Release Date: 01/03/2022
Played On: Win
Available On: NS / PS4 / PS5 / Win / XBO / XBSX
Time Played: 5h 32m
Progress: Completed
Developer: Okomotive
Publisher: Frontier Developments
It's not often that I get excited on release day for a game, but after playing the excellent FAR: Lone Sails back in 2018, the news of its sequel immediately filled me with anticipation. The first game was a beautifully explorative and ambient puzzle adventure that gripped me from start to finish, and even from early trailers I could tell that this second instalment would be more of the same.
Of course, "more of the same" can often be problematic for series where development and innovation are expected with every release, but thankfully this isn't always the case. There are a few games that happened to get everything right on their first outing, leaving little room for any improvements at all. When this happens, I tend to find myself wanting nothing more than… "more", of the original. If there happens to be some extra spice sprinkled in that doesn't upset the steady cart, then I'm a happy little gamer indeed.
Hence why I can happily report that FAR: Changing Tides takes everything that was great about the first game, and simply transposes it into a fresh setting within its world. It's funny how something as simple as going from barren desolate landscapes, to endlessly mysterious waters can open a game up to so many more possibilities. Other than the obvious increase in fluid content, the game does a fantastic job of bringing some new mechanics and systems into the mix, and exploring how they can change the overall dynamics of the experience.
After all, FAR: Lone Sails was an overwhelmingly solitary experience that was inescapable as you travelled through the empty world and decayed landscapes. By comparison, FAR: Changing Tides maintains that overall sense of solitude, but introduces more signs of life and activity, mostly thanks to the change of environment. The water itself, constantly flowing and shifting between calm flat surfaces, to high waves in a storm that angrily shift and undulate beneath you. It breathes life and action into the world that the invisible wind could not. Plus, it also appears to have provided more life than the sparsity of the first, as there are pockets of wildlife to be seen and found all along the way.
However, the heart of FAR: Changing Tides remains much the same, as we play a lone inhabitant of the world who discovers an impressive vessel that will carry us far. Initially all we have is the power of the wind to propel us through the open water, manipulating sails to keep ourselves moving towards an unseen location on the horizon. Along the way we'll run into obstacles and structures that either block our way, or hold new technologies to upgrade our vessel with various new functions.
I'm not going to spoil some of the more surprising and fun discoveries, but I will say that I was pleasantly thrilled with every new addition I found. The real fun of it all is that each new piece changes how the cobbled-together vessel functions, sometimes so significantly that it becomes an entirely different mode of transportation. This was true of the first game as well, which added new parts that would allow progression in different ways, but this time it felt as though the changes were more drastic, and there were more of them. I'd have to go and replay the first to be sure (and I just might someday), but it definitely felt like everything in this sequel was larger and had more of an impact on the overall gameplay.
That's not to say that FAR: Changing Tides is all that different to the first game, other than being larger and more complex. The path forward is still completely linear, with only a few larger areas here and there that reward exploration with discoveries and collectables. Although, exploration is kind of expected, as most of the fuel items you need to keep your engine running, are often sitting just slightly out of the main path, so it pays to look around. For most of the game though, you'll be manipulating the controls of your craft to keep it moving forward, and then solving puzzles to unlock barriers that stand in your way, and new parts that enhance your abilities to traverse the landscape. It's ultimately that simple, but it's never really that simple is it?
This time around, a few of the puzzles actually stopped me in my tracks as I attempted to figure out what I needed to do in order to progress. Admittedly there were a couple of solutions that requires an interaction that I hadn't done before, so I had no idea that the solution was even an option, but I still figured it out eventually. This is a highly intuitive game after all, and aside from some simple button prompts at the start of the game, there is nothing explicitly telling you anything at all. Instead, the world is full of indicators that hint at solutions without ever really pointing them out or holding your hand. In the beginning it becomes obvious that everything coloured with a bright blue tone, can be interacted with, but what's not always clear is what will happen when you actually touch all those bright blue things.
