Transcript: In Call of the Sea, the player takes control of Norah Everhart, a woman who receives a package detailing where her husband Harry has disappeared to. He was part of an expedition - the archaeologist on the team in fact - to an island east of Otaheite. The expedition was hoping to find a cure for Norah’s illness, but has not been successful so far. She follows the expedition, and this is interesting because the player sees the aftermath of the expedition as opposed to being on it themselves.

However, there is almost immediately a reference to black ichor, and Norah sees visions of herself going into the sea. The interactions with the islanders that Norah has feel very anthropological in nature, and the discovery of Norah’s true nature does as well. She is meant to transform into the sea creature, and the player can make the choice at the end of the game to stay with Harry or transform and join the sea at the cost of never seeing him again. Either way, Harry ends up back home as the Dean of Archaeology at Miskatonic University.

Miskatonic University is a throwback to Lovecraftian lore, and the fact that he becomes the Dean of Archaeology ties the game together in a neat way. Call of the Sea is actually not in the horror genre at all, despite the Lovecraftian aesthetic. It is rather a cozy, mystery game that has the player discovering the truth about Norah and the fate of the expedition. There are a lot of poignant moments, but the Lovecraftian elements are still there, even if they aren’t “scary.” The game feels extremely liminal, which reflects Norah’s impending transformation.

The dynamic between the islanders and the expedition team reflects the relationship often seen in things like Rats in the Walls, where the locals know the danger and the outsiders seek that knowledge anyway at the cost of their sanity and, potentially, their lives as well. The islanders in this game are controlled by an unknown entity that forces them to undergo these same transformations. Harry and Cassandra are both drawn by this ritual, with Cassandra forcefully attempting to go through it first to dire consequences.

The islanders do not play a large role in the plot, but the relationship to the outsiders is fairly typical of Lovecraftian stories.

Additionally, the game has an element of identity, something archaeologists often spend a lot of time focusing on. Norah is finding herself, learning who she really is, and feeling more alive than she ever has. It could be seen as a metaphor for a gender transformation, but even without that, many can identify with the idea of not really knowing who they are. In archaeology, we have to figure out who ancient people were, sometimes based solely on a drawn image or a grave goods or a few scattered bones. There is an entire branch of archaeology dedicated to understanding representation and identity in the past, and taking care not to impose modern identities on past ones. This game reflects that, showing Harry slowly coming to understand his wife’s identity and bringing her to the island in an attempt to help her find herself, even if it cost him his life with her.

Norah does so by finding the (mostly) physical clues left behind, something we also have to do. In the end, it is up to the player whether she chooses to stay with the man she loves or transforms to join the sea.

The Lovecraftian elements and the archaeological themes mix nicely, and it is nice to see them used in a game that is not strictly horror.