Shaun Munro reviews FAR: Changing Tides…
FAR: Lone Sails, the first game from Zurich-based indie outfit Okomotive, may not have made a huge splash when it was first released back in May 2018, but between critical acclaim and word-of-mouth success, it’s become something of a cult fave over the last few years.
Few would’ve been surprised if such a low-key, unassuming project never did enough business to make a sequel viable, but Okomotive is thankfully back with a follow-up, FAR: Changing Tides, which perhaps quite tellingly is dropping on Xbox Game Pass day-and-date.
In many ways it feels like the perfect home for this gentle, relaxing adventure sequel, which incrementally expands the original’s scope without losing sight of what endeared it to players in the first place. Much like Lone Sails this second game is a strident exercise in minimalism, as is perhaps best exemplified by its spare, wordless approach to narrative, bore out almost entirely through environmental traversal.
Players are largely left to speculate for themselves on exactly what it all means, beyond the setup of the new protagonist, a boy named Toe, sailing a ship on a perilous voyage across a flooded land in pursuit of a new home. Just as with the first game, the established journey lays the groundwork for a side-scrolling puzzle-exploration game in which players must navigate their way through a series of obstacles to a final destination.
Despite switching up the journey from primarily land-based to sea-based, Changing Tides isn’t all that dissimilar from the original gameplay-wise. Most of your time will again be spent performing maintenance rituals to keep your vessel chugging along, such as stocking the boiler with fuel, welding broken ship parts, and occasionally solving exterior puzzles.
That’s not to downplay the setting shift; sailing a ship amid choppy, treacherous waters and even diving underwater makes for a distinct experience compared to the original. Controlling and maintaining the ship’s mast for maximum speed is especially enjoyable, and generous sequences are devoted to nothing more than merely sailing along to the game’s gorgeous musical score free of impediments.
Being able to use the wind as a propellent also cuts down on the “hard stops” that made parts of the first game feel a little ennui-inducing, where you were forced to check the surrounding area for fuel to keep the ship moving.
Additionally the new ability to swim and explore the immense ocean depths as Toe, whether to plunder resources or simply soak in the world, is quite thrilling. Sensibly there’s no restriction on oxygen outside the ship as you’re fitted with a breather that lets you swim around to your heart’s content. The new aquatic environments prove to be an inspired, more potential-rich pivot for the sequel, and one the game largely delivers upon, even with the relative lack of underwater life to gaze upon.
The water-based setting is just one of several ways that Changing Tides is a more expansive sequel, though embargo prevents us from going into too much detail. We’ll say simply that traversal is changed-up several times throughout the game in rather triumphant fashion.
A facet of the game likely to be somewhat divisive, as was true of its predecessor, however, is that Changing Tides isn’t much concerned with difficulty at all. There’s once again zero combat or enemies to speak of throughout, resulting in an unapologetically low-stress experience. All in all, it proves quite the welcome riposte to the glut of anxiety-inducing action games releasing on a weekly basis.
Though there are puzzles intended to temporarily impede your progress, not a single one is likely to stump you for more than a few minutes, especially with almost every interactive object being so helpfully colour-coded. This isn’t a game that seeks to challenge across its 4-5 hours, and so some might find it “boring,” but it is absolutely successful as a mood piece that begs the player to breathe in its rich atmosphere and satisfyingly upgrade your rag-tag ship as you go.
Aesthetically, the sequel revels in its artful minimalism just as its predecessor did, encouraging the player to stop, hold the zoom-out button, and in this case take a big whiff of the salty sea air. The backdrops feel far more vibrant and diverse this time around; you’ll see cliff edges crumble in the periphery, and disparate wildlife scatter as your vessel passes by.
The gorgeously subdued art direction is accentuated by both superbly tactile sound design and a wonderfully dynamic score. The sound of the wind whipping around your ears and the waves crashing will give your sound system of choice a good workout, as will another ethereal score from returning composer Joel Schoch, which dynamically adjusts to how your own adventure plays out.
There are however some minor quibbles to be made aware of; the original wasn’t free of some occasional jank, nor is this one. Jumping to catch ladders feels looser and less-precise than it probably should, while grabbing an item in close vicinity to another can cause a little confusion, and I occasionally found myself clipping through objects in the environment. Again, though, these are mild issues mitigated by the general aesthetic polish and fair mechanical simplicity.
Some may find that Changing Tides’ minimalism and general lack of difficulty renders it threadbare to a fault; there will be those who wish there was more meat on the game’s bones both narratively and gameplay-wise, and that the lack of palpable threat makes the journey feel less-treacherous than it probably should. But that isn’t the experience Okomotive wanted to create, evidently.
Traipsing around the ship can occasionally feel a bit like busy-work, sure, and this sequel is unlikely to win over many who disliked the original, but if you vibed with what Lone Sails had to offer, it’s incredibly difficult to imagine you not getting a real kick out of this confident, frequently beautiful sequel. Hopefully we’ll be lucky enough to see a trilogy-capping third entry within the next few years.
FAR: Changing Tides modestly scales-up the original’s minimalist adventure game mechanics for another brief, relaxing jaunt that serves as a welcome antidote to the noise of AAA blockbuster excess.
Pros:
+ Relaxing, low-stress gameplay.
+ Gorgeously minimalist aesthetic.
+ Terrific sound design and musical score.
+ Great pacing and short length.
+ Should please fans of the original.
Cons:
– Its sedate style won’t work for everyone.
– Minor gameplay jank.
– Some occasionally laborious moments.
Rating: 7.5/10
Reviewed on PS5 (also available for PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch, and PC).
A review code was provided by the publisher.
Shaun Munro – Follow me on Twitter for more video game rambling, or e-mail me here.
