An journey that shines in some locations however comes up brief in others.
The Closing Grade
1-Up Mushroom for…
Visible components and world constructing are effectively executed; Nice soundtrack; Fight is enjoyable and difficult, particularly the environmental kills
Poison Mushroom for…
Jarring transitions between battles, scenes, and many others.; Story pacing will get misplaced as the sport progresses; Minimalistic UI can result in confusion
Developed by Demagog Studio, Highwater is a story-driven journey recreation set in a flooded post-apocalyptic world that options isometric turn-based fight. You comply with the story of teenage survivor Nikos, who desires to flee from the flooded world to Mars by stowing away on a rocket set to launch with solely the wealthy and elite as passengers. As you traverse the flooded wasteland through motorboat, you’ll scavenge helpful gadgets, uncover the lore of the sport’s world by way of collectibles and listening to radio broadcasts, and make pals or foes of different survivors.
The world-building of Highwater is well-executed in that the sport doesn’t give all the main points to the participant instantly, leaving room for exploration of the sport’s world. The sport begins with exposition explaining {that a} main ecological disaster has induced the world to flood and in addition speaks of the conflicts between the factions that exist in it. The three major factions of the sport are the Alphavillians— the rich and technologically superior elite of Alphaville who’re planning to ship a rocket to Mars, the Insurgents— violent and armed pirates who haven’t any qualms murdering to get what they need, and the residents of Highwater— individuals simply making an attempt to outlive. There are different smaller factions, like a cult that worships trains that you just encounter whereas taking part in the sport, however don’t play a serious position within the story.
Regardless of a robust begin, the sport does lose some pacing with its storyline. Whereas taking part in the sport you’ll encounter a number of characters with distinctive talents that be a part of Nikos on his journey all through the flooded wasteland, nevertheless it’s unclear when stated characters will go away your celebration because the story progresses. There are segments of the sport the place I used to be confused about the place sure celebration members went after which they’d present up later in one other battle with not a lot fanfare. The sport additionally has jarring transitions between scenes, comparable to leaping to a dialog in a special location shortly after a battle or leaping to a different set of characters with out letting me know I used to be controlling them (as Nikos wasn’t with them).
The gameplay of Highwater consists primarily of touring by boat to cease at points-of-interest and turn-based fight. The boat controls weren’t disclosed once I first began the sport (you management Nikos’ boat acceleration utilizing the left and proper triggers, the left thumbstick for steering, and the precise thumbstick for digital camera controls) and I didn’t discover the HUD within the bottom-right nook instantly on account of its minimalist design. It’s a white ring with a hardly noticeable dot for the following closest goal, leaving me misplaced as to the place to go subsequent. If you cease at points-of-interest, you turn to an isometric view the place you’ll be able to discuss with NPCs and work together with glowing objects to seek out gadgets and collectibles. The gadgets you will discover are normally key gadgets for the story, consumable buffs for fight, and weapons to your characters.
The fight system is the place the gameplay shines the very best although, because the turn-based fight features akin to that of video games like Hearth Emblem and XCOM. You should utilize the surroundings as cowl, weapons, or obstacles to your benefit towards your enemies— I significantly discovered utilizing Niko’s fishing rod to yank enemies into water or drops to be essentially the most satisfying to drag off. At first I believed if a personality I managed died, they’d be gone on the finish of the battle, however I used to be shocked to study that it didn’t matter if all however one character was left alive, as all of Nikos’ celebration can be tremendous so long as the battle was received. It’s additionally price noting that each battle sees all characters begin with full well being. Studying this did change how I noticed every battle, making the stakes rather less thrilling as I had anticipated to get a recreation over particularly when Nikos was killed. Regardless of that revelation, the problem of Highwater‘s fight is thrilling nonetheless.
The sport does have a stunning low-poly artwork fashion that lends itself effectively to the sport’s theme of a flooded world. The solar’s reflection on the horizon and the intense colours of the greenery creates a soothing ambiance within the in any other case bleak setting of the tops of metropolis buildings jutting out from beneath the water’s floor. The characters are visually distinct from each other towards the prominently inexperienced and grey environmental palette and the soundtrack additionally enhances the sport’s artwork fashion with various music that adapts to the scenario, whether or not or not it’s fight, journey, or cutscenes.
From my general expertise taking part in Highwater, it’s a recreation with good visuals, music, and world-building, however suffers from jarring transitions and tough story pacing as the sport progresses. Probably the most enjoyable available in Highwater must be the problem and creativity of its fight mechanics— interacting with the surroundings can result in satisfying and typically hilarious methods to defeat enemies.
Nintendojo was supplied a replica of this recreation for assessment by a 3rd celebration, although that doesn’t have an effect on our suggestion. For each assessment, Nintendojo makes use of a customary standards.