g1a5w3g1an
- Mar 9, 2022

FAR: Changing Tides | PS4 Review

FAR: Changing Tides is the action adventure follow-up to FAR: Lone Sails. It is developed by Okomotive and published by Frontier Foundry, and it is currently available for Windows PC, PlayStation, XBox, and Nintendo Switch. For the purpose of my review I was playing on the PlayStation 4, with a review key kindly supplied to us by Heaven Media.

Having had the absolute joy of playing and reviewing FAR: Lone Sails in June of last year, I was looking forward to getting my hands on the follow-up game, FAR: Changing Tides. My review of the first game (which I played on the Nintendo Switch) can be found here. It was also interesting to try out the new game on the PlayStation 4, having played the first one on the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode, just to have that comparison on hand for reference.

As with the previous title, you are once again tasked with making your way across the vast post-apocalyptic world - the difference now being that your vehicle to get you from A to B is on water. Previously you were confined to the land only, but now, having reached the end of that land journey in the first game, you can take to the sea, both on top, riding those waves, as well as below, exploring the depths. There are many similarities with both games, and the whole setup with your vehicle remains quite the same. You will again be collecting all kinds of junk to throw into that furnace to fuel your engine, as well as using the sails, when you run out of fuel, or if you just want to conserve your fuel along the way. The addition of the new submarine mode opens up so much more of the game, and the world that you are playing in this time seems so much more bigger, as you make your way through.

As with FAR: Lone Sails, you will come across a variety of obstacles along the the way. Some puzzles will need to be solved to progress, as well as some upgrading to your ship. You will also be spending time micro-managing your ship, as you did before, with that balance of fueling the engine, while trying to keep it from overheating, or adjusting the sails to the current wind direction, while trying to avoid obstacles in your path. FAR: Changing Tides remains just as chilled and relaxing a game as its predecessor, and Okomotive have done an incredible job here of keeping the basics of the first game intact, while adding so much more to the game. My playthrough was spread over a few sittings, and was round about the 7 hour mark, so there is definitely a lot more game for you here than previously.

The controls are as before, if you have played the first game, with a 'use/interact' button as well as a 'jump' one. You can zoom in or out using the trigger buttons, and you can move the camera up and down, or to the left or right. One thing I found helpful was the fact you could zoom out and move the camera down below the water level, to see what was floating around or swimming in the depths, while you sailed across the sea. You do get the feeling with FAR: Changing Tides at times that it is a bit of a sailing simulator, but there is so much more to the game, and definitely worth picking up, and spending some time with it. There is no real need to play the first game prior to playing this one, but it is something that I would recommend, just so that you get the full story going into this game.

To sum up, I did enjoy FAR: Changing Tides even more that I did with the previous game. It's more of the same, but with a lot of new and exciting features added in. If you enjoyed FAR: Lone Sails, like I did, then you will absolutely adore this new game. It has very chilled and relaxing gameplay, along with some puzzling and exploring, suitable for all ages and skill levels, and it is a game I would recommend that everyone should have in their collection. Also, having now played one game on the PlayStation, and one on the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode, I can add that both of these games can be enjoyed on either platform.

g1a5w3g1an's Rating: 4.5 Glowing Underwater Jellyfish out of 5.

For more information on FAR: Changing Tides please use the following links... Okomotive - Developer | Twitter | Website

Frontier Foundry - Publisher | Facebook | Twitter | Website

Many thanks to Heaven Media for supplying the review code.

FAR: Changing Tides | Windows PC | PlayStation | XBox | Nintendo

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