SeaBed
SeaBed is a yuri-themed mystery visual novel told through the perspectives of three separate characters: Sachiko, Takako and Narasaki.
SeaBed is a visual novel, indie and female protagonist game
developed by Paleontology
and published by Fruitbat Factory.
Released on December 19th 2017 is available only on Windows
in 5 languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
It has received 617 reviews of which 598 were positive and 19 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.0 out of 10. š
The game is currently priced at 13.06ā¬ on Steam and has a 33% discount.
The Steam community has classified SeaBed into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at SeaBed through various videos and screenshots.
Requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows 7/8/10/11
- Processor: Intel Pentium 2.0GHz or higher
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Sound Card: DirectSound compatible sound card
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
This yuri visual novel is a masterpiece. It has really likable interesting characters, chief among the game's central couple of Takako and Sachiko. You find yourselves caring deeply about the characters from the get-go, and then they end up embroiled in a mystery that you desperately want to understand because you care so much about them. The mystery is expertly crafted, with each chapter of the story unveiling just enough for you to understand things a little bit more, but it keeps you reading because you often end up having plenty of questions with each piece of new information you learn. While it's a kinetic novel with no choices, it feels surprisingly interactive, because you frequently find yourselves stopping and trying to piece everything together. It's also incredibly well-written, with an amazing translation.
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I haven't seen anyone really saying the actual story of SeaBed is lackluster, rather its often just slow and a bit mundane, and I think the relative positivity echoes that both in steam reviews and outside reviews, so rather than restating other reviews, I'll instead talk about what got me through this game. It's always the more abstract stories that affect me the deepest. Oneshot, Omori, Signalis, Silent Hill 2, Fromsoftware's entire modern catalog, Hollow Knight, so on and so forth. Complicated narratives that draw you in from their initial surface level glimpses at a far deeper story lying within. Some are more abstract, some are less so, but the sense of mystery of "what happened here?" is far more compelling to me than most other story elements. I'm fascinated by things like that, even the simple lore of Ultrakill, spanning likely no more than a few pages, is enough to get the gears turning in my brain enough to lock down memories about it. While SeaBed had this mystery element to it, it's incredibly far outside of the types of stories I usually consume. Me rattling off games at the top probably already gave it away, but I'm not usually one for VNs, slow-paced stories, or even reading in general- I've almost resigned myself to not being able to properly read books anymore, and I've seen few VNs that grabbed my interest, much less ones I saw through to the end. I usually just look at summaries and analyses for that kind of stuff. Even besides that, it doesn't at all seem like a genre of story I would remotely enjoy. I am a sucker for good stories though, regardless of medium, so when a youtube reviewer I watch (shoutout to Amelie Doree) said it may have changed how they thought about fiction in general, I felt like it was something I shouldn't miss. I initially, we'll say, "obtained" the switch version of the game in order to test the waters, and it was to both my shock and curiosity that the story was not only intriguing enough for me to want to continue it after purchasing on steam, but compelling enough to want to continue not even halfway through the prologue, which if you've read it yourself, is quite literally before anything major starts happening. Something about SeaBed's writing style worms its way into your head. I'm writing this shortly after having finished it, and I have a hunch I'll be thinking about it for a long time to come. I disagree with the notion that it feels "padded", or has pacing issues. Yes, this is quite possibly the slowest-paced story I think I have ever consumed, and perhaps will ever consume. As the quoted review on the store page says, it's in no hurry to get anywhere with its writing. The writing, while slow, is so meticulously detailed that it almost seems like it leaves no room for interpretation. By the end of the game, when a place was mentioned, I often thought about it in relation to other places that came up. Characters were fleshed out in such detail that despite the story only taking me around 17 hours to read through, they felt more developed than many multi-season TV shows or 100+ hour games. Backgrounds are constructed out of filtered photos and 3d renders, and while that's something I sometimes see criticized in other VNs as feeling cheaper, it works well here. The text will reference objects in the backgrounds and the background will slightly change in lighting or coloration as needed. I've made guesses on the plot based on what I was seeing in backgrounds that turned out to be correct, multiple times. Perhaps paradoxically, SeaBed's story is incredibly confusing at first and had me taking physical notes of multiple small details I thought might be relevant later and going back and rereading previous chapters to check if a connection I saw was really there. It's completely at odds with much of the story's writing style. The backgrounds, pace and prose all congeal together to form a dreamy yet mildly tense atmosphere I don't think I've experienced anywhere else; there are no better words for it than just "it's a vibe and a half". It doesn't neatly fit any genre, even the ones that it's marketed under, and it uses the medium well for all this. Any more textual like a light novel or book and the story would lose the often ambient, nostalgic soundtrack and sound effects that aid scenes without visuals. Any more visual like a manga or anime and you'd lose the complex descriptions that help you understand a character far deeper than initially thought. SeaBed isn't for everyone, and it's not trying to be. There is an ending, one that I found satisfying, but a lot of events through the overarching plot are up for interpretation. There's moments, details, and motifs I wrote down that kept popping up, yet at the end of everything don't have concrete reasons for existing. In this regard, it's up to the reader to determine their importance, and I think trying to make them neatly fit in somewhere would be antithetical to the way this story flowed. If I thought something was important and someone else's interpretation ended up convincing me that it was simply being mundane, I don't think it would bother me on a lot of points; the journey of reading it still left me in an atmosphere I enjoyed in the moment, that's just the kind of story it is. If you don't think you'd enjoy reading this yourself, be it the pace or the interpretive angle, that's okay. For me though, it's a work of art I won't soon forget, and has been added to my ever growing list of fascinating, compelling, and resonant stories, which is all I ever really could have asked it for. I will now return to sobbing.
