The newest installment within the Demagog Studio post-apocalyptic prolonged universe, Highwater is a hauntingly stunning and provocative sport that expands on the ravaged world launched in Golf Membership Wasteland and The Cub. This sport takes place within the ultimate moments earlier than (a few of) humanity managed to flee their ruined homeland to Mars.
A extra story-driven sport than the others within the sequence, Highwater follows Nikos and his ragtag group of pals as they try and discover a approach onboard the rocket headed for Mars. Nikos lives on his rubber dinghy, crusing between the few remaining scraps of land in a world decimated by floods. The gameplay is cut up into navigating across the drowned map and turn-based fight between you and people who stand in the way in which of the assets your group must survive.
The worldbuilding in Highwater echoes the opposite video games within the sequence. You piece collectively the complete story of how the world turned so devastated via off-hand feedback made by radio presenters enjoying via the story, in addition to newspapers and books you discover scattered world wide. By the narrative, you give attention to Nikos and the individuals he encounters.
You meet all kinds of people who’ve all reacted to the apocalypse otherwise. The elites of Alphaville have given up on the mess fabricated from planet Earth. Insurgents are livid that the Alphavillians would abandon the planet and so many individuals left stranded, and incite battles for vengeance. Small teams and even lone people exist in their very own little worlds, with their very own distinctive strategy to surviving.
There is a gigantic group of healthful, hopeful individuals round Nikos. They help one another by sharing info and assets. Regardless of the final understanding that the planet is doomed, they resiliently get on with their everyday lives, elevating a brand new technology to adapt.
You spend a short period of time with every particular person, getting sufficient of a glimpse into their life-style to grasp their response to the world. They’re all extremely attention-grabbing and believably written, with distinct, memorable personalities. The brief stretches with new individuals really feel such as you’re solely scratching the floor of the true depth of the Highwater sport world. It’s simple to be left eager to discover extra of the totally different paths individuals have taken—to query which avenue you may take beneath comparable circumstances.
The fight is turn-based and requires you to creatively make the most of the talents of the totally different characters journeying with you on the time of any given battle. It’s also possible to make use of assorted options of the surroundings that add an additional aspect to your technique. It’s pretty simple to establish how one can generate a bonus for your self in most battles, however they nonetheless present a good quantity of problem.
Initially, the turn-based construction can really feel prefer it loses the urgency generated by the desperation of the narrative. Nevertheless, this fades fairly shortly. The several types of enemies you face, the number of environments wherein you end up, and the ever-shifting make-up of your group ends in a genuinely absorbing expertise.
Between cutscenes and fight, you sail across the map, listening to the completely beautiful radio soundtrack, chatting to whoever is touring with you, and watching Nikos replicate on his scenario. Highwater is an extremely introspective and provocative sport. It questions the morality of selections you’re pressured to make if you find yourself determined. It instantly challenges the selections individuals with energy and affect in the actual world make on daily basis, and prophesies a terrifying future.
Highwater ends ambiguously. As you make your approach in the direction of your ultimate objective, there’s a looming sense of dread about whether or not it can actually present Nikos with the “fortunately ever after” he goals of. He has left his pals behind in his bid for security. Whispers within the background solid doubts on the guarantees made by the highly effective. The story concludes nonetheless dripping with uncertainty.
The sport, and the parallels it attracts with actuality, are laborious to cease eager about.