At times it meant that I spent a while looking around a location for interactive parts and seeing what they did, leaving the puzzle solving to devolve into a simple pixel hunt. However, once I had figured it out and could easily jump between systems and control them all with precision and purpose, I felt like a genius. Hence why I feel that if the game had held my hand more, I wouldn't have felt as smart when I found a solution, so it's probably a good thing that sometimes the answer is obfuscated to the point of frustration, while still remaining possible to solve. Turns out that having the lows before the highs really goes a long way to stimulating those dopamine centres in our brains.
To top off the entire experience of FAR: Changing Tides, I can't help but mention how satisfying the ending of the game was for me. Of course, no spoilers, but after working hard to keep my aquatic vessel moving and overcoming all the challenges the game threw at me, I really felt like it was all worth it when I hit that final moment. Additionally, some of my favourite parts of the game didn't come from a clever puzzle like I would have expected, but from a few individual sequences where the game is doing everything in its power to stop you from moving forward.
Imagine being at sea with your hand on the tiller as you gaze ahead into the clear blue sky, draped over the horizon of shimmering rippled water. Your sails are full of air so there's little for you to do, other than shift positions when the wind changes direction. It's a peaceful and lethargic journey that seems to be lolling you along until you'll eventually wake up at your destination. Everything is calm.
Fast forward to being stuck in the midst of a fierce storm that rages all around you. The wind is too erratic for your sails, and lightning hits them every time you raise the mast, forcing you into hiding within the hull where you fire up your engine to keep things moving. The waters are rough, and even from within the safety of the inside of your ship, you struggle to keep up with all of the many systems required to keep everything moving. It's like playing wack-a-mole, only instead of smacking fuzzy creatures with a rubber mallet, you're rushing around a cramp engine room, trying not to have everything explode.
In these moments, you'll be thankful that you took the time to stop and explore those out of the way areas, as the fear of running out of fuel and being stuck in the ocean is real. Plus, unlike in the first game, there is no option in FAR: Changing Tides to get out and pull, as everything must be driven by some form of power. Even this simple fact managed to raise the stakes to the next level for me, as I actually liked getting out and pulling my weird vehicle in the first game, but getting stuck in the ocean seems like much more of a dire situation. Thankfully the developers made the clever choice to allow you to swim indefinitely… I can't imagine how frustrating it would have been to have an oxygen system that forced you to surface.
In fact, it seems that the developers have made a number of clever decisions along the way with FAR: Changing Tides, as it felt like they were anticipating my every move as I played. Whenever I was starting to get a bit tired of a certain mechanic, they shifted the formation so I had to start using something else. Everything I caught myself day-dreaming about and wishing was included, I soon found and was able to incorporate it into the rest of the game. For an experience with such a straight forward and singular objective, it's a pleasure to discover all the little ways that the developers have kept things interesting and maintained the pace to keep everything moving.
It helps that I found the puzzles challenging enough to make me scratch my head, but not so obtuse that I had to resort to a guide or some other third party solution to progress. I was also thankful at the frequency of puzzles and obstacles, versus longer moments where you make a lot of progress and cover a lot of ground. I suppose everyone has a different idea about what they want out of a game and how much engagement is the right amount, but for what it's worth, this game nailed it on the head for me and I was happily intrigued the whole way through.
I mean, not only do I rarely pick up games on release day, but I also rarely play through games in a single sitting. The first game kept me glued to my seat, so it's no surprise that it's larger sequel did the exact same, and once I had started playing I didn't want it to stop. I may have taken a break or two for my own health, but there's no larger compliment I can give a game than to say that all I wanted to do was play it until it was finished. As someone who usually jumps around between lots of different games that I have on the go, when one holds my attention so well, I know I'm onto a good thing.
The easy assessment is to say that if you enjoyed FAR: Lone Sails, you'll no doubt have a good time with FAR: Changing Tides, as it's bigger and better in every way, while still remaining true to its world. However, even if you've never played the first game, this one is well worth firing up and trying out, as there aren't many other games out there right now that are doing the same thing with the same amount of polish and attention to detail. I simply can't wait to see what these developers come up with next.