In Other Waters

Verdict:
Recommended

Content Warnings:
Death, discussions of ecological devastation, light body horror (confined to text descriptions)

Do you play as a woman?
No, you are an AI piloting a suit.

Do the women drive the story?
Yes, Ellery is the protagonist and her goals and wants are the entire driving force behind the story.

How many men are there?
Not a single living man appears in the story.

What are the Romance options?
None, but Ellery was very clearly in love with the person she is looking for.

Is the game any good?

In Other Waters starts with an air of complete mystery, you wake up to a confusing and unfamiliar interface, in an alien environment. It is so abrupt that it can be difficult to get a grip on what you should actually be doing. Thankfully, once you figure out the basic controls, you’re set for the rest of the game.

The one constant in your time playing In Other Waters will be the company of the woman who is inside the suit you are piloting, Ellery. She is a xenobiologist, which makes the discoveries and insights you glean from the world you find yourself in feel so much more real and interesting. Her reason for being on the planet is revealed early on, she is looking for the woman she loves, who went missing some time ago after sending her a message asking her to come to this planet.

Ellery is very interesting as a protagonist. She is smart and driven, but there’s a sadness and resignation to her that hurts to see. She has clearly gone through serious heartbreak in her life. Accordingly, there isn’t much in the way of humour in the game, though it’s no tragedy either. It strikes a very mellow and melancholy tone, fitting for a game set in the ocean. Ultimately, Ellery feels like a real woman who you are helping on a deeply personal journey.

The game uses a very simple HUD, looking more like the control panel for a vehicle (which it kind of is) than a traditional game interface. Despite this, it manages some moments of true beauty and wonder, and uses colour magnificently to match the mood of your surroundings.

Gameplay largely revolves around scanning and selecting a destination, then moving there. You can also scan local fauna and flora to learn more about the planet and environment you are on. By studying your environment, you will also discover ways to use it to your advantage, by using resources you collect or knowledge to guide you. Its a very simple formula but it works, so it never gets boring.

The process of discovery is easily the main draw of the game, and I spent a long time reading the logs and various details about the different plants and animals you find beneath the waves. All of them are written with a thoughtful hand and an eye for detail, and is well worth the time to read them even if they rarely have much to do with the gameplay or larger narrative.

Hazards in the game are few and far between. The suit can only go a limited distance, and has limited oxygen, but neither of those are never pressing problems. You can return to base at any time with no serious repercussions. Only in a few places are you ever seriously threatened by external factors, and they make for some of the most eerie and tense moments in an otherwise very relaxing game.

I won’t get into the story too much, since this is a recommendation and I don’t want to spoil things. I will say that it is a beautiful narrative that, despite a couple pacing issues, managed to maintain my interest and engage me the entire time. The one disappointment is that the sapphic romance never goes anywhere, the two women never even speak to each other. It’s a shame, since so few games have explicitly sapphic pairings, and it does kind of feel like a bury your gays moment. That being said, I still believe it is a worthwhile experience.

The ending is fine. It almost feels like there exists out there a more exciting, larger sequel to the game that follows on and that this is the simple and charming prequel. It would be easy to get lost in the promise of that image, but it would also be a disservice to the skill and effort that went into making In Other Waters, which is already a very good and interesting game.

Sorry for the short post! Been a rough week, and this game is quite simple so there isn’t much to discuss. I really loved it though, not many games have touched my heart the same way this one does.