Mike and Jane are enjoying a beautiful afternoon aboard their yacht, the Sea Bliss, when a storm suddenly appears. The sky turns dark and a strange symbol glows in the sky right before the yacht is hit with a powerful wave. You come to on a deserted island just in time to see Mike’s unconscious body being dragged away. Thus begins Sea Legends: Phantasmal Light.
Mike and Jane are enjoying a beautiful afternoon aboard their yacht, the Sea Bliss, when a storm suddenly appears. The sky turns dark and a strange symbol glows in the sky right before the yacht is hit with a powerful wave. You come to on a deserted island just in time to see Mike’s unconscious body being dragged away. Thus begins Sea Legends: Phantasmal Light.
You will need to explore the island and uncover the secrets of the mysterious lighthouse and the lighthouse keeper. Is he a madman or is there something more sinister at work here? As you explore your surroundings you will uncover some of his writings which will give you more insight into his motivations for trapping you and Mike. However, if you don’t read these notes, you are likely to be very confused by the plot. You may be confused by the end even if you do read everything you find.
To progress in the game you will need to search through a lot of hidden object scenes. While the graphics in the scenes are clear, they are essentially junk piles. The number of useless items and oversized buttons that have been lost on this island is crazy. You will also be revisiting most of the scenes multiple times.
You will also need to solve a variety of puzzles as you search for Mike. The majority of the puzzles you will be solving are inventory based but there are also quite a few traditional puzzles sprinkled across the island. The puzzles range in difficulty from simple to intermediate. If you become stuck you can skip any puzzle once the skip button has fully charged.
The atmosphere in the game is well done. The scenes are dark and stormy and you definitely get the feeling that while you are alone on the island you really aren’t. The music is somewhat repetitive but not overly annoying. The game is fully voiced, but seeing as you are alone for the majority of the game you won’t be hearing a lot of talking.
The Collector’s Edition includes a bonus chapter that lets you play the game from Mike’s point of view. Unfortunately, most of the areas you will be visiting are places you’ve already visited. There are a couple new scenes though. Also, the bonus chapter includes several unique puzzles and I found myself wishing that several of them had been in the main portion of the game. The final puzzle may actually be a puzzle within a puzzle, so make your choice wisely.
Sea Legends: Phantasmal Light doesn’t really offer anything new, but it is a pleasant game nonetheless (well as pleasant as a game about abductions and creepy cursed lighthouses can be anyways). Give the demo a try first though, to see if the plot interests you.
