the widespread of new, long-awaited, and forthcoming games on offer for the gems among them.

Enter Samudra, an understatedly gorgeous puzzle-adventure number by Indonesian developer, Khayalan Arts. For what seems to be the developer’s first project, Samudra is really impressively well-made, with very smooth movement and animation, and a real knack for communicating in a game that seems to be completely devoid of dialogue.

I don’t miss voice acting here, the characters and creatures I’ve encountered so far are lively and full of personality without it, and when the sound editing and score more than fills in any gaps. I’d love to know who put the score together. It’s not only beautiful but also shows a real talent for switching gears to match the levels of tension or challenge present in various sections of the game.

In terms of the controls, they’re very simple. On PC, the game is composed solely of movement (arrows or WASD) and interaction (the space bar). This simplicity and familiarity leave room for immersing in the environment and enjoying the puzzles and timed events, which really make up the heart of the game as I’ve seen so far.

The combination of straightforward navigation, tense moments of stealth or quick thinking, and charming animations reminded me of all the best parts of Little Nightmares, and I’m excited to see these attributes expanded on in the forthcoming release. Though Samudra isn’t a horror game, it utilizes this approach to gameplay very competently and has similarly shown a real capacity for centering a game on a child protagonist, without feeling like it’s not meant for adults.

The color scheme is muted and understated, but in ways that work, seamlessly capturing the sense of weight and pressure of the deep sea, while also maintaining a peaceful air for the game across the board. Admittedly, the game’s messaging about underwater pollution and waste disposal isn’t very subtle, but it doesn’t need to be and perhaps shouldn’t be. Any obviousness is more than made up for, with some really lovely creature design and, based on the previewed cinematics at the end of the demo, more still to come.

The demo also does a great job of hooking people in to want more too, in the two chapters of the game it shows off. The gameplay is pleasing and straightforward, and the story so far leaves plenty unsaid to maintain a level of mystery and allure for the future. The commitment to environmental awareness-raising from the developers is clear, and I look forward to seeing more of their social and ethical stances going forward.

While there may be a little bit of a wait — the game’s release is currently slated for Q1 2021 — I strongly feel it’s a worthwhile investment, and I for one will definitely be keeping it on my wishlist and keeping an eye on its ongoing development.