FAR: Lone Sails

I really liked some aspects of the game, but ultimately I feel it was just ok. The world and music and general tone of the game are all really stellar. I was ready to fall in love with it in the first couple of hours. But the actual gameplay loop became very uninteresting. I was hoping/expecting it would turn into a resource puzzle as you sailed your landship across the dried-up seas, needing to be more efficient and mindful about the fuel you consume and utilizing the environment as resources became more and more scarce. Instead it becomes: sail for a while never having to worry about fuel or resources ever; get stopped by some obstacle; figure out the puzzle to remove the obstacle; repeat. This isn't bad per se, it just isn't much of a game. The puzzles are trivial enough most of the time that they become elongated "press x to continue" segments. However, I think for what the game is, they are the right level of difficulty as being more difficult wouldn't have made the game better, just more frustrating. As it is, I did not find the game of solving checkpoint puzzles to be compelling or rewarding. The best parts of the game are when you are just cruising along, watching the world go by, which never seem to last long enough. The game itself is also a short stay. but I don't think that is necessarily a negative. For what it is, the game's length seems appropriately succinct. That said I'm glad I don't regret playing it. I just wish it could have been a little bit more engaging as a game, in addition to being an engaging visual and aural experience.

I see a lot of people are dissapointed with the game, but not because its bad, but because it wasnt what they expected. So I will try to give a good description. This is kind of a platformer version of a walking simulator. You start out as this little person mourning the passing away of a loved one, then proceed to leave your home by embarking on a journey with a land ship. You need to pick up things to be able to burn them and fuel the ship so you can continue your journey. Also, you will get upgrades for the ship along the way that will help you with this. You will also have to solve some puzzles in other to pass some obstacles along the way. Not many and most are simple, so you will be fine. The main selling point of this game is not in the gameplay, but in the atmosphere. The visual art is absolutely fantastic, music is very well made and fits in great. The condition of your land vessel also changes the more you adventure. The best moments are when you are driving/sailling through certain areas and taking in the atmosphere. Some have said that there is no story here, but that is not quite true. There is a story, or to be more accurate, a contextual basis for your adventure. Its just that it is of secondary importance and told passively through the environment. There is no text or explanation, because that will take away from the main thing - enjoying the environment and the hourney. If you pay attention to the places you visit and pass, then you will be able to piece the story together for the most part. In regards to length - yes, within 3-4 hours you will probably finish it and there wont be much reason to revisit, unless you want to get a better glance of things you might have passed by too quick. The game fulfills its purpose perfectly, which is - dont think, relax and enjoy the trip. If you expect something more from it than that, then you should look for something else.

I bought this game having seen it's trailer expecting a somewhat similar-ish experience to games like Inside or Limbo e.g. some puzzle solving, a story that emerges throughout the game, simple yet beautiful artistic design, great music etc. Unfortunately I think this game just simply doesn't quite put it together in a way that's satisfying / entertaining. Pacing was not great. There's too much time you spend doing "nothing", just refueling your car and picking up fuel on the ground. Because you need to be constantly doing things in the vehicle you never really have a chance to relax and look at your surroundings. Not that if you could it would be very interesting. t I felt like the game had way too much time just displaying a barren landscape with nothing interesting to observe / learn about the world. Puzzle solving was too simple or frustrating. Sometimes you can just plow through obstacles, other times you can't. Sometimes the hooks on the machine can only go so long, other times it extends to an infinite distance (because you are supposed to use it). The former case where sometimes you can plow into things is so frustrating because you always try that first and then sometimes you aren't sure whether or not you were going fast enough so you waste time backing up the vehicle and trying again wasting fuel in the process. Also Idk if it was just me but I was expecting the game to push some sort of connection with the vehicle I was in because how you constantly were supposed to take maintain it and it seemed like it was your companion in your journey. Nope, just busy work really. Artistically it looks good, the music was ok. I thought the use of music ranged from good to a bit mediocre. Overall, a disappointment to me. The latter half of the game was just felt like a chore to finish.

The game looks beautiful. It also perfectly portrays the unsettling atmosphere of post-apocalyptic landscape. Unfortunately the basic game loop (consisting of refueling your vehicle and keeping it operational) is uninspired and poses no real challenge to the player. The game mechanics are unexciting, and heavily interfere with player's ability to enjoy the scenery (which is the game main selling point). Outside of the main loop the only source of variety are obstacles you encounter along the way. The problem is they are so easy they don't even qualify as puzzles, they are just a hindrance to make the player leave the vehicle for a while. I'm giving the game three stars for audiovisual quality and art direction. Apart from that it's more of a glorified clicker than an actual game. It's also rather short, but in this case it's actually a blessing. If the game was any longer, playing it would become an absolute chore.

For what this game is, I really quite enjoyed it. FAR: Lone Sails is a 2.5D sidescrolling game in which you maintain and upgrade your vehicle while on a brief journey from point A to point B. That's about it. There's no dialogue, no combat, no stealth, no platforming, and only very minimal puzzles. Sometimes I think it's nice and refreashing to take a little break from more intense and lengthy games to play something that asks so little of me.