In Saltsea Chronicles, community is a salve for the post-post-apocalypse

Throughout the historical periods of exploration, physicists have assembled boxes of curiosities. These explorers prepared an amalgamation of biological artifacts, such as shells, preserved bugs, and stuffed birds, along with other objects or specimens from their travels, and placed them in wooden boxes.

The tendency to collect, perhaps at the expense of the natives of a certain land, has long dominated video games. Heroes like Link from The Legend of Zelda or the masters in Pokémon help themselves to the spoils of the earth in pursuit of a unique goal. Saltsea ChroniclesA new adventure from the makers of Narrative Changeit goes very differently. Instead of raiding lands and people, the player controls a collective of people who carefully approach each island’s unique culture. This group does not hold any resources, but instead completes the journey from the arms to the memory. It’s a small touch, but it’s a definitive example of the genre’s intent Saltsea Chronicles. It makes for an incredibly thoughtful and intriguing narrative experience, even if the game jumps a little too quickly between characters and individual social issues, their experiences are readily available.

Saltsea Chronicles He opens to his friends who have crept round the fire. Click through the options dialog where you are given the option to listen to the story from the “past” or the “future”. I clicked on this, and I was treated with an enlightened reading that spoke of a world where “hoarders” took too much and gave too little. These glittering spars built skyscrapers that made the seas jealous and rise as a result. Now all that remains is a force of islands of water called the Saltsea. The group roars as they await their future journey to the sea, but they hit a snag: Their leader, a silver man named Maja, perishes in the night. The group goes to sea to search and find their friend.

Image: Die Gute Fabrik

Saltsea Chronicles it emulates the approach and structure typical of television. Developer Die Gute Fabrik used the writers’ room to create the game, and some of its most poignant moments echo the smoky opera-esque narrative of the game studio; Change. Each of the twelve episodes follows the same general structure: Spend time on a boat, watch a crew meeting in which the characters decide which route to take, and then set out to explore the island.

Between each event, I can collect two people to explore the unique island, where they can learn about its history and its inhabitants. After investigating the two sailors, the two return with information. At that point I read another crew’s conversation and pick out the dialog options, deciding where to go next or whether or not to accept a new member. Each island is stunningly rendered for risograph printing with techniques rivaling those associated with storytellers.

The personal stories and conflicts that arise between the characters have become a vehicle for writers to explore serious political and social issues. Grace, on a serene island populated by counselors who help people who are hurting, explores the ideas of restoring justice through a character named Tukk. Here, as it happened, he killed three people. Upon seeing Tukk, a member of the crowd named Molpe bursts into a rage. She later pressures a local leader named Afen about the decision to protect this person. Here Afen does not deny pain and says, “But harm is from evil. If you don’t stop healing when you see it… It’s just going to continue, it’s gone. One violence to another.”

Image: Die Gute Fabrik

Developers are also exploring questions of tourism and exploitation on the volcanic island of Youlouca. We meet Bobbi, a local guide, who is horrified by our arrival and complains about the visitors, the so-called “discoverers”, who have made noise on the island by digging. The tests of scientists descended on Youlouca to lead to the excavation of ancient technology, and yet no one cares to know about the cultural heritage of the island. Through multiple trips to the island, a sailor named Neshko will get to know locals and newcomers alike, and learn to practice local culture in a way that honors the island’s heritage.

As a reviewer who found the game’s larger social themes to be a thriller, it sometimes felt like island-hopping and character-complex, leaving certain ideas or social criticisms feeling boiled down into one game. Each has its own needs, wants and desires, which allow for the exploration of a different plot and story. If you inhabit different personas — which the game forces you to do — then you see the world filtered from each of their perspectives. At points, these moments are brought to the fore in a game where the player must literally occupy the perspective of someone who has brought harm to the community and must listen to the grievances of others. However, it has also led to situations where the individual interest of individual persons does not line up with the frequent themes of the game, so that you get a situation in which you are presented with a moral question, but there is no real reflection on it.

Image: Die Gute Fabrik

Before starting SaltseaThe game convinces you not to answer wrong. But what he does not want, it is not difficult to make a judgment like his characters. Fortunately, I never felt like I was being punished in a “bad” trial. In an interesting design decision, however, I do not always know for which alternatives I was choosing. The game highlights what the character is talking about, but when I was presented with options, it wasn’t always clear which character I chose to play. There were times when he forced a character to act erratically, because I mixed up which characters I controlled, or whose dialogue I chose well. It could be a point of frustration for some players, but it also reminded us that sometimes we struggle to find the right words.

At some points, I couldn’t help but feel like this game was trying to do a little too much. With themes of climate change, generational trauma, community, and loss, it’s a lot to pack into one game. It also provided perspectives for the players to navigate the characters. However, life today with all its hardships also feels like too little, and we respect the team that is navigating it through the torrents of serious issues that have come with life in 2023.

Saltsea Chronicles He was released on the 12th. Oct on Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Windows PC. Download the game on PC using the free-release download code. Vox Media has affiliated companies. These editorials do not influence the content, Voice Media may earn commissions for products acquired through affiliate links. You can find information about Polygon’s ethics policies here.