Sights & Sounds
- As with its prequel, this game's art direction is excellent. Every frame is a photo, kinda like a Kubrick film. Seriously, just about any screenshot you take of the game will look fantastic. It's not graphically intensive, but it is very pretty
- Traveling along presents you with several scenic environments for eye candy. For most of the game, you'll also have your cool steampunk ship to keep you company, which grows and changes as you find new parts to attach to it
- Even though I only beat this game yesterday, I don't recall any of the music. I'll assume that means it was passable but certainly not memorable
- The sparse sound design is appropriate for the ruinous post-apocalyptic seascapes you traverse. Most of what you hear is the machinery of your ship, crashing of the waves, and the whistling wind
- Regardless of the size of the screen you're playing on, it can be easy to lose sight of your character when the view zooms out. There's fortunately a zoom-in function that helps smooth over this issue
Story & Vibes
- If you played Far: Lone Sails, you're already well-prepared for this experience. Neither game in the franchise is story-heavy, but it still makes more sense to play the prequel first (otherwise the end of this game will make little sense)
- The story mostly boils down to two words: Go right. Well, until the end of the game at least, which features a brief period of leftward travel
- Like the prequel, very little is furnished to you by way of explanation. There's just you, your ship, the way back, and the way forward. You don't know why you're going right or what's over there
- Despite the game's linearity, the mysteriousness of its objectives and the main character's motivations still lend it some sense of mystery. It somehow still feels like you're exploring even though you're only heading in a single direction
- The overall tone is somber, lonely, and morose, yet peacefully so
Playability & Replayability
- The main gameplay loop is to manage your ship's sails and/or engine to keep it moving forward. Sailing is pretty easy, but running the engine is an exercise in multitasking. You'll be bouncing back and forth stoking the fire, refilling fuel, handling boiler temperature, setting the gear, raising/lowering depth, and toggling overcharge while occasionally tending to repairs. Hell, even stopping the ship is a multi-step process (stop pumping bellows, change gear to neutral, turn on hose, put out fire). Believe me when I say that you'll be happy when you see wind and can raise the sails.
- Some people may find this sort of micromanagement a little tedious, and I would agree with them
- There's enough puzzles sprinkled throughout to offer at least a little change of pace. Puzzle design is difficult enough that the game managed to stump me for several minutes on a couple of occasions, but more careful observation got me out of both jams. Don't be afraid to test possibly wrong solutions
- I'm never going to go back and get all of the achievements, frankly. Managing the engine was annoying enough at times that the thought of having to do it quickly for a time-based achievement is a non-starter
Overall Impressions & Performance
- I started out on the Steam Deck, but switched to a bigger screen after only a few minutes. While "playable" is technically an accurate description, I don't think I'd recommend that amount of eye strain
- It ran perfectly on my slightly dated (2019) hardware
- It's only a 5-7 hour experience (less if you're attempting to speedrun it), so the price tag seems a little steep. Probably best to wait for a sale
Final Verdict
- 6.5/10. I liked it a little bit less than its prequel, but only because the experience is so similar. You're just on water instead of land. That said, the core gameplay and visual style are both good, so it's worth picking up if you want a short, relaxing experience and the price is right
- As with its prequel, this game's art direction is excellent. Every frame is a photo, kinda like a Kubrick film. Seriously, just about any screenshot you take of the game will look fantastic. It's not graphically intensive, but it is very pretty
- Traveling along presents you with several scenic environments for eye candy. For most of the game, you'll also have your cool steampunk ship to keep you company, which grows and changes as you find new parts to attach to it
- Even though I only beat this game yesterday, I don't recall any of the music. I'll assume that means it was passable but certainly not memorable
- The sparse sound design is appropriate for the ruinous post-apocalyptic seascapes you traverse. Most of what you hear is the machinery of your ship, crashing of the waves, and the whistling wind
- Regardless of the size of the screen you're playing on, it can be easy to lose sight of your character when the view zooms out. There's fortunately a zoom-in function that helps smooth over this issue
Story & Vibes
- If you played Far: Lone Sails, you're already well-prepared for this experience. Neither game in the franchise is story-heavy, but it still makes more sense to play the prequel first (otherwise the end of this game will make little sense)
- The story mostly boils down to two words: Go right. Well, until the end of the game at least, which features a brief period of leftward travel
- Like the prequel, very little is furnished to you by way of explanation. There's just you, your ship, the way back, and the way forward. You don't know why you're going right or what's over there
- Despite the game's linearity, the mysteriousness of its objectives and the main character's motivations still lend it some sense of mystery. It somehow still feels like you're exploring even though you're only heading in a single direction
- The overall tone is somber, lonely, and morose, yet peacefully so
Playability & Replayability
- The main gameplay loop is to manage your ship's sails and/or engine to keep it moving forward. Sailing is pretty easy, but running the engine is an exercise in multitasking. You'll be bouncing back and forth stoking the fire, refilling fuel, handling boiler temperature, setting the gear, raising/lowering depth, and toggling overcharge while occasionally tending to repairs. Hell, even stopping the ship is a multi-step process (stop pumping bellows, change gear to neutral, turn on hose, put out fire). Believe me when I say that you'll be happy when you see wind and can raise the sails.
- Some people may find this sort of micromanagement a little tedious, and I would agree with them
- There's enough puzzles sprinkled throughout to offer at least a little change of pace. Puzzle design is difficult enough that the game managed to stump me for several minutes on a couple of occasions, but more careful observation got me out of both jams. Don't be afraid to test possibly wrong solutions
- I'm never going to go back and get all of the achievements, frankly. Managing the engine was annoying enough at times that the thought of having to do it quickly for a time-based achievement is a non-starter
Overall Impressions & Performance
- I started out on the Steam Deck, but switched to a bigger screen after only a few minutes. While "playable" is technically an accurate description, I don't think I'd recommend that amount of eye strain
- It ran perfectly on my slightly dated (2019) hardware
- It's only a 5-7 hour experience (less if you're attempting to speedrun it), so the price tag seems a little steep. Probably best to wait for a sale
Final Verdict
- 6.5/10. I liked it a little bit less than its prequel, but only because the experience is so similar. You're just on water instead of land. That said, the core gameplay and visual style are both good, so it's worth picking up if you want a short, relaxing experience and the price is right