By gh0st93 
If you loved the quiet, atmospheric mystery of Call of the Sea, its successor is about to throw you into a wildly different, highly ambitious cocktail of genres.
Call of the elder gods steps away from isolated island vibes and drops players straight into a narrative that feels like Indiana Jones crashed into a sci-fi alien invasion, with a healthy sprinkle of Stranger Things thrown in for good measure. It’s a bold swing that mostly lands, offering a polished, puzzle-heavy adventure right out of the gate on Xbox Game Pass.
At its core, this is a narrative-driven puzzle game. If you are here for high-octane action, you won’t find it; in fact, players who don’t care for environmental brain-teasers might dismiss it as a walking simulator. But for those who love deciphering clues and engaging with the environment, the mechanics are satisfying. The puzzles are clever and require actual thought, grounding you directly into the shoes of an explorer uncovering ancient, otherworldly secrets.
The narrative hook is genuinely interesting, successfully blending classic pulp archaeology with cosmic horror. However, it isn’t entirely flawless. The story struggles with its pacing in certain chapters, dragging its feet when it should be sprinting, which holds the overall experience back from reaching its full potential.
Where the game excels is its presentation. Built on Unreal Engine 5, the developers have bypassed the muddy, hyper-realistic trend for a beautifully bright, colorful and vibrant art style. The environments pop off the screen, making exploration a genuine visual treat.
The audio design matches the visual presentation note-for-note. The soundtrack builds an excellent sense of tension and wonder, but the real star here is the voice acting. The performances are top-tier, injecting genuine emotion and personality into the characters, which keeps you hooked even when the story’s pacing falters.
Kudos to the development team for delivering a technically flawless console release. Running at a crisp 4K resolution at a locked 60 frames per second on Xbox Series X, it’s a beautifully optimized current-gen title and that is a rarity in 2026 when many games force you to choose between sharpness or fluidity.
The game also fully embraces the Xbox ecosystem, featuring Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox Cloud Gaming support alongside its Game Pass availability. For achievement hunters it’s an absolute dream. The achievement list is a highly manageable 4/10 in difficulty. You can easily wrap up the main story in about 8 hours and clearing out the remaining achievements for a full 100% completion takes just 2 extra hours.
This title respects your time by offering a complete, high-quality adventure without bloating the experience with unnecessary filler.
Call of the elder gods is a triumphant, worthy successor to Call of the Sea. If you were a fan of the first game, you will find a lot more to love here, thanks to the massive upgrades in visual fidelity, voice work and rock-solid performance on Xbox Series X|S.
While the narrative pacing can occasionally stall, the vibrant worlds and satisfying puzzles make it a journey well worth taking. With a tight 10-hour completion loop, an easy list of achievements and a day-one spot on Xbox Game Pass, it is an absolute no-brainer for anyone who loves a good mystery.
- Clever environmental puzzles that feel rewarding to solve
- Stunning Unreal Engine 5 visuals paired with excellent voice acting
- Outstanding Xbox Series X|S performance with 4K/60FPS support and Xbox Play Anywhere
- Story pacing noticeably slows during certain chapters
- Minimal action may not appeal to all players
- Exploration can occasionally feel too linear despite the adventurous premise
Jordan Campbell
Fletcher Wilkinson