I’ll be the first to admit that I loathe the idea of ‘butterfly effect’ choices matter games. Games that rely almost purely on narrative beats and cinematography over actual interactivity and gameplay. However, there are just enough out there that stand out from the crowd that, even with this disdain for the model, I can’t help but peek at the next promising title aiming to be different.
Tides of Tomorrow is that game this time around, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued by it’s outlandish format. A multiplayer choices matter game where the actions of your predecessors change the world for you. On paper, a truly amazing idea.
However, it’s all about the hands-on experience and the final product, as many of the best ideas in gaming have ended up being rather lukewarm affairs. But, armed with a bottle of Ozen and a can do attitude, we set off to discover whether Tides of Tomorrow was a swashbuckling adventure, or a complete washout.
For Those Who Come After
Ultimately, the success of this game almost completely rests on the quality of the aforementioned multiplayer ‘actions have consequences’ model. Which, we are happy to report, is easily the most compelling aspect of this game. Playing as a Tidewalker, you follow in the footsteps of a fellow Tidewalker who set out on the same adventure as you.
But, as you might imagine, following in the wake of someone on such an intense adventure full of twists and turns will result in these areas you visit reacting very differently to you. With some treating you with disdain if your colleague robbed them blind. Or some even denying you entry to certain areas, forcing you to take a completely new path.
However, you aren’t completely at the mercy of your predecessors, because you also have the power to see visions. Which are flashbacks showing you what your partner did, allowing you to act accordingly. This can sometimes end up working out much better for you, especially if you can blame them, or use their mistakes to course correct.
It’s a finely balanced system that allows for experimenting and clever planning in equal measure. While also offering emergent experiences that make a second playrhrough almost essential.
But it’s not just the big decisions that are effected here. This system changes minor details, from the music that plays in certain areas, right down to the availability of stock with local merchants.
Following a complete menace of a character, I was constantly cleaning up messes for my partner, who left chaos in their wake. But this allowed me to fully embrace the co-operative aspect of this title, and that’s really where it shines.
The core message of leaving the world better than you found it persists not only in the core narrative but in the gameplay. Players can sacrifice their very limited resources to help others that come after. They can donate to merchants so others have a chance to get stock, and they can fix pathways to make sure others aren’t hindered by their actions.
It’s these frequent and rewarding little decisions that make for a greater whole that serve as the beating heart of Tides of Tomorrow. I will be the first to say that I was sceptical that this format could be pulled off successfully. But credit where it’s due, it’s a blast and when all was said and done, I was more than ready to hop into the action for another lap around.
Turning The Tide
That’s the framework that holds the story together, but you may be wondering what to expect from the core narrative. My suggestion would be to not expect the world from this story, and you’ll have a much better time making your own fun through decisions and multiplayer chaos.
You see, the story is pretty lukewarm in all honesty. Not bad by any means, but certainly not anything that would be worth playing without the unique system that underpins everything.
This story sees you, a Tidewalker, set off into the world to gather Ozen to survive. A form of medicine that cures a disease caused by the abundance of micro plastics in the world. But, before long, you end up enbroiled in a resource war, where you’ll need to find out the source of this miracle drug, and hopefully, find a way to save humanity before population dwindles.
It’s a fine setup, and a good message fitting of the world you end up exploring. But, the issue is that nothing ever feels all that emotionally gripping. The core characters you meet and eventually choose to side with are all pretty shallow, the world itself is bright and colourful, but without rich lore or detail that would allow us to call this setting fully realised.
The way I see it, all of these butterfly effect games have pivotal moments. Gut punches, shock twists, or marquee set-pieces that live long in the memory. I would love to say that Tides of Tomorrow had that in common with its ilk, but sadly, it’s a story that allows the player to carve their own path, but it would seem never took the time to ensure that all of those paths were truly interesting to follow.
It’s a fun, inoffensive, and rather safe narrative that serves it’s purpose. But, the whole way through, I felt that the enjoyment was down to the choices I was making, not the set menu storyline set out before me.
Life In Plastic Isn’t So Fantastic
As mentioned, when you are making decisions, interacting with others via conversation, or hunting around the world for Ozen and Scraps, it’s a rather enjoyable experience that scratches the itch for adventurous types.
However, the gameplay systems that punctuate the moments in between are sadly, pretty wafer thin. Whether it’s encounters where you find yourself in fist fights, sneaking around guards, or in high seas boat battles with cannon-fire booming every second. Everything pretty much boils down to a glorified quick time event, or a mechanic that feels so under baked that even the most amateur of developers could have matched Tides of Tomorrow note for note.
The entire time, I tried to temper my expectations, as I was acutely aware that the game had a lot on it’s plate, and juggling all these systems and scenarios is a tough task. But equally, it’s a task that the developers took on willingly, and it feels like the gameplay of this title has suffered as a result.
No set piece feels elevated by the rigid and shallow gameplay, nor do the random events and races feel like anything more than a cheap, flimsy copy of something that exists in a more polished form elsewhere.
To keep with the theme of micro plastics, let me paint a picture. Everyone wants the coolest, shinest toy to play with when new releases come along. But, in the case of Tides of Tomorrow, it feels a little like a McDonalds happy meal toy. Novel. Fun for the fleetest of moments. But, ultimately, something that feels cheap and forgettable by the time you finish your meal.
Tides of Tomorrow is a bold 'choices matter' experiment that mostly pays off. The multiplayer setup that affects how your story will play out is excellently handled and intriguing, largely making up for the rather middling storyline. However, it is the thin gameplay throughout that stops Tides of Tomorrow from being a truly amazing experience.
The Good
- Important message delivered through the story
- Very Replay-worthy
- Impressive 'choices matter' setup
The Bad
- Shallow gameplay mechanics
- Awkward animations
- Forgettable core narrative without player choices