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In terms of the intensity and depth of the emotional response it engenders, I think Seabed is very comparable to House in Fata Morgana. It takes a completely different, much quieter and subtler path to get there, obviously. Fata Morgana gets there with the most hard hitting melodrama possible (and I adore it). Seabed gets there through countless quiet moments, all working in concert to slowly weave a spell over you without you even realizing. It's as affecting a story as any visual novel I've read.
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Doubtlessly a masterpiece. Overflowing with love, dedicated to its originality. Exceeds anything I could say in mere words. The short of it: SeaBed is unique in many waysāatmosphere, story, themes, how it handles conventions and answering its questionsāand is somehow familiar, not just in unlocking secret memories, but also in its high quality and presentation, like a golden age kinetic novel that time traveled years into the future. It is a doujin circle's novella with humble origins, but I think it surpasses such classics in a very pure way. This is a very, very intimate story. The seeds of SeaBed's nonlinear mystery are deftly planted in its travel literature-esque first few chapters. The prose must be commended for its gorgeous and staggering level of detail, invoking a sensation I could only describe as meditative astral travel, or reading a painting. With a slow, almost obsessive progression early on, I understand that SeaBed may initially seem inaccessible if you aren't interested in slow burn romantic recollection, or the taste of foreign cuisine, but I promise, I promise , it develops and pays off incredibly well. I was quickly enraptured by the subtle and mature romantic storytelling, as well as its interspersed intrigue-building oddities. The love the characters have for each other feels incredibly genuine, and the strange events that occur are blindsiding. Scenes often feel extremely compartmentalized, making progression itself feel episodic, almost confusing, but aberrations become much more strange and significant this way. Thereās also an accompanying unique emotional synchronization between the characters and the reader, on top of the empathy created through rich storytelling, emotional connection feels diegetic. These aspects of the episodic writing kept me coming back. I recommend following suit with the story's structure and tuning in repeatedly rather than binge readingāthe chapters themselves are separated into discrete parts, encouraging not to use chapters as bookmarks. As the story progresses, SeaBedās slices of life begin to harmonize with an increased presence of its aberrations to create something truly unique, not a roller coaster of highs and lows, but a warm and gentle blend of flavors that rewards a discerning palate. Scene minutiae frequently serve multiple simultaneous purposes, which I will confidently call excellent writing. Nothing comes at the cost of something else, as the ethereal atmosphere and intrigue build, relationships gain more depth and become more nuanced. There is no loss of focus on detail. Romance is not sidelined, love deepens. Drama becomes more dramatic, even the comedy more comedicāSeaBed is refreshingly happy too. There's a format shift, from a pick up, put down, pick up again anthology to a gripping, more cohesive narrative that demands more and more attention as threads intertwine, with an unbelievable ending. And of course, thereās no shortage of very cute scenarios. Gets my highest possible praise. Worth full price. Saved my life. Will certainly be rereading again and again; SeaBed rewards it. Extra thoughts on the medium: SeaBed capitalizes on its immersive elements. Music is appropriate, SFX are atmospheric. At times, music may prime emotions early, but there are sufficient surprises in track choice and progression to avoid problems. Sound is once in a while jarring, but its presence always adds. Backgrounds are a mix of photography and 3D renders. The photographs contribute significantly to the dreamlike atmosphere, and the renders display a high amount of detailārooms are rendered faithfully according to text, such that very rarely, that text may even be redundant. I love the illustrations. I think the art has a very quaint quality, contributing to a sense of "modern classic.