THE SHORE (PC) review "Doing the dirty work of elder gods can be a real beach"

The name H.P. Lovecraft is often associated with numerous concepts and themes: tentacles, elder gods, unpronounceable names, unimaginable terrors from beyond, blatant racism... However, perhaps the greatest idea that Mr. Lovecraft cooked up comes in the form of humanity's own insignificance in the face of a vast universe full of nightmarish possibilities. We don't know what lingers beyond the stars, or worse, what could linger beyond the stars. It's very possible that the entities from the depths of space are so grand, so massive that they don't even view us as we would insects. And hell, those things could be so complex that our delicate minds can't even comprehend them. To so much as look at them might drive us mad.

Cosmic horror doesn't always sit well with people because they find the notion that we aren't at the center of the universe's concerns depressing. However, perspective reveals that maybe flying under the radar of ancient god-monsters isn't such a bad thing. The Shore shows us what can happen if one of us were to become useful to one of the elders, and the horrific weight that would crush us down were we to interact with them in any meaningful way. Believe me: deity-like creatures aren't likely to desire anything primitive or simple. What they would ask for would be world-changing, if not world-destroying...

Here, you take the role of a bearded fisherman named Andrew, who washes up on the shore of a well-known cursed island. His daughter, Ellie, vanished during their voyage and is now somewhere on the damned isle. Obviously, Andrew does as Harry Mason did before him and ventures into the unknown and obviously ominous realm that now holds his daughter captive. Along the way, he meets a sinister disembodied voice who commands him to complete tasks for it in exchange for his child.



The early outs of The Shore force you through a search of a rocky beach are that somehow both tedious and fascinating. You stumble upon a handful of Lovecraft story references among the stones and sand, including a peculiar colored meteorite that also recently terrorized Nicholas Cage. Along the way, you spot numerous constructs and statues created by inhuman cultures: enormous monoliths, crumbled sea temples, depictions of tentacled humanoids, and altars designed to hold some infernal device or another. However, the spaces between these spectacles involve little more than combing the shoreline for even items or messages in bottles, most of which allow you to advance.

Sadly, the introductory content falls flat. It may showcase some excellent presentation and offer a few nods to classic stories, but its tedium comes across as the campaign not knowing where to take its story's concept. At least it sports some effective hidden scares, such as massive tentacles quietly jutting from behind rocks, prompting you to needlessly cower as you walk by. Thankfully, things fully pick up after you complete a segment involving a dive suit some puzzles underwater. After returning to land, you only manage to mosey a few feet before a fish-person from Innsmouth spots you and chases you into a cave. Once to safety, your journey doesn't merely heat it, but completely bursts into flames...

You venture into realms beyond your own, guided by the malefic voice from before. You see things that spark recognition in the hearts of Lovecraft's readers, from the mighty Dagon to a brief meeting with Shoggoth. From here, the game ditches its worn-out point-and-click adventure elements in favor of puzzle mechanics that revolve around a strange, pyramid-like relic you acquire...



The artifact fires a beam that becomes integral to advancing. Sometimes, the beam destroys foes by disintegrating or stunning them. Sometimes, though, the ray doesn't do enough and you still need to contend with whatever vicious nightmare you've aggroed while completing the challenge before you. Other times, the ray interacts with objects in a way that allows you to complete puzzles. For instance, once segment requires you to light the eyes of gigantic faces that surround an enclosed arena. Of course, in doing so, you end up opening portals that intermittently spew crawling terrors for you to deal with, forcing you to split your attention between the puzzle and the threats.

That solution may sound obvious, but the game never tells you what to do. It drops you into corridors and chambers built of material no human has ever seen and says, “Okay, you figure it out.” Some stages appear to be composed of internal tissue, like you're finding your way through the innards of a beast while fighting off the life forms that dwell in its intestines. As a result, when puzzles do crop up, you almost don't recognize them—and how could you? It's not like you look at a spiral of pulpy meat and say, “That's a gate, and I need a bright orb to open it.” However, the game gives no instruction, either. You just figure things out through experimentation, relying on your wits while your sanity is still somewhat intact...

You do this repeatedly, entering areas where you might need to move pieces of a mural or swap items between pedestals or activate devices with your demonic space laser. You just mess around and solve riddles, and you don't know why it works. You're not supposed to. It's all beyond you because you're a mere mortal in the presences of things perhaps older than the universe itself...



And what are your rewards? You get to glimpse wonders that hold no meaning. Human-like bodies protrude from the ground of a cavern, clicking their tongues at you as you walk by them. You interact with pitch-black orbs that glisten in the scant sunlight and make dreadful noises. You look at carvings and art created by peoples advanced beyond any civilization on Earth.

Oh, and you get to complete a segment where you stumble around a maze looking for an exit while a manifestation of Cthulhu's own consciousness chases you. Yeah, you have no idea where to go, so you just have to guess you way through the convoluted chambers while briefly paralyzing your opponent. To call the scene frustrating is an understatement, but thankfully it's the only portion of the campaign that manages to enrage rather than inspire dark curiosity.

By the time you reach the end, you realize that you've done some potentially awful things when all you wanted to do was find your daughter. I won't spoil the conclusion for you, but it leaves you thinking that maybe being a speck of dust in this universe isn't so bad. Sure, we have responsibilities and concerns and fears and all that, but they're nothing compared to the devastating power of being able to influence reality in terrifying ways. Ultimately, The Shore casts our own insignificance in a different light that makes you appreciate being tiny in the face of vastness. It's a trippy, albeit imperfect adventure that's well worth embarking on, if not for its creativity alone.

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (October 29, 2023) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.