Far: Lone Sails (2018)

I played this game in Switch and I really really liked it. It's short (just a few hours over the weekend), non verbal, beautiful, and I have to say pretty addictive. Personally, I like the theme: steampunk (?) reminds me a bit of Frostpunk without the cold. The story was vague but I like it that way as I can let my imagination fills in the blank.

The game is split into taking the vehicle in a cruise mode until you hit an obstacle with a puzzle to solve before continuing your journey. I finished the game in one weekend because of the urge of taking "just one more obstacle, let me take this vehicle until the next obstacle" until the game finally ends.

I went into this game completely blind, having stumbled on it over and over while looking for games similar to Inside and Little Nightmares. And to be honest, this is the PERFECT way to play this game.

Right from the beginning, there is no introduction, and zero dialogue or text throughout the entire playthrough. You quickly find that you are simply meant to journey onward, and that’s about as much detail as I want to give.

Everything is just so tightly designed. Art direction, gameplay, sound design and music - it’s a really breathtaking experience. It’s just so immersive and the way it sucks you in and asks you to just figure it out is an incredible memorable adventure.

I just hesitate to give it a 5/5 because of purely personal taste. I’ve never been partial towards steampunk or sparse wastelands, so I can’t give it that extra special place in my heart. But were it not for that, I would have to admit it’s a perfect game. Excited for the sequel :)

Over the past decade or so, the 2D side-scrolling genre has undergone a solid resurgence within the indie space. There are a ton in this category in recent years that I’ve really liked and even loved (Inside, Unravel Two, This War of Mine, Carrion, Little Nightmares II, etc), but the sheer amount of options out there make it hard for any smaller project without marketing chops to make a name for themselves in any significant way. Released between 2018 and 2022, the FAR games - Lone Sails and Changing Tides - seem to have fallen under that paradigm. They don’t seem to be widely known, or at least I barely ever hear anyone talk about them. Through that prism, and even though the staples of the genre are mostly all there, they actually offer a somewhat unique concept: your goal throughout the entirety of the games is to guide a vehicle through the different environments. For that, you need to tend to, repair, unblock and upgrade it when the need arises. There is nothing revolutionary about the FAR games, but they showcase an interesting premise and even more interesting moments throughout your time with them.

To me, Lone Sails is easily the best game of the two, and there's an obvious reason for that: atmosphere. From its minimalistic soundscape to its cryptic environmental storytelling and deceptively simple, yet perfect noir-colour contrast world, Lone Sails is a beautiful, contemplative experience, an immersive train journey that really nudges you into focusing on the here and the now, not unlike what meditation sets out to achieve. The tone and sense of isolation work really well in tandem with the relationship you start developing with your manned vehicle: it is very interesting to me how Okomotive was able to instil this sense of bonding between player and vehicle in such a short game, and that happened because everything in the game serves that purpose. Though it never reaches the somber tone or, for the most part, the high bar of any of them, every now and then you get some Limbo nods, some Inside nods, even some Little Nightmare nods, which was absolute music to my ears. My main issue with this game was the silliness to some of the puzzles, though most are well designed and entertaining enough, and none of them are likely to stump you anyway. Ultimately, the first game of the FAR duo offers a melancholic journey dressed as an ode to solitude, one that will probably please most fans of the genre. 7.5/10

I had been eying this one for a couple years now, never sure if it was worthwhile. Finally picked it up during the current PS Store indie sale, and it was well worth it. It has some great atmosphere both eerie and strangely relaxing, and the gameplay is pretty unique and enjoyable. It’s a bit of a puzzle-platformer but the mechanics of running your vehicle add a nice element to the game. It’s also only a few hours long, and I love bite-sized games. If you need a good palate cleanser between longer games or just want something short and sweet with effective atmospheric storytelling plus a twist of post-apocalyptic steam-punk, this is an ideal game for you.

I am looking forward to the sequel Far: Changing Tides.