In Other Waters Review by awesomeallgamesreview

In Other Waters Review by awesomeallgamesreview

Beyond the reef, the shelf drops away into the turquoise haze of the open ocean. I find myself surrounded by golden-peaked pillars aglow with the shimmering petals of sunlit life. Bright green webs of twisted tendrils extend from pillar to pillar, forming a writhing network of bridges for the feathery, fern-like creatures who patrol and maintain them. it is a spectacular, awe-inspiring scene. Yet it exists mostly in my imagination, its wonder shaped by a couple of single-sentence descriptions and an easy two-colour relief map . In Other Waters does such a lot with seemingly so little, emerging as a masterclass in prudent, minimalist storytelling.

Dr. Ellery Vas may be a xenobiologist following within the wake of her partner who disappeared while researching extraterrestrial life on the ocean planet Gliese 667Cc. Stationed at her partner's abandoned lab and equipped with an AI-controlled diving dress , Vas explores the depths in search of answers. during a disarming inversion of the standard human-AI relationship, you play the AI; Vas sets the objectives, often conferring with you, but it is your job to plot her course, gather samples, and run tests back within the lab.
The setup allows Vas room to breathe as a personality . As you guide her maritime expedition, she provides intermittent narration. She pauses to marvel at new sights, thinks aloud as she works through possible theories, and infrequently confides in you her doubts and fears. Conversation could also be sparse, and your ability to reply is restricted to the odd yes or no answer, yet it's perhaps all the more affecting due to it. the 2 of you're strangers at the outset, but Vas' wariness at revealing her innermost thoughts to an AI gradually washes away as she realises, despite your reticence, that you simply understand her predicament--in the method unearthing a memorably multi-layered character. it is a friendship forged in aquatic isolation, one quiet line at a time.

Similarly, there's an elegance to the general design therein it communicates an excellent deal of data in only a few words. The view of your travels is confined to a bathymetric chart where hydrographic features are drawn in clean lines and navigational points of interest are clearly marked whenever you activate the local scanner. Vas is an assiduous note-taker, and her short written descriptions of every location bring these points to life in remarkably vivid fashion. The textual imagery combines effectively with the subtle palette changes of the map--the warm greens of the shallows segue into the rich blues and yellows of the deeper waters before giving thanks to the blacks and reds of the darkest depths. Add within the obscure, ambient hum of the ocean and therefore the gentle thrum of the diving suit's propulsion engine as you push off to a replacement destination, and In Other Waters delivers a richly immersive audio-visual experience that belies its spartan aesthetic. It's quite achievement.

The minimalist construction extends to your interactions with the planet . Scanning reveals the closest nodes you'll visit via the point-to-point movement system. It also uncovers any lifeforms that you simply can click on to possess Vas study. Each unique encounter with a selected lifeform adds to her observations until she's ready to properly identify and catalogue it. There also are special samples to gather , often hidden in out-of-the-way corners of the map, that contribute to the deep taxonomy of this alien ecosystem and reward the time it takes to trace all of them down.

All of this is often accomplished via an interface that just begs to be played with. Intriguingly unlabelled buttons, dials, switches, scopes, and sliders don't such a lot fill the screen as grace it, teasing enigmatic functions with perfect stylish form. Inconspicuous tutorial tips illuminate the dashboard when it's appropriate to utilise each component, but there's plenty left for you to decipher. even as Vas confronts the unknown in her journey and has got to speculate and experiment, testing out her hypotheses, you too are handed a highly tactile, symbolic interface and left to probe it until you ultimately intuit how it all operates. In many instances, the mysteries coincide; Vas' look for understanding of the lifeforms she's encountering mirrors your own rumination on the simplest means to proceed. Indeed, all throughout, the themes and mechanics of exploration and methodology align and intertwine.
Although principally a narrative-driven game, there's a light-weight undercurrent of resource management flowing through each outing from the bottom . Sampling and researching marine life allows you to extract the facility and oxygen you will need to take care of Vas' diving dress on longer treks. Certain environmental hazards deplete these resources at a greater rate, though, while you will need a supply of specific samples to progress through otherwise inaccessible regions, both scenarios serving to softly nudge you to a minimum of consider the limited inventory space as you steel oneself against each expedition. albeit failure here isn't punishing--Vas are going to be extracted via drone back to base if you let her run out of oxygen--having to watch your use of resources builds tension and benefits the sensation of trepidation as you set a course into uncharted waters.

In Other Waters develops its central mysteries in expert fashion, drip-feeding its revelations during a way that feels natural, and dispatching you to examine the corners of its map during a way that does not feel contrived. As you steadily learn more of what Vas' partner was up to on this strange planet, and you yourself begin to understand humanity's plight, the mystery builds to a confident conclusion--one that satisfies yet remains aware that some questions are more enticing when left unanswered. during this sense, its story echoes the restraint that runs through the whole game to deliver a trendy , assured, and utterly absorbing adventure that demonstrates again and again it knows the way to do tons with seemingly little or no .