In Other Waters

released on Apr 03, 2020

"In a future where humanity's ceaseless consumption has expanded out to encompass the stars, and Earth's last biological life clings to a poisoned planet, In Other Waters tells the story of Ellery Vas, a biologist who stumbles upon extraterrestrial life. When a routine exoplanet study goes wrong, and her partner Minae Nomura disappears into an alien ocean, Ellery is left with little more than an antiquated diving suit and a strange AI to guide her. Together they will trace Nomura, and in turn, discover impossible life, journey this alien ocean and dredge up secrets that were meant to be lost forever, beneath these turquoise waves."


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Shelved for now. A neat game, with really calm vibes. I think the idea of the player being the AI that controls the characters suit and is being directly spoken to is a cool thing, that I've seen in a few of the games I've played lately. Breaking the fourth wall but intentionally? Active third person? I'm not sure what the phrasing would be for that but I think that's cool. I'm putting it down for now since I think I want to save it as a "chip away slowly" game, and right now I'm looking for something a bit different.

THIS RULES!!!

very minimalist, very chill, despite deep ocean games usually being hoenstly terrifying to me

i suppose the abstract detached nature of the interface helped there, as opposed to staring with your (virtual) eyes deep into the abyss, like, say, submerged (another great game, but i mean yeah it's scary the deep ocean is scary, alien or not!)

cataloging the life discovered while trying to uncover the truth of what happened was so extremely... nice to do

mmm i'm happy

Uniquess level of this game is sky-rocketing. Or should I say utterly below sea level? This game lets you dive into an underwater world to explore extraterrestrial life, but accidentally encounter a lonesome AI. Even with it's simple and relaxed single-screen gameplay, it succeeds in telling a tempting and mysterious story, that motivates you, to hold your breath just a little longer.

A perfect example of a game that knows exactly what it does - and does not - need to have. There are so many games I've played that are bloated with half-baked gestures towards mechanics, purely for the sake of satisfying convention, and I couldn't count the amount of totally extraneous jump buttons I've encountered. It's really refreshing to play something that's pared back to the strengths of its premise, and the creative behind it. Those presumably self-imposed limitations - the visuals being limited to a UI and a topographical map, the comparatively tiny text boxes, the distance between the player and their actions in the world - really help slow things down, and make room for the space to be filled with that most precious of experiences in video games: contemplation.

The story unfolds steadily, and somewhat predictably. There's a degree to which it's stifled by the monologue format, and the degree to which the player has any input of expression drops off severely later in the game. It's a style of writing that grabs my attention much more in the short bursts of description and commentary you get while exploring the ocean than in the grand gestures or academic notes. 'Stuff' 'happens', but it's nothing terribly special, and doesn't need to be. More could have been done, even with the mentioned creative limitations, but what's here is easily enough to be enjoyed.

Like with many other brief, distinct titles, I really don't have any good reason not to recommend it. There's several reasons to bounce off it, sure, but it sets out to do something unique and intriguing, and it does it well.

Really neat interface and fun narrative. Would like to come back and finish this.