FAR: Changing Tides

Satisfying sailing in a beautifully soggy apocalypse. I've never felt so connected to a vehicle in a game.

FAR: Changing Tides will give you time and space to think of what it means to go through a journey and question your ideas around home and belonging. After you finish it, you will not forget you have played this game. In a good way.

FAR: Changing Tides has no enemies, leveling, or missions. It's just a beautiful game. It has only you, nature and the ship, which will take almost all of your attention. Well, there are obstacles to overcome. It is ideal for those who like to relax while watching the beautiful views. And for those who spend hours in the garage trying to start their car.

FAR: Changing Tides has the player traverse through a submerged post-apocalyptic world, which is an experience that feels like a playable documentary. While definitely a fascinating journey to take, you won’t be able to fully appreciate it if you haven’t played its predecessor.

Wandering with the little hero and his unconventional craft in a flooded world full of obstacles is melancholic, but also therapeutic.

A beautiful new contemplative adventure from Okomotive with intuitive gameplay and gorgeous environments.

Far: Changing Tides may be familiar to those who played the original, but it's just as soothing and enjoyable a trip as ever.

It’s not a long game and the adventure arrives at the credits before you know it, but for what it has going, FAR: Changing Tides is a compelling and gorgeous puzzle full of satisfying mechanical engagement and incredible breakthrough moments as you sail ever forward.

FAR: Changing Tides is a narrative adventure with puzzle platforming elements, a good evolution or even just continuation of the first chapter, but it is not able to fully convince. The gaming experience, controller in hand, is certainly not challenging but, if you come to terms with the self-imposed structural limitations, you will find yourself appreciating the navigation and immersion phases.

Although it doesn't add much to the first game, it still manages to give the same pleasure.

FAR: Changing Tides is a phenomenal atmospheric game, as the visuals and sound design amalgamate wonderfully. However, you might be disappointed if you go into it expecting more.

Far: Changing Tides largely sticks to the same recipe as its predecessor, making its vessel more complex and sending players on a journey through a different world. Its description as a companion game is fitting – although you will get slightly more out of it if you play the series in order – and while I loved the original, the sequel didn’t grab me as much. There’s something great about helping the small protagonist make a big hunk of metalwork by diligently pressing buttons, loading items into the furnace, jumping on bellows, and lowering the mast so it doesn’t collide with incoming structures. But pacing problems, environmental storytelling that’s a little too vague, and an art style that sacrifices contrast for a richer yet muted color palette, ended up making me less invested in the world and Toe’s journey. I’m glad I saw it through; I just don’t feel the same mixture of awe and sorrow that was so prevalent in its predecessor.

A few dramatic sequences do land. [Issue#370, p.121]

FAR: Changing Tide is a nice journey through a flooded world on a ship that becomes one of the game's protagonists. The visuals are awesome, and the OST and sound design are in a league of their own. Just don't expect any challenge or much action in what is essentially a very calm experience.

FAR: Changing Tides has a unique visual aesthetic in a calming journey through the sea. It may be to the liking of a specific audience due to its monotony and lack of variety.

More meditative than contemplative, FAR: Changing Tides is an invitation to tranquility, so assertive that it sometimes becomes sluggish. Between the long crossings, moments of grace maintain the interest of the experience, translated by intuitive puzzles and sound design at its peak.

Far: Changing Tides lacks some of what made its predecessor truly special, but it’s still another lovely roadtrip to take.

The sequel to FAR: Lone Sails scours off the rust and polishes the rest to an acceptable shine. It’s a well-oiled machine that runs for twice as long, with a lot more adventure hiding under its hood to compensate for the series’ shortcomings.

Games like Inside set the bar very, very high for side-scrolling narrative art games and I’ll give credit to FAR for trying but, ultimately, there’s more art than substance here. You’ll have a good relaxing time playing it but don’t expect a tour de force. Expect a casual cruise, not an epic voyage.

Much of what is present in Changing Tides is plainly fantastic, but it is a shame that the game goes on for too long until it itself runs out of fuel and sputters across the finish line.

Far: Changing Tides might be too easy for an experienced gamer, and its sailing mechanics require too much attention and get tiringly repetitive, but this somewhat melancholic puzzle platformer undeniably has a unique atmosphere and charm to it. Overall, I enjoyed Far: Lone Sails (Okomotive’s previous game) more.

FAR: Changing Tides is a stunning atmospheric adventure that makes you feel the ups and downs of sailing through a world that has been destroyed by unknown reasons. It excels at making you feel a connection to your vessel as it develops into something bigger, faster, and stronger throughout your time with it. However, opportunities for a deeper narrative and more rewarding exploration weren’t taken, so this intriguing world never felt fully realised. The tranquil atmosphere and art of FAR: Changing Tides is superb, it’s just a shame the somewhat repetitive gameplay loop wasn’t able to match those same standards.

Far: Changing Tides offers a unique experience sailing across a drowned world. The world itself is beautiful and can draw you into it with its colors and mystery. Regrettably, the shallow gameplay, no story to speak of, and long periods doing nothing mar an experience that could have been memorable. Nevertheless, there is something here for those who want a calming adventure with little action. Sadly, I can’t see myself ever coming back to revisit this drowned world.

It’s a landscape worth visiting, nonetheless. Okomotive’s games are the antithesis of open world blockbusters – see that mountain? You can’t go there – and their geography is all the more sublime for being non-traversable. Rather than routine video game empowerment, Changing Tides offers mindful deprivation in a ravaged world where even the concept of a haven must move with the flow.