PlayStation 4 Critic Reviews

Fear Effect Sedna brings back from the past the core elements of the series, with a nice story that manages to drag the player into it.

Despite not highlighting either its combat or stealth mechanics, Fear Effect Sedna is a pretty satisfactory resurrection of a franchise that we believed dead by its puzzles, plot and characters.

Sedna has a fair amount of problems, but it also has many positive aspects and good ideas that successfully bring back the spirit of the franchise.

Almost 20 years after the visceral Retro Helix, Hana & Rain are back in town. Fear Effect Sedna is really a sequel both in design and story, but its crowdfunding nature forces Sushee to tone down their ambitions. On the good side we have action, stealth, shootings, great puzzles, challenging Final Bosses, a few endings and nice cinematics. On the wrong side some visuals, supporting characters voices and a really lazy enemy AI. A good game that could've been better, but a Fear Effect in its core indeed.

Fear Effect Sedna is proof creativity can’t always overcome poor execution. The game is often quite enjoyable, but the inspired moments can be difficult to appreciate amidst Sedna’s mishandled nostalgia, ill-considered mechanics, and sometimes-wonky level design.

Fear Effect Sedna is a stylish but ultimately mediocre tactical take on a franchise that arguably deserved better.

As mentioned earlier, a name carries expectations. Strictly in terms of game design, Fear Effect Sedna is quite possibly the strongest the series has ever been. However, it doesn't go far enough to make up for its deficiencies in atmosphere and storytelling. As it turns out, this title is as cold and distant as its locales and isometric perspective suggest. There's very little imagery to provoke thoughts or spark the imagination, just a high body count and a lot of swear words. Even if that were enough for a Cyberpunk game, it's handled in a manner that isn't stylish or memorable. All in all, this entry is a difficult recommendation, especially for Fear Effect fans.

A game full of more than it's fair share of style unfortunately lacks any of it's fair share of substance. It may be worth a look if you are a long time fan of the series but there are much better examples of this style of game for everyone else.

Fear Effect Sedna is a game that does just enough to be considered basic. Unfortunately, for fans of the Fear Effect series, this is not a triumphant return for the franchise but more so a reminder that it exists.

Perhaps this return is 17 years too late. [May 2018, p.80]