Originally launched a yr in the past as a Netflix-exclusive sport, Highwater by Demagog Studio and Rogue Games has lastly been ported to all of the consoles together with the PC. Touted as a narrative-driven journey with turn-based fight with a puzzle-solving twist, the sport has been considerably of a hidden gem for individuals who had been lucky sufficient to have a cell machine suitable with the app and have a present Netflix subscription. With the current port of the sport, plenty of avid gamers will now get the possibility to expertise this title.
The story of Highwater is a bit like that 90s film the place the post-apocalyptic world has been flooded. Little of the land stays, which implies nearly all important sources for residing are scarce. It additionally implies that society has, in fact, break up into the Haves and Have-Nots. It has gotten so dangerous that the Haves are planning on leaving the planet through a rocket ship to start out anew to a unique one.
Highwater follows Nikos, a Have-Not planning to sneak into this rocket ship. Such a plan doesn’t come straightforward although; lots of the Haves safety personnel in addition to rogue Have-Nots stand in his approach. Nikos may also befriend others who’ve the identical plan and can comply with him all through this journey.
Exploration in Highwater is through a small boat all through the flooded world. While at first it might look like exploration looks like it’s an open world, it’s not. The sport offers an phantasm by giving an in-game map to entry in addition to different journey factors apart from the principle goal to make it really feel like it’s a greater sport than it’s. However, that phantasm is shortly dispelled after only a half hour within the sport; it’s a very linear sport.
As a facet word, Highwater does implement an in-game radio that performs when you discover around the globe. The songs actually seize the sensation of despair, hope, anger, ecstasy—all of the assumed emotions of these residing within the post-apocalyptic water world. Interestingly, these songs had been carried out by the solid of characters that Nikos meets all through his journey.
While Nikos and his mates hatch his evacuation plan, he engages in fight with those that get of their approach. These are tactical turn-based fight once more with some phantasm. Nikos and his mates as Have-Nots will all the time have the decrease hand coming into each fight; which means that they’ll’t simply go wild in defeating each enemy to win. In reality, using that technique will nearly all the time imply failure. What the sport does present is environmental hazards (e.g., a column or tree limb to push into enemies or deep abysses to tug enemies with a fishing rod) that should be taken benefit of. In a way, the phantasm in fight is that they’re actually puzzle video games quite than tactical fight.
What actually must be said right here is that Highwater is a cell sport ported to consoles. Thus, the expectation that it’s a massive and complicated sport must be dismissed. The sport could be accomplished in lower than 4 hours and doesn’t actually provide a lot in replayability. However, the narrative may be very compelling and thought-provoking because it someway nearly mirrors what society is going through these days.
This overview is predicated on a retail copy of the sport supplied by the writer.
