Strange New Tides

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You are... A Cthulhu-styled monster trying to fit in with a new shoreline community of decidedly non-Cthulhu monsters in [b]Strange New Tides[/b] by [b]IGA Jams[/b]. Some games are simply genre-breaking. [b]Thief: The Dark Project[/b] took first-person shooters and asked, "What would happen if enemies [i]didn't[/i] see you?" [b]Deus Ex[/b] asked what would happen if you mixed a first-person perspective, a role-playing game (which were traditionally third-person isometric at the time) & a first-person shooter all into one. [b]Hellgate: London[/b] experimented with having an action role-playing game (which are traditionally third-person isometric) in a first-person perspective. [b]Strange New Tides[/b] [i]isn't[/i] that forward-thinking but it does seem to be a mixture of genres. You play as a Cthulhu-styled monster named "Munch" having been swept from your underwater land after a violent storm. Without your memory, you are washed ashore onto the sandy beach community of "Saltbay Cove." A stranger in a strange (at least, for you) land, you must now navigate the community of creatures and perform various activities in order to acquire "sea glass" which is their form of money. With this sea glass, you can create a more elaborate sand castle (which doubles as your home) and, hopefully, recover your memory enough so that you may return home... If you so choose. There's not a lot to do in [b]SNT[/b]: You can either go fishing (the fish that you catch is instantly converted into sea glass), collect crystal geodes from the various on-shore locations (which, again, are automatically converted into sea glass) or try your luck at a sea glass slot machine. The fishing activity is a reflex mini-game, while collecting geodes is as simple as walking over to them and picking them up. The slot machine is rather self-explanatory, costing 1,000 sea glass per chance. Regardless of how you acquire your sea glass, you eventually need to purchase your sand castle and upgrades at the only available store. When you upgrade your sand castle to the highest (and, naturally, most expensive) option, you're given a chance to return home. But will you...? The game is hybrid of visuals: The background and props are polygon 3D but you and the NPCs (Non-Player Characters) are all sprite-based. The most challenging part of the game is the fishing mini-game which is a simple reflex test in that you must tap the space bar in order to stop a moving line, ideally as close to the center as possible. The closer you are to the center of the line, the more valuable the fish that you've caught. If I'm being honest with myself, I have to admit that [b]I can't recommend this game.[/b] There's just nothing in the game to warrant a sufficient amount of gameplay. Is there a compelling story? Not really. Is there compelling gameplay here? Not really. A veteran gamer can complete this entire game within a matter of minutes. The game also feels incomplete. You talk with a resident who doesn't like how you are dressed but there's nothing in the game that seems to upgrade your appearance. When trying to load a game (when you don't have a save game), the game locks up and you have to end the game manually. And, yet, there [i]is[/i] the basis of a serviceable game here. Collecting geodes from the ground in various screens is, by itself, a workable game mechanic. The fishing mini-game has been used elsewhere to great effect. There's nothing wrong with having a slot machine game mechanic in your game. These are all perfectly acceptable game mechanics but they don't seem to be tied to a cohesive game design. They all feel as though they've been thrown into the game without a lot of thought as to how they would work together. There's nothing wrong with simpler games or games designed for children. This game seems clearly geared towards that demographic, from the colorful background design and characters. One should not expect the same level of nuance that a professional AAA-game has with that of a game designed with young children in mind. Yet the game lacks enough cohesiveness to be compelling to play. I don't want to create the game for the developers; That's not the intent of this review and it's up to them to create the game in their own vision. However, why have a character that comments on how ill-dressed your character is but have no means to improve your appearance? Why have three fishing areas if there is no restriction on fishing? Is one fishing area better than the others? Why gamble at the slot machine at all when acquiring sea glass is so incredibly easy elsewhere? There's nothing wrong with designing a simple game... But [b]Strange New Tides[/b] needs to be a game before it can be even a simple one.