finally we can all agree that giraffes were always real and the true holographic creatures are the scheming politicians hidden behind their illegally-logged wooden tables full of memorabilia of times long past where authorities and monarchies "made the world better" according to their crooked ideals and words.
'the sea will claim everything' is not even trying to hide the politics in its narrative, it is overtly leftist and revolutionaire. it is not trying to say that the only way forward is a specific leftist revolution, but it is saying that for us to get through the constant degradation of society and the world, we all need to unite and trust each other through kindness and collaboration. the final message is not one of certainty of victory against the system, but one of revolution against it, and hope that if we get through it, we can make a better world.
as for the game, it has very cute aesthetics and quirky and clever writing, the characters are more than just quest-givers and have fun personas, the gameplay is typical of a point & click so there's not much to add, i just wish it had more puzzles related to the UI and more interesting ways to complete quests instead of just finding ingredients, brewing potions and handing it over.
if you played disco elysium, this game will certainly be right up your alley. and remember, we are the sea. ✊
'the sea will claim everything' is not even trying to hide the politics in its narrative, it is overtly leftist and revolutionaire. it is not trying to say that the only way forward is a specific leftist revolution, but it is saying that for us to get through the constant degradation of society and the world, we all need to unite and trust each other through kindness and collaboration. the final message is not one of certainty of victory against the system, but one of revolution against it, and hope that if we get through it, we can make a better world.
as for the game, it has very cute aesthetics and quirky and clever writing, the characters are more than just quest-givers and have fun personas, the gameplay is typical of a point & click so there's not much to add, i just wish it had more puzzles related to the UI and more interesting ways to complete quests instead of just finding ingredients, brewing potions and handing it over.
if you played disco elysium, this game will certainly be right up your alley. and remember, we are the sea. ✊
capitalism sucks
Oh gosh, this one really hit me.
Sort of a soft-isekai type story where you (yes, you, the player) are invited into a magical world by a wizard to help him fix his sentient house, but it quickly becomes apparent that your stay in this world will involve quite a bit of legwork, fetch quests, and inventory object puzzles. Standard adventure game stuff but on the way... I don't know, I just fell in love with this world.
The Fortunate Isles were such a beautiful setting full of a diverse array of colorful characters, and it was such a treat to explore it all. It helps that detail is poured into every corner of the screen- there's so much to click on with volumes of text as a reward, and I wasted so much time just clicking on every single flower and mushroom in the game just to get their little stories.
In addition, all of the characters have a lot to say and will even be updated with new dialogue as the story progresses so you have a reason to keep coming back to them even after their quests have been fulfilled, which made me feel connected with even the humblest of NPCs. Many of the stories that they tell are quite touching.
But as you get to know the Isles it quickly becomes very obvious what their real problem is, and the game gets rather "political" in a cool way. There's no ambiguity to what the creators are trying to say here about the importance of community and collective action but... well, number one I agree with them, but number two, I think that they should be commended for how well their themes arise organically from the storyline. You aren't explicitly handed an "overthrow the capitalist oligarchy" quest, but as you follow the threads of what you need and see how everything connects together it just kind of makes sense.
Even when the characters were almost literally preaching to me about politics, philosophy, economics, revolution, even gender identity, it didn't /feel/ like they were preaching because it just felt like the people I had gotten to know were offering their takes on "current events" and sharing a bit of wisdom with me. Genuinely left this game feeling inspired and a bit more enlightened!
The brilliant thing about it is that, despite the epic quest you go on to uncover ancient secrets and overthrow tyrannical governments, ultimately it's all in service of fixing that house, which feels just as important as the other stuff. You can't fix the Underhome without saving the Isles because the problems with the Isles ARE the problem with the Underhome, just like all of the people of the isles are one with each other, just like the sea connects them. Just like it connects us :)
(The only negative thing that I have to say is that the songs on the soundtrack, while pretty, are very short, and since I spent a lot of time sitting in the same locations reading text I heard them loop a LOT and it got kind of annoying. It was easy to mute them via a clever little interface, but still.)
Sort of a soft-isekai type story where you (yes, you, the player) are invited into a magical world by a wizard to help him fix his sentient house, but it quickly becomes apparent that your stay in this world will involve quite a bit of legwork, fetch quests, and inventory object puzzles. Standard adventure game stuff but on the way... I don't know, I just fell in love with this world.
The Fortunate Isles were such a beautiful setting full of a diverse array of colorful characters, and it was such a treat to explore it all. It helps that detail is poured into every corner of the screen- there's so much to click on with volumes of text as a reward, and I wasted so much time just clicking on every single flower and mushroom in the game just to get their little stories.
In addition, all of the characters have a lot to say and will even be updated with new dialogue as the story progresses so you have a reason to keep coming back to them even after their quests have been fulfilled, which made me feel connected with even the humblest of NPCs. Many of the stories that they tell are quite touching.
But as you get to know the Isles it quickly becomes very obvious what their real problem is, and the game gets rather "political" in a cool way. There's no ambiguity to what the creators are trying to say here about the importance of community and collective action but... well, number one I agree with them, but number two, I think that they should be commended for how well their themes arise organically from the storyline. You aren't explicitly handed an "overthrow the capitalist oligarchy" quest, but as you follow the threads of what you need and see how everything connects together it just kind of makes sense.
Even when the characters were almost literally preaching to me about politics, philosophy, economics, revolution, even gender identity, it didn't /feel/ like they were preaching because it just felt like the people I had gotten to know were offering their takes on "current events" and sharing a bit of wisdom with me. Genuinely left this game feeling inspired and a bit more enlightened!
The brilliant thing about it is that, despite the epic quest you go on to uncover ancient secrets and overthrow tyrannical governments, ultimately it's all in service of fixing that house, which feels just as important as the other stuff. You can't fix the Underhome without saving the Isles because the problems with the Isles ARE the problem with the Underhome, just like all of the people of the isles are one with each other, just like the sea connects them. Just like it connects us :)
(The only negative thing that I have to say is that the songs on the soundtrack, while pretty, are very short, and since I spent a lot of time sitting in the same locations reading text I heard them loop a LOT and it got kind of annoying. It was easy to mute them via a clever little interface, but still.)
One of the most interesting games I've ever played.
With a distinctly weird art style and thousands of text boxes, the pace of this game can feel weird and dreamlike at times. The meat of the game is speaking to characters and it can range from weird and frustrating to extremally interesting (namely the tree philosopher).
The biggest criticism I have is that the political ideology of the game is extremally on the nose and be off putting for those perhaps in opposition to a more liberal point of view. However, if given the chance the game can charm you like it did me into sticking it out to the end with an ultimately satisfying experience.
Very much recommended.
With a distinctly weird art style and thousands of text boxes, the pace of this game can feel weird and dreamlike at times. The meat of the game is speaking to characters and it can range from weird and frustrating to extremally interesting (namely the tree philosopher).
The biggest criticism I have is that the political ideology of the game is extremally on the nose and be off putting for those perhaps in opposition to a more liberal point of view. However, if given the chance the game can charm you like it did me into sticking it out to the end with an ultimately satisfying experience.
Very much recommended.