Publisher Kwalee and developer Out of the Blue have announced a 12th May release date for Call of the Elder Gods, the sequel to 2021’s stellar narrative puzzle adventure Call of the Sea. It’s coming to Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Steam), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X and Game Pass.
Like Call of the Sea, Call of the Elder Gods is a first-person adventure steeped in Lovecraftian occult ideas (it’s specifically inspired by the book The Shadow Out of Time), and one that involves travelling to strange places to uncover secrets gated by various puzzles.
In Call of the Elder Gods, you play as two characters: professor Harry Everhart – who was missing in Call of the Sea and who you pursued as his wife, Norah – and his student Evangeline Drayton. Both are apparently beset by supernatural curses, or obsessions, which plague their dreams and minds, prompting them to embark on a journey “across time and space” (says a press release) in order to solve the underlying mystery.
Locations include libraries in mansions, the Australian outback, frozen wastelands and “otherworldly cities out of time”. It’s not as stuck to one location like Call of the Sea was, then. Actor Yuri Lowenthal returns to voice Harry, and Cissy Jones is listed as joining him – notable because she played Norah (and brilliantly so) in Call of the Sea. Her role isn’t specified but it suggests Norah will appear in some form here.
I reviewed Call of the Sea and was very impressed. It was the debut game by Spanish developer Out of the Blue and it wove an eerie and compelling tale around a beautiful tropical location with tricky puzzles to create an experience I still remember fondly. The studio went on to make a Truman Show-inspired surveillance comedy mystery called American Arcadia a couple of years later, which I also reviewed. And though it was enjoyable and imaginative, it didn’t leave as permanent a mark. Call of the Elder Gods sounds like a return to firmer and more exciting ground, though, but we’ll know more when it comes to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and Steam on 12th May. Alternatively, impatient sorts can check out the Steam demo right now.
