"Had Mao died in 1956, his achievements would have been immortal. Had he died in 1966, he would still have been a great man but flawed. But he died in 1976. Alas, what can one say?" Chinese communist politician Chen Yun famously uttered these words on reflecting the legacy of Chairman Mao.
What the hell does that have to do with a windwaker inspired sailing game? Well, much like how Chen lamented Maos tarnishing of his own memory by slowly outweighing his contributions to chinese independence and victory over the nationalists in the civil war with ill fated economic and social policies, Sail Forth ruins its initial positive impression with boredom and frustration.
"Had Sail Forth ended at the 6 hour mark, it would have been my GOTY, if it had ended at the 12 hour mark it would have gone down as a good, if flawed game, but it ended at the 18 hour mark, alas, what can one say?" - Me probably
Its hard to be too tough on the game, without getting too patronizing it is a labour of love by a very small team (i think it might be a solo project even) and honestly for the first couple of hours is a very charming little ship game. You feel a strong sense of progression as you go from a 2 person rowboat to a fleet of 4 brigantines raining lead on pirates in the high seas. Unfortunately that progression plateaus really quickly and the act of photographing, fighting, fishing and doing inane fetchquests gets old real fast.
Unfortunately when you make a (albeit not seamless) open world with a very small indie team you are going to have to rely on a whole lot of procedural generation, radiant quests etc, which again contributes to the sameyness of it all. On the character side of things, the game looks pretty, the cel shading cartoony graphics appeal and the music is good. Unfortunately due to the proc gen your actual crew is boring and the written characters all suffer from overwritten dialogue I ended up just mostly skipping over cause it was just too much. This writing is what people who dont like spiritfarer's writing think that game is like.
Ultimately I think the main feeling I have finishing Sail Forth is not even of anger but just relief that I am finally done with it, which isnt really a good sign, usually. Ill reiterate that the game does have some good in it, its attempt to marry goal oriented main quest progression with a more relaxed free form "chill game" screws over the former and probably the latter as well.
What the hell does that have to do with a windwaker inspired sailing game? Well, much like how Chen lamented Maos tarnishing of his own memory by slowly outweighing his contributions to chinese independence and victory over the nationalists in the civil war with ill fated economic and social policies, Sail Forth ruins its initial positive impression with boredom and frustration.
"Had Sail Forth ended at the 6 hour mark, it would have been my GOTY, if it had ended at the 12 hour mark it would have gone down as a good, if flawed game, but it ended at the 18 hour mark, alas, what can one say?" - Me probably
Its hard to be too tough on the game, without getting too patronizing it is a labour of love by a very small team (i think it might be a solo project even) and honestly for the first couple of hours is a very charming little ship game. You feel a strong sense of progression as you go from a 2 person rowboat to a fleet of 4 brigantines raining lead on pirates in the high seas. Unfortunately that progression plateaus really quickly and the act of photographing, fighting, fishing and doing inane fetchquests gets old real fast.
Unfortunately when you make a (albeit not seamless) open world with a very small indie team you are going to have to rely on a whole lot of procedural generation, radiant quests etc, which again contributes to the sameyness of it all. On the character side of things, the game looks pretty, the cel shading cartoony graphics appeal and the music is good. Unfortunately due to the proc gen your actual crew is boring and the written characters all suffer from overwritten dialogue I ended up just mostly skipping over cause it was just too much. This writing is what people who dont like spiritfarer's writing think that game is like.
Ultimately I think the main feeling I have finishing Sail Forth is not even of anger but just relief that I am finally done with it, which isnt really a good sign, usually. Ill reiterate that the game does have some good in it, its attempt to marry goal oriented main quest progression with a more relaxed free form "chill game" screws over the former and probably the latter as well.