Sylvio: Black Waters – Review
Sylvio: Black Waters is the third entry in the Sylvio series, after the first game released in 2015 and Sylvio 2 in 2017. The series could be considered a bit of a hidden gem among horror fans since it never seemed to have enjoyed the type of widespread fame other game franchises with similar themes have. Despite this, Sylvio always got good reviews and is adored by the niche of fans who have played it. And Sylvio: Black Waters continues the trend of being a vastly underrated exploration horror game. It’s time to go speak with the dead again.
Story
Sylvio: Black Waters takes place within the same universe as the previous two games and you even play the same main character, though the devs set up the story in a way where you don’t really need to have played the previous games to understand what is going on. Juliette is a ghost hunter who has a strange electronic device that allows her to pick up audio fragments left behind by the dead. This way she can communicate with them or even replay their memories. In this game, picking up right where the second Sylvio left off, Juliette is stranded on what seems to be a sort of alien planet that mimics Earth. Traveling through the heart of this planet, Juliette approaches the titular black water lake in the middle, hoping to find out why nobody on this strange planet is left alive, and how humans came to be there in the first place. To help her, she gets aid from a ghost named Lee. But Lee might be hiding his own secrets.
Graphics
Sylvio has always looked rather nice, though the bigger gap between this game and its two predecessors allowed for the graphics to evolve so you have a more realistic and eerie vibe. The atmosphere is nice, though we did find the environment to get a little lackluster after some time. Where in the previous games of this series, you traveled through a bunch of different-looking areas, every single level in Sylvio: Black Waters looks almost identical. There’s only so long you can stare at sandy patches, pine trees, and ruined buildings before it gets kind of boring. Having said that, we still think the graphics were pretty nice.
Sound
Since the game is very audio-based, we shouldn’t be surprised Sylvio has excellent sound design. The music is varied and well-composed, always fitting the different moods the game wants to evoke in its players. There is something very satisfying about exploring the ruins of a dead town with the slow, melancholic music in the background. We also are treated to some absolutely lovely voice acting. In previous Sylvio games, Juliette was always alone. Having a second character present was a nice choice and we thought the actors played off each other well. The staticky sound effects for the puzzles were also very well done.
Gameplay
Sylvio: Black Waters is a rather straightforward horror game with some exploration elements, though the story makes it a linear experience. While the previous games had a lot of puzzles, in this game those are mostly gone or simplified, and you’ll only sometimes have to look for keys or items to progress. Beyond that, it’s almost more of a walking simulator. As Juliette, you travel through a series of interesting locations on the planet, uncovering more of the mystery as you go. In each area, you can use your device to pick up the voices of spirits. Once you’ve picked up enough audio, you need to rearrange the sentences so they form a cohesive conversation. This is a nice, interactive touch to what otherwise would be a dull experience.
Another thing is that some of the spirits are malevolent. They will try to attack you if you get too close, upon which you need to shoot them with a special gun you find early on in the game. Later, you also find a shotgun and a machine gun that shoots the same anti-spirit bullets. The only thing is that this gameplay mechanic is virtually useless. There is no real challenge or variety of enemies, and there seems to be no point in having three different guns since they all work just as effectively, so getting rid of ghosts feels more like a chore than anything.
Overall this is a game where it’s fun to walk around, explore, and figure out how to get through to the next location. There are some small puzzles thrown in the mix to break up the otherwise fairly monotone gameplay loop. Even so, you can easily finish Sylvio within a few hours. Even though the story is engaging, we wouldn’t call this the sort of game we would play multiple times. It might be a good entry point for new people to the series though.
Conclusion
While we found the puzzles simplified and the gun mechanic completely unnecessary, Sylvio: Black Waters still manages to be a fun and scary little game for those who like surrealistic horror. The main assets are its excellent sound design and lovely atmosphere. After playing it, we definitely hope to see more of this indie series in the future.
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