Recent reviews by fuwjax

In Other Waters is FTL the walking simulator. I mean this in the kindest way possible. The main gameplay loop sees you traversing a graph overlay on a topological map reading tweet-length descriptions of geologic features. What's fascinating is that even subject to the severity of these constraints this game manages to ooze theme, tell a compelling story, and offer just enough collectibles to make exploring engaging without overstaying its welcome.

This is a good game, memorable in the right ways for the right reasons. It might not be replayable, but it is enjoyable, and worth the price of admission.

Full Disclosure - I paid for my Early Access copy, but I did get to play test the game for free before the EA release. The 20 hours I've put in to the EA release as of this review are a single play-through on hard difficulty, I have 2 researches awaiting the right materials to unlock, and otherwise have unlocked all the studies. There is quite a bit more to do in the game past the "congrats, you finished the demo" screen. I'll probably put in another hour or two just to play with the paint system before I put this run on hold. The point of all this is to say there is a game here today, not just the promise of one tomorrow.

This game is gorgeous. That in itself is not special, but I can't think of any other game where I get to build a glass bottomed sky boat and just float aimlessly above the swirl of a post-apocalyptic earth covered in hundreds of meters of "dust." It's a unique setting vibrantly realized. The structures are sparse, decayed, and crumbling, many overgrown with plants reaching out from below the dust canopy. Mechanically it's all just islands in an ocean like we've seen from a dozen other games, but visually, it's fresh and exciting.

Your blimp is one of the best bases I've encountered in a survival game. It's self-contained, with few constraints imposed by the outside world. You can build and furnish to your heart's content, with the ability to craft more weight capacity, lift, and velocity. I tend to only build functional stuff, but there are plenty of cosmetic options for shelves, tables, chairs, and the like. The build system can be a bit frustrating at times, the snap feature doesn't seem to work for everything, but it's pretty easy to get close if not perfect to the layout you want.

Without going too spoilery, there's nothing currently that really qualifies as conflict. Most of the threats to your survival are running out of air/food/water/stamina, contracting a virus and not prioritizing treatment, and falling from a great height. You do get weapons, but you will most often use those against plants which for the most part are happily minding their own business. This is supposed to change soon, but for now, that makes the game extremely chill. The only meaningful difference between the difficulty levels seems to be how fast your food and water meters drop, and how many resources you lose when you die. So you're free to learn the systems, see the sights, and explore without the need to work on your hand-eye coordination - at least, for now.

I want to say more about the value of the game, but the only thing I feel like I can say without spoiling things is that none of what I've mentioned so far are what I consider the best parts of the game. The Far From Home folks will take you places, make you emotionally engage with those places, and leave you wondering where they'll take you next. I'm excited to be along for the ride.

That said, I paid for the game day one. I had put in 40+ hours play testing, and I wanted to play more. I don't know any of the developers personally. I wouldn't say we are on good terms, to be honest. They kept taking away my toys when I was enjoying them most. Now that the game is released, I get to play and there's nothing they can do about it. Well, except make more, that would be a very nice thing to do. I will forgive them for taking away my toys all the time if they pay me back with lots more toys.

For the moment, I'm very happy to fly around in my toybox shooting tumbleweeds, and hopping from ruin to ruin looking for paint jobs and furniture plans I have no intention of using.

Haiku Review:

The name says it all
Yes, you have to win the game
You will also swear

Haiku Review:

Round and round it goes
It stops before it begins
Slow and steady bore

Haiku Review:

Bright colors and sounds
Minimal in every way
Note: buy low, play high