Tides of Tomorrow Review - The Motion of the Ocean

Ole Gamer Joe
21 hours ago
9 min read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv3bhycvWM4

It's the motion of the ocean

Tides of Tomorrow

PC/PS/XBOX

4/22/26

Digixart/THQ Nordiq

Life is all about choices: Do I call in sick to work even though I feel just fine? Should I pay that credit card bill today, or can it wait a week? Or perhaps most importantly of all, do I heat up that frozen Mama Celeste or spend the extra money on an actual pizza? Okay, so not every choice is life-altering, but they all shape our future in some way, either positively or negatively. Tides of Tomorrow, coming to us from developer Digixart of Road 96 fame and publisher THQ Nordic, will challenge players to make far more critical choices than the few I've mentioned, ones that can decide the fate of humanity itself. But is this watery narrative adventure smooth sailing, or does it sink under its own weight?

While Tides of Tomorrow is indeed a choice-driven narrative adventure, it also melds together other gaming genres with its inclusion of chase sequences, boat racing and combat, stealth sections, and even a decent amount of platforming and exploration. It also contains some truly unique systems outside of story-focused norms, most notably its story-link feature, which results in choices that other real-world players make impacting your personal journey. It’s an ambitious undertaking without question, and as you would imagine, some of it works and some of it doesn’t.

Let’s first talk about that story-link system because it is by far the most interesting aspect of Tides of Tomorrow. When you start up a new game, you’ll pick between a few different appearances. Players will also need to select a gender for their character along with a voice, either male or female. Sounds pretty standard so far, right? Not so fast, as next you’ll need to pick another player to follow! Alternatively, you can also search by seed, as each player is given a unique 8‑digit code that can be shared amongst friends in order to follow one another's paths. Helpfully, you can also see how much progress that person has made in the game. At the time of this review, just a small handful of my gaming media brethren were available to choose between, and so I did just that, promptly whuppin’ their asses in races and whatnot because if you can’t beat 'em in viewership, ya gotta beat 'em at something. While online connectivity is required to make the most of this feature, offline players will have the option of using pre-made saves so that they aren’t left out.

Who you choose is important, as it will affect your gameplay in quite a few ways. For one, you can see many of the narrative decisions that person made through the power of the “Tides of Time,” which is a vision mode that can be activated at any time during gameplay. This can help you to make better choices than they did, or even allow you to gain access to areas through peeking into the past to discover passwords they were given as just one example.

I was endlessly impressed with just how much of an impact the decisions of another gamer impacted my journey. Some NPCs lost trust in me because of that player's actions, others' lives were saved, and a few were even lost. You aren’t necessarily stuck following one specific player either, as during different parts of the story you’ll pick between levels where you can grab onto new links and start following them.

Now that you have at least a basic understanding of how story-link works, let’s dive into the story itself. You are a Tidewalker, born into a flooded world and somehow linked to the many other Tidewalkers before you. This strange place has been overrun by a terrible disease known as plastemia, which infects and slowly kills its victims, only stemmed off, at least briefly, through the use of Ozen, a chemical that fights against the nasty effects of plastemia. The main goal of the game centers around finding a more permanent cure for this virus through scientific research and forging important alliances.

The varied, small islands of this world are home to different factions such as the violent Marauders who maintain complete control over medicine, to the deeply religious Mystics who have a wildly different view on life when compared to most. These unique factions are all interesting in their own ways, and you, as a Tidewalker, are free to choose who you wish to ally with… Well, as free as the constructs of this video game will allow you to be anyways.

There’s a good core message at the center of Tides of Tomorrow that dives into heavy subject matter. From battling disease to a collapsing environment, the writers ask players what their responsibility is in the wake of such travesties without pointing fingers directly at specific groups. Even outside of its more on-the-nose topics, I loved how my own morality was often put to the test. Do I leave a bottle of Ozen behind for the next Tidewalker? Do I donate some of my scrap, the game’s currency, so that I can make another person’s journey a touch easier? These choices come, and come often, and much like real life, are never easy to face.

The game does a good job of playing with the player's emotions

Where the game falters a bit is, ironically, the fault of its coolest feature. Story-link isn’t perfect and can sometimes lead to messy interactions between characters that don’t always equal out to a cohesive tale. Some exchanges between characters felt smooth and natural; others took me out of the experience entirely. This is because characters often struggle to react properly to your decisions. Some of the most hurtful selections I made were shrugged off rather easily or forgotten entirely by the time I rolled into the next chapter. Previous players' actions were often forgiven quite quickly too, with NPCs reminding me of what that player did, while still trusting me entirely.

This is admittedly immersion-breaking more often than it isn’t, but that said, I liked many of the characters that I encountered. There’s no shortage of diabolical villains, those who believe in saving Mother Earth, and others who have been completely blinded by their own faith. The fact that I did like much of this cast made the weight of each choice feel that much more important to me, which made it disappointing when my choices seemed to matter less, something that happens often. Far too many times I tried to swing the pendulum in one direction, only for it to go the exact opposite way. Tides of Tomorrow, for its many victories in storytelling and pushing the genre forward in exciting ways, can be stubbornly stuck in the past in taking the long way around to the same ultimate location.

