Song of the Deep! Aren’t you excited?!? Yeah, I… what? What the heck is Song of the Deep?? It’s… it’s a game! Yeah! Ok, I know, Song of the Deep is not really on everyone’s radar, but I’ve been insanely intrigued since I first heard about it.
A quick rundown straight from the official site:
Song of the Deep is a metroidvania-style action-adventure game following a young girl’s quest into the unknown to find her missing father. Combining discovery, skill, and suspense with an unforgettable narrative, this underwater journey will challenge players to explore, experiment, and skillfully navigate a vast ocean landscape.
The whole aspect of being an underwater adventure is what lured me the most. I’m a sucker for two types of atmospheres in games: space, and underwater. The fact that it’s an Insomniac game helped it a lot too. At $15, it was easy to take a chance on it.
But… for $15 more!….. Yes, for just $30, you too…. Ok, I’ll stop now before I get carried away.
But yeah, the Collector’s Edition was only $30. And even if it’s a short game, I think for what you’re getting, it’s a pretty sweet deal. Why? I’m glad you asked!
The game itself is $15. But in the collector’s edition you’re getting.. stickers! Eh? Ehhhh?? Beat THAT deal! Stickers! AND the soundtrack to the game. Which really is awesome, because who doesn’t like soundtracks? And from what I’ve heard, the music in the game is pretty nice. On top of that, you get a sweet, sweet steelbook.
And you know me and steelbooks. C’mon, they’re my kryptonite. It’s hard to resist a sexy looking steelbook.
But all these awesome goodies are accompanied by something else: A book! MAN, I am not selling you guys on any of this, am I?!
Ok, seriously. The book was a huge reason why I wanted the collector’s edition. You can get the book separately without the CE, but this one has a special cover only found here. But the price of the book along with the game is just about the price of the collector’s edition so why the hell not? (Though the book seems to have dropped in price significantly since launch week.) The PS4 version sold out pretty quick but there was still Xbox One and PC versions as of this writing. I didn’t mind showing my Xbox some love so I went for it. And of course, judging from this post, you could see I’m happy with my decision.
Important Note: Now, I’m not sure it’s for all collector’s editions, but I don’t see why not. Turns out the code for the soundtrack – that has to be redeemed via Steam – is ALSO the code for the full game! So if you get the collector’s edition, you’re essentially getting 2 copies of the game. I really wish I would’ve known this. I would’ve had a contest for the Steam version or given it to a friend. But now I have 2 copies of the game, one of which I’ll probably never use. I know, worst things have happened. But still, I wish it would’ve been clearer.
I’m really, really excited to dive deep into the book and the game. The book sets up the game, so we need to go through that first. It’s a children’s book at its core, and that is awesome coming from a dad.
The author, Insomniac’s chief creative officer, Brian Hastings, said he wrote the book wanting to create a heroine that his daughter could look up to. From an article on Gamasutra:
“In video games in particular, the heroines have trended toward the archetype of the ‘sexy badass,’ and I’ve enjoyed playing as many of those sexy badass characters.” says Hastings. “But I wanted the hero of this game, Merryn, to be something different. I wanted her to show that you didn’t need to be either sexy or badass to be a hero.”
I only had time to read the first chapter and so far it seems like it’s setting up an intriguing story. For a children’s book, it’s getting pretty deep into the characters of Merryn and her father. I already find myself wanting to keep reading without my kid, to see how everything evolves. But he’s into it and wants to hear what happens too so that’s saying something!
Anyway, that about covers the Collector’s Edition for Song of the Deep. I haven’t touched the game yet, but so far I feel like I’m pretty invested in it. I don’t know, something about it is intriguing to me. The way the book will lead into the game, the exploration and the way the story will progress, I can’t wait! I can’t promise a review because I’m insanely lazy and already owe you guys like 5 reviews.
