Hands-On Preview: Tides of Tomorrow

Ever since the first time I played Life is Strange back in 2015 during high school, I've had a strong adoration for games that involve anything remotely related to dialogue choices or the consequences of those decisions reshaping the story.

It's to the point now where a game like Tides of Tomorrow immediately caught my eye, more so because it is made by the same creators of Road 96, another great pure-storytelling game where each of your characters' journeys can feel different than the others, along with the choices you make to alter their road trip.

However, Tides of Tomorrow mixes in a spicy and unique concept; you follow a premeditated journey of another player, your friend, or even your favorite streamer, perhaps. The choices that they've made on their playthrough will directly influence yours, the NPCs, and the world you're partaking in. And then your own playthrough can be used as a benchmark for another player after you.

I know this may sound a bit weird to the casual player, and I'm not the best at explaining complex things. But I can assure you of one thing: Tides of Tomorrow will be worth your time, and I know I can prove that to you with the time I managed to get on it via the first two or so chapters.

A World Where We Refused to Recycle

The entire concept of fictional worlds is one that often catches my attention immediately, especially if they have something unique that makes them truly stand out, and Tides of Tomorrow's main setting isn't any different.

Elynd is an oceanic planet, a bygone world that's slowly crumbling after the catastrophe known as the Great Flood. All living beings are slowly being sickened and consumed by Plastification, which hilariously made me think the game could be a great PSA medium for us to properly partake in recycling.

Each hub world or landmark you visit has its own group of wildcard NPCs on board. Some are just plain optional areas where you can possibly meet a new side character, but for the major ones, this is where the main story will progress.

Thanks to both the people in them and their design, the hub worlds are very pretty and fun to explore. Sure, they're too small and too far apart to be an actual city on the sea altogether, but their design is visually vibrant and striking, especially when you have all your graphical settings cranked to max. From the piles of plastic ravaging the sea to just the local inhabitants, the game perfectly immerses you in its aquatic landscape.

As the Tidewalker, you're a sea nomad who has no recollection of your previous life or origins, other than the fact that you must follow in the footsteps of your predecessor's memories to unravel the mystery of this world and possibly find a cure for your own Plastification.

Most of the world and the moving parts are separated into sections, which you can pick and choose to travel to via your boat, acquired once you complete the opening acts of the game. And it is here where the bulk of your gameplay elements come into play from your Tidewalker's personality traits, major NPCs you meet along the way, and how the world can be impacted by you and other players.

Tides of Tomorrow's Asynchronous Multiplayer Element is Special

Right from the intro screen, you're given a choice between a list of players that you can follow. These other Tidewalkers before you can have various implications depending on which player you choose. You can see their personality traits and story progress, which should give you an idea of the impact they've had on the world.

And don't worry, every player, including you, will have their own personality traits that can grow or shrink throughout the story, essentially acting as a moral compass of sorts. Choosing to partake in actions that benefit your survival will add gains to your Survivalist trait, while helping others will increase that Pro-Mankind stat. And obviously, taking actions that lead to chaotic endeavors leans more toward the Troublemaker trait.

How exactly does the world get impacted by the aforementioned Tidewalker, you ask? Well, right from the opening segment with Nahe, you can immediately notice how she's already treated another wary traveler on the seas like us. The game actively establishes this with the other NPCs you meet along the way, too, since that player will likely have caused major shifts between each hub world, enough to change the state of the NPCs or their original actions.

The Tides of Time ability acts as your GPS or indicator. It lets you see major visions of the player you're currently following, so you can keep in mind what they did, what actions they took, or any clues they might've left behind. The minor visions, on the other hand, are like the white phantoms of players you'd see in the Soulsborne games—just random miscellaneous actions they did in the environment, like walking around or emoting.

Lastly, in almost every single dialogue choice (I say almost because, again, it can depend on the other player's story progression), you can also notice which options the prior player you're following took. You can choose the exact same options or take a different route. Through some of the visions, the game will also inform you of major consequences that the prior player experienced, just in case you want to try a diverging approach from theirs.

Part of the Journey is the Inevitability

Without spoiling anything, I love the idea that you can expect almost anything to happen when you're preparing to set sail to a new landmark/area. There could be instances where the previous player made enemies of someone, and now we're not welcome in their territory, or just that they might've ignored a beggar who asked for scraps, or possibly some spare Ozen to survive.

The game takes accountability to the utmost, down to the smallest details. However, just don't expect anything expansive in the storytelling or overall length, since most of the playtime will (likely) come down to replayability with other players or via the different outcomes. You'll need to keep a close eye on your Plastemia gauge as well, because if you succumb to it, that's game over. There is a bit of a resource survival mechanic here too, with you managing your scrap and Ozen, or choosing to give it away.

The different characters you meet along the way won't possibly be the same on another playthrough. Even if they're being nice to you or are shrouded in mystery themselves, there will be several points where you'll need to make a choice regarding them and yourself.

And if cooperative empathy strikes your head as it did for me, you may even want to help others who'll follow in your footsteps after by leaving behind spare Ozen or scraps for them, something that low-key reminded me of the connections you forged in Death Stranding's multiplayer by helping other porters.

Someone will look at your path seed in the main menu to think "This guy's someone who was cooperative with other fellow Tidewalkers and chose to care about humankind more," while others will probably give in to their morbid curiosity to pick a player who went full lawful chaotic and had the Troublemaker trait at the highest parameters.

The consequential storytelling foundation that they've built from Road 96, with the cherry on top of this rather unique multiplayer system, makes Tides of Tomorrow a worthwhile game to have on your radar, especially if this is your first time hearing about it. And if you can rope a friend or two into getting it as well, you guys can hilariously watch each other's shared playthroughs on Discord together, and I know for sure that'll be a recipe for a good time.