While on the subject of narrative choices, I should mention that each choice made will also fuel traits within you. Actions towards NPCs will determine whether you are pro-mankind, pro-nature, a survivalist, cooperative in wanting to help others, or a no-good troublemaker. Adding to this system is the ability to see how other players acted so you can see how your morals align with one another. I enjoyed seeing how each choice impacted my personality, so overall I think it's a pretty nifty system. All of these narrative systems culminate in earning one of five different endings.

Travel in Tides of Tomorrow takes place on your boat, which you’ll need to ride between islands in order to progress the story forward. While your main goal is clearly highlighted, there are times throughout this 10–15 hour journey where you are free to head off to optional locations in an effort to forge alliances, gather more scrap, or even Ozen. Doing so can lead to boat battles, which are basic affairs that have you dodging enemy blasts and firing back at them. I’d be lying if I said these encounters weren’t fun, concluding in being able to board fallen ships and loot them blind. The boat controls closer to a Porsche too, nice and speedy while feeling smooth among the choppy waves. These aren’t the only side missions available, as races also pop up from time to time, netting you further rewards.

To go back to Ozen, it’s what restores your limited health points throughout gameplay. As you travel between islands and things progress, your health lowers, with a bar being restored for each bottle of Ozen you consume. This substance can be acquired through spending scrap, completing missions, or can even be stolen if you want to be a bit mischievous. Run out of Ozen and it’s not game over exactly, but it can have a serious impact on the story that I won’t spoil here.

Surprisingly, there’s a decent amount of platforming and exploration found throughout this watery world. It’s not amazing, mind you, though it usually doesn’t need to be. Each new area hosts alleys to loot and ladders to climb where various items can be found. These areas aren’t massive, but they are beautiful from a visual standpoint, which makes it a bit of a shame that there isn’t exactly a whole lot to do in them outside of progressing the story or bumping about for a bit to find those aforementioned items. For such a compelling world, many of the NPCs have nothing to say or offer, which is a bit disappointing. I feel the developer could have easily squeezed in some meaningful side content through these locations, especially in a world that has so many stories to tell.

Stealth is another part of the gameplay, and it is again serviceable. You’ll typically need to avoid patrolling soldiers by ducking into crates or hiding in lockers, being careful not to hide in the same spots as your predecessors lest you want to be found. Granted, there’s no huge penalty for failure, making these sections of the game feel less meaningful. I’d say in general, the platforming, exploration, and stealth are all here more so for the sake of offering up some variety, but in that they don’t offer very much substance outside of a few notes full of lore and some hidden rubber duckies that can be collected.

Whatever you make of its gameplay offerings, Tides of Tomorrow is undeniably beautiful. Its ocean is disgustingly gorgeous, full of plastic and waste that makes your stomach churn at its very sight. The islands themselves are stunningly detailed, with impressive character models and designs to go along with their unique personalities. A personal highlight for me was Pleasure Island, a place I haven’t visited in many years. The game’s lighting is strong too, with real-time weather effects like rain further heightening the mood at different times during the campaign. Certainly, there are some awkward facial animations to be found on more important characters, but for the most part, I found just about every facet of this game's presentation artistically impressive.

The visuals in Tides of Tomorrow are beautiful

Tides of Tomorrow’s sound design is also impressive. While some of the voice performances are a bit awkward given the game’s structure, the soundtrack is an eclectic mix of genres featuring island-themed vocal tracks, heavy metal, and even some electronica. All of the other sound effects are wonderfully implemented, making for an immersive experience that sadly didn’t seem to take advantage of my 5.1 system, at least on PC.

I had read in previews leading up to the release of this game that users were experiencing performance issues, so it was to my surprise that Tides of Tomorrow was one of the smoothest rides I’ve taken all year. I can’t even recall a single framerate drop using my 4070 on high settings at 1440p resolution. Whether it was more intense boat battles or lively towns full of NPCs, the game rarely buckled, though the story was much different on Steam Deck. Here, the game looked, pun intended, washed out. It also struggled with framerate, no surprise given this is a new game running on now fairly old hardware, but it's still worth noting that while yes, the game is playable on Valve’s handheld, you’ll be missing out on its fantastic visual presentation and dealing with a framerate that bounces between the 20s and the 40s quite rapidly.

On paper, Tides of Tomorrow could have been a total disaster. Whenever you try something radically different, there’s risk involved. And to some degree, I still don’t think this game will appeal to fans of narrative adventures specifically, as it has so many other genres welded into its armor. But that said, I enjoyed this world, its characters, the gorgeous visuals and sound design, and especially the story-link feature, even if it comes with consequences of its own. The game is not perfect like I’ve said, but it is a bold step forward for a genre that could do with some change. I’m not convinced that this game necessarily needed stealth and so much on-foot exploration, but these components certainly aren’t egregious enough to write it off entirely. I’d say that if you have enjoyed narrative-focused games with choices that matter, the likes of what Telltale have given us throughout the years, you’ll find something to like here assuming you're okay with its other offerings. Players who want a narrative game to be just that and nothing more could find this product a bit confusing and off-putting.

BRONZE/GOOD