Originally released a year ago as a Netflix-exclusive game, Highwater by Demagog Studio and Rogue Games has finally been ported to all the consoles including the PC. Touted as a narrative-driven adventure with turn-based combat with a puzzle-solving twist, the game has been somewhat of a hidden gem for those who were fortunate enough to have a mobile device compatible with the app and have a current Netflix subscription. With the recent port of the game, a lot of gamers will now get the chance to experience this title.
The story of Highwater is a bit like that 90s movie where the post-apocalyptic world has been flooded. Little of the land remains, which means almost all essential resources for living are scarce. It also means that society has, of course, split into the Haves and Have-Nots. It has gotten so bad that the Haves are planning on leaving the planet via a rocket ship to start anew to a different one.
Highwater follows Nikos, a Have-Not planning to sneak into this rocket ship. Such a plan doesn’t come easy though; many of the Haves security personnel as well as rogue Have-Nots stand in his way. Nikos will also befriend others who have the same plan and will follow him throughout this journey.
Exploration in Highwater is via a small boat throughout the flooded world. While at first it may seem like exploration seems like it’s an open world, it’s not. The game gives an illusion by giving an in-game map to access as well as other travel points besides the main objective to make it feel like it is a bigger game than it is. However, that illusion is quickly dispelled after just a half hour in the game; it is a very linear game.
As a side note, Highwater does implement an in-game radio that plays while you explore around the world. The songs really capture the feeling of despair, hope, anger, ecstasy—all the assumed feelings of those living in the post-apocalyptic water world. Interestingly, these songs were performed by the cast of characters that Nikos meets throughout his journey.
While Nikos and his friends hatch his evacuation plan, he engages in combat with those who get in their way. These are tactical turn-based combat again with some illusion. Nikos and his friends as Have-Nots will always have the lower hand coming into every combat; this means that they can’t just go wild in defeating every enemy to win. In fact, utilizing that strategy will almost always mean failure. What the game does provide is environmental hazards (e.g., a column or tree limb to push into enemies or deep abysses to pull enemies with a fishing rod) that need to be taken advantage of. In a sense, the illusion in combat is that they are really puzzle games rather than tactical combat.
What really needs to be stated here is that Highwater is a mobile game ported to consoles. Thus, the expectation that it is a big and complex game should be dismissed. The game can be completed in less than four hours and doesn’t really offer much in replayability. However, the narrative is very compelling and thought-provoking as it somehow almost mirrors what society is facing nowadays.
This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.
