Tides of Tomorrow: A Journey That Will Influence Player Choices

Since its announcement at Day of the Devs in June 2024, Tides of Tomorrow has piqued our curiosity. And the reason is simple: the core concept of this experience is based on a "deferred multiplayer" where every decision we make could be influenced by those previously made by another player.

Okay, okay, it sounds quite convoluted, but let's think about it. Tides of Tomorrow is a first-person adventure that emphasizes a formula we consider brilliant: following a player who has already immersed themselves in the events, tracing their steps, and deciding whether to proceed along their path or choose a completely new one.

In short, our personal epic will be shaped by the actions of those who preceded us in a kind of Story-Link. And not only that, other new Tidewalkers might have the bizarre idea of following us to influence their story (so we can also prepare the ground for future adherents or, even better, deceive them).

The journey we undertook with Tides of Tomorrow was evocative: the game world has so much to offer beyond just the main plot. You can indeed stumble upon many secrets and documents that enrich the events, making everything extremely satisfying. Don't rush to reach the credits, because Digixart's adventure could truly surprise you.

But without further ado, let's try to discover more about this plasticpunk world.

From the Plastic Abyss to a New Life

The initial phase of Tides of Tomorrow is not the most promising: we will find ourselves underwater swimming towards the light, without knowing that this is just the beginning of an incredible journey. After choosing the features of our Tidewalker, what many might see as the future messiah of the world (but do we believe it?), including uniform color and gender, we will have to make the very first decision: select a player to follow.

This first step is fundamental, because based on the pairing, we will be able to see all the decisions that this Tidewalker made, with the relative consequences. The choice will therefore be ours, but with absolute certainty, following a friend (or perhaps a streamer) could be even more satisfying, but no one will prevent us from opting for a stranger… in the end, it doesn't change the substance of the game much.

Tides of Tomorrow is therefore a single-player adventure based on asynchronous multiplayer, meaning it draws on reminiscences of other players that could influence our judgment, a kind of ancestral memories of other thoughts inserted in the form of a vision. Let's not digress: each player to choose will have their own traits, determined by karmic choices.

Saviors of humanity, survivalists, or unscrupulous opportunists (troublemakers)? It will be up to us to decide which values to follow, but this does not mean we have to respect others' preferences, no sir, even if we will be filled with many doubts. What changes are the dialogue options and how NPCs react: and they will not hesitate to show their frustration if they have been disappointed by the previous Tidewalker.

Once we emerge from the depths, we will meet the first inhabitant of the world before our eyes, Nahe, who will throw responsibilities at us as if they were boulders: "A miracle, you have no idea how important you are," it must be said, truly comforting. Perhaps now we are aware of what wonders await us and we can begin to interact with the game world, discovering anecdotes on blackboards or tablets too corroded by time.

After learning that we are messengers who follow each other through the Tides of Time, we will be overcome by an attack of plastemia whose symptoms will only be reduced with ozen, similar to oxygen tanks that will recharge (albeit slightly) our residual energy. And from the very first moments, we will have to face the first choice: take the ozen or save it for the next Tidewalker who awakens from the depths (and decides to follow us).

Every action therefore leads to consequences, not only for our adventure but also for those who come after us. We will still have the power of the Tides of Time at our disposal, a fundamental ability that will allow us to continue the story and discover hidden secrets. It differs in two interpretations: important visions, those that reveal the events experienced by the previous player, and minor visions, actions performed and suggestions from the other Tidewalker.

The visions, classified with different colors, could provide suggestions (such as guiding us in a boxing match by choosing the right action) or lead us into clever deceptions: a player, through the emote menu, could indicate a wrong choice and cause us "disastrous consequences." This connection seems to be brilliant at times, as every person we meet in the game world will tell us about our predecessor, saying whether they are a generous type, an unreliable one, or warning us about the choices made.

The idea that Tides of Tomorrow puts forward is certainly innovative and makes us reflect on some current societal problems, such as plastic, which is close to many of us and is devastating various ecosystems. The game thus plants a seed, and from that sprout, we will find all the past experiences of other players, the choices they made, and the resources deposited in special containers. We can also understand a part of their human soul, whether they showed altruism or only sought a way to stay alive, given that Tidewalkers, if they do not take ozen, will become plastic statues.

Another very interesting aspect is given by the karmic choices that will lead to different scenarios and situations, sometimes quite unexpected. And in addition to being judicious with the various NPCs, giving more or less correct answers at certain moments, the past experiences of our predecessor will call our decisions into question, further complicating the events.

Tides of Tomorrow: An Idea with Incredible Potential

We liked the basic idea, and the narrative branches offer good variety in the events. On the gameplay side, it didn't always seem in top form, with some small uncertainties at times, especially in the stealth sections where the CPU proved not very bright. Interesting, however, are the secondary activities, such as arena combat or races on our favorite boat, which enrich some dead moments and also offer excellent loot (including ozen tanks) to make our lives a little easier.

During our mission for the good of humanity, we will also have a particular encounter, that with the mole, a being made of plastic who enjoys creating statues with those who (unwillingly) surrender to plastemia. What is certain is that Tides of Tomorrow is a race against time that concerns our survival: sometimes being altruistic could lead to certain death, however, if we decide to be selfish, we could also be branded as the villains of the story. The questions that arise are innumerable: must we always be altruistic to survive? will the indifferent have an advantage by not sharing resources? Is it better to perish or think of the next person who will come after us?

Questions that will bounce around in your head throughout the adventure and that, as you progress, will probably settle, but will still make you doubt from time to time. To be honest, some uncertainty flickered in our minds before embarking on this journey, and we wondered: will witnessing events already experienced by other players ruin our experience? The answer is no, because everything has been so well thought out that every choice made by others will not influence our path; on the contrary, we can even fix the troubles caused by the previous Tidewalker.

The creation of the game world in Tides of Tomorrow has substantially convinced us: each island has been conceived in such a detailed way as to guarantee healthy exploration, complete with convincing characters who will remember us if we have already met them elsewhere. The latter are well-characterized and ingeniously "constructed" in a world where we are sometimes viewed with suspicion.

Despite some uncertainties in certain sessions and a repetitiveness of certain mechanics, we believe that the strong point of this production lies in the Story-Link, in that function that brings a breath of fresh air to the basic formula of graphic adventures.