Sunday, December 1, 2024
Genre - Horror, Mystery Play Time - 8 hours Developer - LYCORIS Steam VNDB
Tales Whispered In Water
There
are few genres more subjective than horror, for what one person fears
another might find banal. Some universal fears can be reliably
utilised, such as a fear of the dark, but even these vary in effectiveness.
Sound Of Drop takes a big risk by focusing in on a single type of horror,
the fear of the ocean, and making this a core part of its identity.
This gives it a feeling distinct from its pears which is helped along
with the characters being trapped with the horrors. It plays up the
mystery of the supernatural forces behind the danger and the odd
behaviours of its human cast in order to lay on the atmosphere thick
so the player will jump at anything strange. The characters
themselves do their best to further this direction with their
interconnective web of relationships and lies, yet their limted screen time can somewhat undermine it. Does Sound of
Drop manage to thread the needle to create a compelling horror
experience? Let’s peer through the glass and find out.
Deep Within Our Fear – Narrative and Themes
The
ocean is an alien world for a land based species such as humans. To
us it is place where wonder sits alongside fear for it is as hostile
to us as it is beautiful. These clashing emotions form the backbone
of how Sound Of Drop builds its horror and plays with the lives of
its characters. Rather than setting its story in the ocean it instead
subverts the presumed safety of an aquarium turning it into a death
trap. It is a structure design for humans to be able to admire the
ocean’s beauty from solid land where they have the advantage, so
stripping that away creates a sense of vulnerability as if left
adrift amongst a swarm of predators. The sources of fear are twofold
being split between the water itself and the creatures living within
it. In Sound Of Drop the water has an almost toxic quality to it on
top of the possibility of drowning in it and there is a recurring
presentation of it being binding in nature for the living and the
dead. Playing up the fear of being dragged down into the depth allows
the mere presence of water to exert a constant tension on each scene
where the danger is everywhere. Reinforcing this feeling are the
creatures of the aquarium which now move freely within the space and
are almost supernatural in nature. For them the air is now just like
water as their burst forth from their tanks and swim through
it. They form a more direct threat to the characters as the creature's poisons
and sharp teeth can swiftly end their lives. Both are joined
through their common alien nature as they have odd forms which
contrast greatly with anything from the land and feeds on the
player’s fear of the unknown.
 |
| Water is filled the unseen danger |
These
scary moments would be nothing without a narrative to bind them
together and this takes the form of a mystery where the characters
are trapped and isolated. It starts out as an investigation into the
strange urban legends surrounding the aquarium by Mayu and Himeno and
escalates when Mayu’s missing little sister Mari appears before
them. They become tangled in a web of deception and it is around the
human characters the plot of the story rotates. The horror atmosphere
heightens the feelings of distrust towards the various people Mayu
meets and makes them seem as if they are one step away from being
just as dangerous as the creatures out to get them. By focusing on
Mari for the core pillar of the story, Sound Of Drop gains a strong
sense of direction since Mayu has a clear goal and everything is
pointing towards solving this mystery. It builds up over the course
of the multiple endings available until the finale where it provides a
catharsis and resolution appropriate for its narrative and closes
the book on the fear it has been utilising. If there is one problem
with this approach it is how much it relies on the horror to do the
heavy emotional lifting for a lot of the game. This means if the
player does not find the style of horror scary then the game lacks
the teeth of keep them invested for much of the fist half. Once it
shifts onto the revelations about what is happening this issue fades
away, but the player may not reach that point due to this reliance on
the horror.
Bubbling Desires – Characters
As
a horror game there is a need to keep the characters isolated in
Sound Of Drop since it is when they are on their own that they can be threatened in
a convincing manner. If there was a single constant companion it
removes a lot of the tension as they are always there to help the
protagonist. So the solution the story comes up with is to shift who is with Mayu constantly while making you question the reliably of
her new allies. It allows for the feeling of isolation without having to
give up the presence of other characters which gives the game a
greater flexibility with how it can present the mysteries and dangers
of the aquarium. This approach relies heavily on Mayu being strong
enough to hold the player’s attention due to being the only
constant element. Fortunately she fulfils this role well by blending
a sense of vulnerability into her personality through her honest and
open reaction to the terrors around her. Doing this helps frame the
horror in a genuine feeling of dread where Mayu expresses the alien
nature of the threats and gives them an immediacy which they would
otherwise lack. Yet even in her fear she is not above acts of heroism
in the face of these dangers when she finds people who need her
help to survive and she acts to keep them both alive. She does not lose
her vulnerability but instead pushes passed her desire to flee in
terror in order to do what she believes to be right. Throughout all she experiences her core motivation of discovering what is
going on with her sister’s sudden reappearance never shifts and this
provides an anchor around which her personality can be properly
showcased. Combining these results in a relatable protagonist who
acts as a good window into the game’s horrors while
still having their own identity and motivations.
