When I first finished playing Sword of the Sea, I was excited, but also a little bit disappointed, because I immediately wanted to play it again. Sadly, technology has not granted us the ability to erase a game from our brains so we can re-experience it for the first time. I experienced the same feeling when I finished Giant Squid’s first game, ABZÛ (which is set in the same universe), because after finding all the hidden shell collectibles and freeing all the trapped ocean inhabitants, there’s no way to reset the game so you can re-live those gorgeous moments.
Thankfully, Sword of the Sea has something ABZÛ desperately needed: a robust New Game Plus mode. It’s a much larger game than ABZÛ, with many more collectible hidden shells (50, to be exact), more trophies to hunt, and Ocean Seeds that reset on each playthrough, allowing you to re-experience the game’s most beautiful moments. There are also additional Hoversword tricks to unlock if you didn’t manage to accumulate enough Tetra (the little gold triangles that serve as currency) in your first playthrough, and a visible score counter in the upper corner of the screen, so you can see if you’re on track to beat your initial score. But honestly, the best thing about Sword of the Sea‘s New Game Plus mode might just be its most simple feature: the speedometer.
When you first go kick-flipping and rail-grinding your way through Sword of the Sea, you’ll feel like you’re going fast, but you won’t know exactly how fast. But in New Game Plus, you’ll get your hands on the Wisp Cloak, which lets you generate up to five speed-boosting Wisps you can activate at any time. With the addition of the visible speedometer, you’ll soon realize how easy it is to put Sonic the Hedgehog to shame with your powered-up Hoversword.
“It turns into a racing game,” creative director and Giant Squid co-founder Matt Nava told me during a recent interview. “I love all that kind of stuff in games, but we’re always like, ‘No, we can’t do that. It wouldn’t be serious enough.’ In this New Game Plus mode, you’ve [already] had that [story-focused] experience. Now you can just go crazy.”
Nava said that during the game’s development, he briefly considered having the speedometer lie to players, for fear that if they saw their actual speed, they’d think the number was made-up. I found this odd at first, but after unintentionally activating a Wisp while zooming through a circular tunnel and watching the speedometer breeze past 1,000mph, it made sense. Hell, I couldn’t believe how fast I was going.
“This character is so freaking fast, and you don’t even realize it until in New Game Plus mode!” Nava explained, laughing. “We almost decided to divide all the speed numbers in half before we displayed them on the speedometer because we thought people would just think it’s too crazy.”
Nava says he and the rest of the Giant Squid team have been competing to see who can get the highest overall score, land the most tricks before hitting the ground, and of course, who can go the fastest.
“I think speedrunners are going to have a blast,” he said of the New Game Plus experience.
Speaking from personal experience, I think Nava’s onto something. So if you haven’t taken Sword of the Sea out for a spin because you think it’s more of an art project than a speedrun-worthy game, let me assure you: It’s both.