ā Characters each have their own share of characteristic and distinct expressions. I also felt spoiled by the large number of stills present for significant scenes. The writer also being the character artist greatly facilitates cohesion between text and illustration, making stills stand out as high points, at high points. Also the characters are all really cute. The art is cute. Visual assets are also used creatively. Menuing is not very fast, and widescreen retains 4:3. I donāt find this hampers the quality. Credits seem to be buggy and flash. Extra thoughts on the writing: The character writing is excellent. The text display spans the full screen without extra interface assets, but characters are so well distinguished from each other that it is trivial to understand who has said what in a conversation, without name tags, even if reading were interrupted, which is also a testament to the translation quality. The main characters are obviously well developed, but the secondary cast easily earns its screen time and is absolutely integral to the story. Personalities compliment each other incredibly well, especially with the main couple. The translation is great. There are very few, very minor typosānothing that ultimately detracts. The flow deserves a lot of praise. No awkward moments or stilted dialogue whatsoever. When I say that SeaBed "exceeds anything I could say in mere words," I mean that it transcends what terminology might imply. āSlice of life'' does not adequately describe the depths of humanity it explores, and "mundane" fails to capture the significance of its microscopic details. Romantic love is core to the story, but right away, SeaBed speaks its perspective on the importance of friendship too, next to and as part of romance, not just as an alternative or stage. It discusses love and loss, and human relationships and even identity far more broadly than āflavored romanceā might imply. These unique hidden depths can be found in many of SeaBedās themes. I have never seen loss handled this way before. The story is rich like "high literature," but it's never pretentious or exclusionary. The story being āmatureā doesn't mean it deals in depression, nor does it stray from celebrating its childish minds. The story has its sadness, but doesnāt hammer tragedy into the reader. Happiness can be found in lovers doing their taxes, though there are also plenty of indulgent escapades. SeaBed breaks a lot of conventions, in theme and in technique. Structure deserves mention again, where even chapter length is tailored to its reformatting. Finding these breaks from convention is very enjoyable, with exploration of the storytelling itself also being a thoughtful endeavor. I do want to give particular praise to the maturity of the story. It's well grounded in reality with believable motivations and action like reading a story with real people, not fictional characters. The cast is written very genuinely and dynamically, with depths like its themes. Creativity expresses itself in different ways. Quiet isn't equated with boring, boisterousness isn't equated with foolishness. The old and young are both treated with a lot of respect. Ideas and motivations progress intelligently. Thereās not a single flat characterāeven the super serious have a sense of humor. SeaBed feels very respectful to its characters in allowing nobody to fall into type. I greatly appreciated this. The main characters are all so believably sweet, intelligent and thoughtful. Itās easy to grow attached to them. Iām particularly fond of how Sachiko is depicted as someone who is both quiet and assertive, without being mean, a great sign of her maturity. I look up to her. There is so much love not just for the characters, but for the world: plants, animals, food, history. Characters express so much genuine interest in these things, it's hard not to share the enthusiasm. It's like exploring an encyclopedia, or a travel diary. I enjoyed looking up new encounters on my own. The story and themes resonated with me so much that I feel like I found the endpoint of fiction. Iām very excited to experience it all again.
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ARTWORK: well drawn and there are lots of CGs available. However, no animations are included, and the still character images along the story could use a greater variety of facial/body expressions. STORY: the main forte of the game. The game is a linear story about 15 hours long - no story choices are offered in the game - plus side mini stories, that are skillfully written, delve pretty deep on the related subject matter, and is overall very enjoyable to read. However, long wall of texts, often without any character stills in the background, are fairly common and in my opinion do break the pacing of the story a little. It can also be hard to distinguish who is talking in conversation scenes. SOUND: Music is nice but the selection is fairly limited so it may become repetitive after a while. Sadly there is no voice acting. SUMMARY: a little overpriced in relation to other games of the genre, given the price and the content available. Nevertheless, a very good read. 7/10
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Last Updates
| Steam data | 30 November 2024 00:32 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 24 December 2024 09:23 |
| Steam price | 24 December 2024 12:42 |
| Steam reviews | 22 December 2024 15:48 |
Online players
8
Developer
Paleontology
Publisher
Fruitbat Factory
Release
19 Dec 2017
Platforms