Call of the Elder Gods Review: Tasteful Puzzles And Adventuring

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In 2020, Out of the Blue Games released a captivating puzzle game called Call of the Sea. Our review called it a delightful surprise, noting that it quickly gained popularity with both puzzle game enthusiasts and gamers in general. Now, the upcoming sequel, Call of the Elder Gods, promises to be even more unusual and intriguing.

This new story, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Shadow Out of Time,’ follows Professor Harry Everhart (from the game Call of the Sea) and his student, Evangeline Drayton. Despite being based on existing material, it feels fresh and original, standing apart from both Out of the Blue’s previous games and Lovecraft’s many tales of cosmic horror.

Following the positive reception of Call of the Sea, this new project seeks to offer a larger and more detailed experience while still maintaining the original game’s enchanting qualities and avoiding unnecessary complexity.

Inspired By Lovecraft, But All Original

You don’t need to know much about the first game, Call of the Sea, or the works of H.P. Lovecraft to enjoy the sequel. While there are some connections to the original story and a link to a character from the first game, Norah Everhart, the sequel quickly introduces a new main character, Evangeline, and starts a fresh adventure.

Evangeline being a student works really well for the story. It allows for a relaxed opening for about the first half hour and naturally sets up the beginning of the adventure. Importantly, her presence doesn’t slow things down at all. She’s a great character, and the way she interacts with Harry – especially their initial awkwardness – creates an engaging dynamic.

Cissy Jones and Yuri Lowenthal deliver excellent performances as the main characters, and the game’s settings are beautifully diverse, taking players on a globe-trotting adventure that feels grander in scope than the first game. The stunning graphics perfectly complement these new locations, making them vibrant and immersive.

The Elder Gods Mystery Is Engaging

Call of the Elder Gods is well-paced and keeps its puzzles interesting. It’s fundamentally an escape-room style game where you explore self-contained environments and solve a variety of challenges.

Often, games require you to solve puzzles in different areas – like finding a key to open a room, then exploring a garden for more clues. These puzzles ultimately reveal something new and help progress the story.

Similar to Call of the Sea, Call of the Elder Gods features a good balance of puzzles. Some require you to carefully examine your surroundings for hidden clues and interactive elements, while others are more traditional logic puzzles. For example, you might find a statue with a sun symbol, suggesting you need to rotate it towards something that represents the sun.

The game can get a little tricky, but it’s usually more amusing than annoying, even when you’re searching for incredibly well-hidden items – sometimes it feels like a classic adventure game where you’re hunting for single pixels! It doesn’t quite get that bad, but I definitely had a few moments where I exclaimed in surprise at how well something was hidden.

The in-game journal is a central feature, automatically recording clues your character finds while examining objects. It’s a helpful way to keep track of symbols, artwork details, and other discoveries without having to backtrack constantly to solve puzzles. The journal provides useful information without giving away the answers directly – you’ll still need to use your own reasoning to figure things out.

If you get stuck, the game offers hints. First, you’ll get a general idea of what to do, then more specific clues for each puzzle. Alternatively, you can enable “hard mode,” which adds extra challenges like:

  • No journal.
  • Some “interactions” and dialogue that help with puzzles are turned off.

The game lets you change this setting whenever you want, and you can still earn achievements, but I wish there were more options to personalize it. While the journal works well, switching between the very difficult ‘hard mode’ and the normal game felt a little disjointed.

This And Call of The Sea Are A Great Double-Feature

If you enjoy puzzle games, especially those similar to escape rooms, Call of the Elder Gods is a fantastic choice. The story is interesting without being overwhelming, letting the clever puzzles and unique settings really shine.

Out of the Blue Games has done it again with Call of the Elder Gods! It’s another fantastic game, and I’m excited to see what they create in the future. They’ve clearly developed a successful approach – each game feels familiar yet uniquely different from their previous work.

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2026-05-11 19:21