I was supposed to play this sooner, but Tears of the Kingdom came out. BACKGROUND:
I learned of this game via a good friend of mine, who streamed it to people in our Discord server. It looked interesting, so I made a note of it. Turns out the game has a Switch version, so I bought it with Gold Points when it went on sale. PLOT: The game doesn't really take time to explain what's going on, instead using its environment to tell its story. From what I can tell, the world of Far: Lone Sails is set in some sort of post-apocalypse, as there are numerous ruins of a seemingly advanced civilization everywhere you look. The most prominent piece of technology that shows how advanced the civilization was is the very vessel you pilot in the game. Speaking of your character, they're prompted on a journey aboard the aforementioned vessel after a sad opening scene, presumably to find what's left of civilization. I wish I understood more of the game's world and the player character, but the whole mystery of what's going on helps enhance the isolating feeling of traveling alone across an abandoned world. PRESENTATION: The game has a 2.5D perspective (used to great effect with various foreground and background elements to add an impressive level of depth to the side-scrolling perspective), boasts a painterly art style with a muted palette, has a solid amount of detail to the models, and has decent visual effects. Along with the lovely music (which tends toward the chill side, though there are large chunks of the game where nothing plays), everything comes together to deliver a unique atmosphere with a vibe that's both serene and bleak given the peace and quiet next to complete ruins. In certain moments, this atmosphere becomes more tense as the harsh conditions of the wasteland turn against you, and there's this feeling of adventure every time you're speeding past different biomes. I found the camera to be a double-edged sword in this game. On one hand, the zoomed-out perspective provides a solid sense of scale to the game's world. Not only this that allowed me to enjoy some pretty scenery, seeing such an empty expanse for most of the game added to the feeling of isolation. On the other hand, the perspective being as zoomed out as it is can make the puzzle platforming sections a bit tricky, as you may not notice where to go at first. There are zoom buttons to deal with this, but they don't allow for precise manipulation of the level of zoom. GAMEPLAY: Most of the gameplay in Far: Lone Sails is maintaining your vessel as you speed across the land. You move your character around the ship's interior to interact with various modules, like pressing the accelerate button and toggling the brakes. On top of that, you have to manage your fuel (by picking up barrels and boxes on the ground and feeding them to a specific module on the ship) and vent out steam built up from accelerating via a button. Releasing steam is extremely important, because if you don't, parts of the ship will burst into flames, and modules that are sufficiently damaged will not function as effectively. If you run out of fuel (which is unlikely unless you wastefully put in fuel while still having a full tank), you can pull the vessel along with a rope at the front (which is as tedious as it sounds). There's also a similar rope at the back if you need to adjust the ship's position for some other reason. For fires, there's a hose you can use to prevent any further damage from occurring. At many points during your journey, you'll come across a roadblock that will completely prevent your ship from moving forward. Here, you'll have to step out for a moment and explore nearby structures to solve simple puzzles that will remove the obstruction. None of the puzzles are complex (it's always obvious what to do as long as you take the time to look around), but I really enjoyed how these moments kept me engaged and prevented the game from devolving into just mindlessly piloting the ship (which, in fairness, is relaxing as hell to do). Some of the puzzles also have neat gimmicks, including using the tools available on your ship to interact with other objects. You'll also have to contend with various hazards that can damage your ship, as well as a few that can harm your character. There are no enemies in this game, but things like fire can kill you, and complete failure of all your ship's systems will result in a game over. Thankfully, this game is quite generous with checkpoints, so you won't have to worry about losing significant progress or getting stuck somewhere. Your ship does get a handful of upgrades as you travel, from a repair tool for damaged modules, a suction device to automatically pick up items on the ground, and a sail that lets you use the wind to move forward instead of expending fuel. The last upgrade in particular is incredibly satisfying to use, since you can just put it up when it's windy and take in the scenery while the ship zooms forth with zero effort on your part. VERDICT: Far: Lone Sails is a pretty short journey (I beat it in around 3-4 hours), but I found it a quite relaxing experience. Traveling through the desolate world on a machine felt therapeutic thanks to the game's atmosphere, which somehow complements the task of managing your vessel as it moves, and I enjoyed the breaks in between where you solve some neat puzzles. I love the sense of mystery the world provided, and for a game with very little explicit narrative, it manages to evoke emotions in key moments. I think this is a solid casual game that most players can get into regardless of genre inclinations or level of experience with games, so I recommend checking this game out (especially if it's on sale). If you're on the fence about it, there is a demo on Steam you can try. And here's the link where you can find it: FAR: Lone Sails on Steam (steampowered.com) Or, if you'd rather play the game on mobile... - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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