 |
| Friend one moment then enemy the next |
Having
the other cast members who appear on screen regularly shuffled around comes
with a major downside in the inability to give all the secondary
characters depth. Juggling these characters results in them not
getting enough screen time to properly express who they are and what
they want from this situation. It also hampers their character arcs
since the limited space they have makes them feel rushed with sudden changes
in their personality clashing against what has been established for
them. How much this effects each individual character varies wildly
as some like Sayo only have minor hiccups in their presentation while
those like Rieko jumping all over the place. Then there is Mari who acts
as Mayu’s main motive and the person around which a lot of the plot
revolves. She never escapes the prison of being a plot MacGuffin who
acts purely in the way the narrative need to keep it on track and it
makes her feel robotic. For such an important character this
behaviour is a major issue as it detracts for Mayu’s motivation
through the way it fails to sell a reason why the player should care
in the same way as Muyu. This creates a gap between the game and the player
which causes harm to their immersion which is is important for selling
a horror title.
In The Depths – Visual, Audio and Technical
Everything
surrounding the core of the game works to reinforce the horror tone
and sell the danger the characters find themselves in. It makes
liberal use of bad endings to provide a direct sense of lethality to
the player’s choices in order to keep them on their toes. This
helps showcase that the threat is genuine and gives the narrative a
tool to control how tense a scene is through placing a choice in it
to ask for the player’s attention. Supporting this feeling of
danger is a soundscape with all the tension building elements it
needs to weave in and out of the player’s perception. The music is
often subdued yet still has an edge to it as if saying a monster
could be around any corner and the characters are not safe. It can
raise up to meet the needs of a dramatic situation where it can wash
the player with waves of powerful melodies to communicate the
emotions of all those involved. SFX are similarly well used with
appropriately damp and organic sounds for the creatures. Their watery nature also sells the ubiquity of water in
the narrative and the pressure it exerting on Mayu’s struggle for
survival. On top of this the visuals work to show the aquarium as a
place once seen to be safe and mundane which has now been perverted
into something alien and hostile. The empty corridors and the
creatures moving beyond the confines of their exhibits pushes this
idea of the humans no longer being in control which fuels the horror
of an inversion of who is in control. Each creature Mayu encounter
has the same appearance as it normal counter part and instead relies
on its already alien appearance to unsettle.
 |
| Is the sea captured or has it captured us? |
Conclusion
When
it comes to preying on the fear of the sea’s depths, Sound Of Drop
knows exactly how to press all the right buttons to sell this form of
horror. It pushes both the inherent dangers of water to humans as
well as the alien nature of the creatures living within it in order
to create a hostile environment. The visuals and audio all work to
support this tone through a twisting of the familiar aquarium into
something monstrous. It also plays up the human end of the conflict
by switching around the characters on screen and making their
motivation unclear so the player is never sure if there are friend or
foe. Mayu works brilliantly as the protagonist, and the only constant
throughout the entire experience, as she is vulnerable yet still has
the will to overcome it. The only downside to this approach is how
much of a mixed back the rest of the characters are due to their
limited screen time. Overall this is a strong horror title which
dives into a category of fear not widely explored and this results in
a distinct feeling game.
Verdict –
Crafting an air of tension and mystery, Sound of Drop plays on an
aquatic brand of horror which allows it stand out as truly
spine-chilling experience.
Pros -
+
Utilises the alien and dangerous nature of the ocean to create an
atmosphere of fear.
+
By always changing which cast members are on screen and slowly
revealing their motives, the game makes the player paranoid about
their every action.
+
Mayu is the prefect blend of vulnerable and brave for a horror
protagonist.
+
Visual and audio all support this brand of water based fear.
Cons -
-
The secondary characters are of varying quality with their limited
screen time hurting their believability.
-
If you do not find this brand of horror scary then it loses a lot of
its impact since this is very much a one trick pony.
