For when you absolutely, positively need to play the exact same game as PS:T again. Hard to say I was disappointed, since that's what I expected. If you're looking at this, you're probably an Infinity Engine veteran hoping for a fresh take on the classic formula. Friend, I have bad news: this take isn't fresh. The most exciting thing to me during development was hearing about the setting for this game: a world built on the ruins of countless prior incredibly advanced civilizations, filled with ancient technology that may as well be magic. I'm not sure how it's possible to make that premise fall flat, but Tides manages somehow. It feels like an amusement park, with all the weird gadgets and gizmos and telepathic squid just being there for you, the player, to gawk at, rather than an earnest exploration of what kind of society could arise from that situation. That's not the really bad part, though; I'm willing to chalk up my reaction to personal preference. The thing I find infinitely harder to excuse is the writing, which seems terrified of standing on its own. The main plot is almost completely identical to PS:T. In fact, Tides seems like it's dedicated to replicating the PS:T experience almost precisely. Infodumps abound. The writing style has its moments -- Erritis' personal quest is very charming -- but most of the time just feels ponderous and purple. The Big Philosophical Questions feel like abstract thought experiments, and anyway, as the game is very insistent to tell you in case you might doubt or question yourself, there is no right answer and it's all a matter of perspective. I'd call that ethically timid. No doubt I would have loved it all back in 1999, but we're all 17 years older now, and games have moved forward so much -- but Tides is intent on reliving the glorious past instead of taking a chance on innovation (beyond the nice new stat system, which I don't feel is nearly enough). 2/5 for Callistege, who should have been the main character.
