This Xbox and Windows exclusive first appeared on our screens last May, during a Microsoft showcase. Developed by Out of the Blue, a brand new Spanish studio, and published by Raw Fury (Gonner, Night Call, West of the Dead, the future Sable …), this promising adventure has captured the public’s attention even before its release. , thanks in particular to colorful and attractive visuals. Its integration as a “day one” into the Game Pass has also aroused some interest. Seven months after its revelation, the time has now come to dissect the beast!
The year is 1934 and Norah Everhart, a drawing teacher by trade, is in the throes of a lot of turmoil. Since the death of her mother, multiple dark spots have appeared on her hands and forearms, fatigue on the terrace, and disturbing underwater dreams populate her nights. To top it all off, her husband Henry hasn’t given any news for months, even though he was looking for a cure on the other side of the world. Never mind, Norah decides to follow in the footsteps of her dear companion. The adventure therefore begins on a small island located seventy-four nautical miles east of Tahiti. We won’t say more about the storyline, because discovering the different events is definitely part of the fun of the game. Just be aware that, while it never turns out to be horrifying, the story is inspired by the myth of Cthulhu and mixes sea creatures, strange black liquid, fits of madness and ancient civilization. All of this translates into different environments, all of which benefit from an extremely alluring art direction. Colorful, lively, shimmering, cartoon just enough, but never too flashy, this DA is perhaps the greatest success of the game. It offers us in particular magnificent panoramas, made of sunsets. sun, northern lights, lush nature or even mysterious architecture based on diamonds and hexagons. Some interiors very “1930s” are also very nicely represented. It is not forbidden to think at times of BioShock, which is not the worst reference in the field. On the audio side, there is also nothing to throw away since the English voices are very convincing. We regret all the same the absence of French dubbing even if, fortunately, it is still possible to activate the subtitles in the language of Molière and Aya Nakamura. Finally, especially Molière since the translation is well made!
THE SEA, WHAT WE SEE THINKING …
As for the gameplay, we are dealing with a classic Myst-style adventure game. The first thing to do is therefore to carefully observe any object that displays an interaction icon when you approach it. While some of them can sometimes be picked up, we don’t really have an inventory. When the time comes, Norah will automatically use the right item in the right place. Most puzzles, however, involve observation and reflection rather than the use of tools. Norah also has a diary in which she automatically records past events. Useful to never lose track of the story and find some potentially useful information! As a designer she also uses it, and above all, to keep track of the visual clues collected during the exploration phases. Without it, the puzzles would require the player to take notes in real life. Sometimes sound, often visual and very often “intellectual”, the puzzles are generally well made, even if rarely original, and cover a wide spectrum of difficulty. While some bend in two minutes, others will leave you stunned for long minutes. Our only regret in this regard concerns the lack of clarity in one or two specific passages. We especially think of the fourth chapter of the game, which places us in front of a swarm of symbols and combinations of words to interpret. We admit it to you without any shame: after long minutes of fruitless thinking, we passed this test thanks to a “brute force attack”, ie by testing all the possible combinations. The height? The riddle is so obscure that even after finding the solution and looking at it again, we still haven’t disentangled the why from the how. We strongly suspect the developers of having abused the technique of “red herring”, that is to say of having multiplied false leads, to such an extent that the good one risks escaping most players.
This particularly frustrating moment is not the only flaw of the adventure, which regularly requires back and forth that we could do without (the clues and actions that go well together are voluntarily placed in distant places). This problem is all the more significant as the walking speed of the heroine is extremely slow. It’s very simple: even by activating the running step one still has the impression of moving too slowly. It’s hard not to see a way of artificially extending the lifespan, which also peaks at six or seven hours. However, the selling price clearly takes this into account since the game costs only twenty euros. And it is even possible to enjoy it “free” for Game Pass subscribers. Besides, this is certainly the best way to approach the game. In this context we will forgive him more easily his too great classicism, which prevents him from really living up to the expectations placed in him. month.
