Again in 2018, the Swap’s touchscreen performance made point-and-click video games, as soon as finest performed on PC, far more accessible for console gamers. The truth is, many video games on our listing of Finest Level And Click on Journey Video games launched within the hybrid console’s second yr – NAIRI: Tower Of Shirin amongst them. Six years later, Dutch developer HomeBear Studio continues the story with Nairi: Rising Tide. So does it rise to the event? Virtually.
We’ll elaborate in a second, however first a fast warning that delicate spoilers for Tower Of Shirin lie forward. The primary instalment isn’t a prerequisite; in the event you haven’t performed it or want a recap, Rising Tide has an non-obligatory narrative part wherein Nairi tells the story of her earlier journey. That mentioned, Tower Of Shirin gamers will come geared up with advantageous data of the lore.
Each video games happen in Shirin, a metropolis divided into Wealthy, Center, and Poor Districts. Within the first recreation, Wealthy District resident Nairi’s mother and father had been unlawfully arrested and he or she was pressured into hiding – the place she now stays. When Rising Tide begins, we see Tower Of Shirin’s story from the angle of Shiro, whose father is on the Shirin Council with Nairi’s father. We later swap again to Nairi’s viewpoint and the 2 children attempt to sneak again into the Wealthy District, encountering corrupt governments, uprisings, kidnappings and mysterious magical forces alongside the best way.
That’s a truncated model of the total story, which we really feel is a bit tough to comply with. The sequel introduces a whole lot of characters and subplots, but there’s not a lot time to grasp all of them. Because the narrative tides turned, we discovered one of the simplest ways to not drown in B tales was to carry on to Nairi and Shiro’s quests whereas the opposite components washed over us.
The characters’ lengthy conversations give Rising Tides a visible novel really feel. The dialogue is cute and accommodates many childlike (bordering on tacky) jokes, although it has extra severe undertones with the corruption and sophistication battle themes. If you traverse Shirin, the puzzles are mild: you would possibly do a buying and selling sequence, fill within the blanks, sort things along with your instruments, or ship a misplaced merchandise. You’ll want a pointy eye to identify the assorted cash and objects on the bottom when you discover, as a whole lot of the time the interactable parts mix with the backdrop.
The dungeons are the place the puzzles actually get to shine, and with only one or two characters current the dialogue turns into sparse. The puzzles are brain-cranking and normally satisfying to unravel. They aren’t massively irritating, although they are often murky in a approach that appears at odds with the kid-friendly humour. There are solely three dungeons however these multi-roomed, multi-levelled fortresses take up about half the sport, with puzzles that see you run out and in of rooms and ranges to drag a lever connecting to a different flooring or piece collectively a number of components (typically actually). They usually problem you to assume laborious and use each device, faucet each wall and each piece of furnishings, even when it doesn’t look interactable. In a single puzzle you spin a dial to color in numerous icons, in one other you memorise the sequence of a narrative, in one other you direct a laser beam to hit an orb.
Early on you’ll get entry to the Trace Chick, who fees one coin for a puzzle trace within the type of a bit of drawing. It’s not dishonest, we promise; the hints may be fairly cryptic in themselves. The Trace Chick additionally permits you skip dungeons altogether in the event you get too caught and simply need to proceed the story. We’d like to boast that we accomplished our playthrough with no need hints however, alas, many puzzles use a logic that takes some getting used to, or faucet right into a minute a part of the lore. Oftentimes we’d get our trace and mumble ‘Oh, I by no means would’ve gotten that.’ It’s clear HomeBear paid consideration to suggestions (comparable to our Tower Of Shirin evaluate, which famous the tendency in the direction of obtuse puzzles, which you would possibly argue are a staple of the style) with these hints – and we’re grateful they did.
Since Rising Tide is point-and-click, handheld mode is your buddy right here. The display is responsive and though a couple of objects look miniscule, the tappable space is extensive. In docked mode, menus may be fiddly with the controller, however these keen on the massive display received’t discover the expertise dampened. It additionally gives the choice of movement controls the place you’ll be able to level and click on your Pleasure-Cons on the TV, so long as you’re okay with an absence of precision.
The sport’s efficiency is a bit laggy and froze early on after we paused a cutscene. We additionally skilled gradual load screens when shifting between areas. Hopefully these bugbears get patched at a later date although, as they shouldn’t deter eager gamers.
Cleaner graphics and turned-up colors will probably be a distinguishable distinction for present followers, whereas newcomers will merely benefit from the hand-drawn watercolour aesthetic that paints the lovable characters and classical setting. That, plus the comparatively minimal animation, reminded us of image books.
The music suits so effectively that you just won’t discover it. We imply that in a great way, because it’s by no means distracting once you’re making an attempt to soak up waves of textual content or focus on a mystifying puzzle. Cheerful marimbas within the city, gradual minor guitar plucks within the dungeons, and satisfying chimes for fixing puzzles – all of it makes for an aurally nice expertise.
Conclusion
Nairi: Rising Tide is a strong, if barely inferior, sequel that expands the world established in Tower Of Shirin. Some gradual load screens and difficult-to-discernible objects shouldn’t hamper your general enjoyment an excessive amount of, particularly in the event you cherished the primary entry. The tricksy puzzles are nice, although you might must shell out for hints. And when you would possibly really feel such as you’re wading by way of the story at occasions, there’s sufficient narrative thread to drag you thru to a tense ending. No spoilers however the closing moments left us already eager to know what Nairi, Shiro, and their pals rise up to subsequent.