Tides of Tomorrow Palms-On Preview

Asynchronous multiplayer will not be as outstanding as real-time multiplayer, however it’s nonetheless a novel spin on multiplayer gameplay that may improve immersion, supply help, and make gamers really feel like they’re touring via a large, shared world with many others. What makes DigixArt’s choose-your-own-adventure game Tides of Tomorrow so completely different, although, is that, in contrast to different video games with asynchronous multiplayer parts that not directly have an effect on a participant’s gameplay or just enable for turn-based PvP, it incorporates these parts in a means that truly alters how the story performs out for every particular person. It is bold, to say the least, however that is finally what makes it probably the most intriguing narrative-driven multiplayer experiments in current reminiscence.

Sport Rant lately went hands-on with the primary two chapters of Tides of Tomorrow, which allowed us to get really feel for the way its asynchronous multiplayer parts play a novel position in its story and gameplay. It ought to be famous that whereas Tides of Tomorrow does have common, albeit easy gameplay, it’s primarily performed for its story. As such, particulars shared on this preview will primarily give attention to how the sport incorporates its most distinctive options into its narrative quite than the narrative itself, to keep away from spoiling the entire level of the sport.

Following Visions By Tides of Tomorrow’s Flooded World

Tides of Tomorrow is ready on Elynd, a large ocean planet ravaged by a world-ending flood, the place most of civilization has been destroyed and survivors cling to life on floating cities and platforms. On this world, a pandemic referred to as Plastemia, attributable to poisonous microplastic air pollution, is spreading and threatening all residing issues. Gamers step into the sneakers of a Tidewalker, an amnesiac survivor woke up with no reminiscence of their previous. As they start their journey, they’re tasked with exploring the mysterious, flooded world, gathering assets, interacting with diverse characters, and navigating harmful threats of their seek for a remedy to Plastemia.

The entire concept behind Tides of Tomorrow is that you’re by no means actually alone in your journey, despite the fact that you’re enjoying by your self. As a substitute of experiencing Elynd in a vacuum, you actively select to comply with the trail of one other actual participant (or not), and their previous selections ripple ahead into your personal playthrough. Their decisions decide which characters you meet first, how sure conditions unfold, and what info or alternatives can be found to you, whereas their presence is felt via temporary visions that present how they navigated comparable moments. You might be free to react in another way, make opposing selections, or comply with their lead intently, however the sport is continually framing your story as half of a bigger chain, the place each Tidewalker leaves behind a path that others can study from, construct upon, or push towards in their very own means.

My preview started with some quite atmospheric music reminiscent of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, the place beginning a brand new sport knowledgeable me of the asynchronous journey forward of me after which took me to the character creation display the place my seemingly lifeless character floated beneath the ocean with many others. There, I used to be introduced with a handful of colour schemes for my Tidewalker, in addition to the choice to decide on my gender and voice. Upon creating my character, I used to be introduced with a listing of different gamers to comply with, with their location, traits, date of final connection, and their progress listed close by. I selected to comply with a participant named AJC, and my journey started.

Floating within the depths of the ocean, I used to be greeted by a mysterious voice telling me, “It is time,” and that I wanted to make contact with somebody. Forward of me, I noticed AJC’s echo swimming towards the floor, and I adopted them. Regardless of a good bit of battle and a few lack of well being alongside the best way, I managed to make it shut sufficient to the floor of the water to be rescued by a personality named Nahe, who would play a pivotal position in my introduction to Tides of Tomorrow‘s core survival mechanics.

Tides of Tomorrow‘s major mechanic is Tides of Time, which permits gamers to briefly see visions of the participant they’re following. It may be triggered at any time, although its solely actual use is to see these visions and nothing else. It does not spotlight objects or targets straight, except gamers discover themselves at an deadlock and a imaginative and prescient of the participant they’re following offers them a clue about tips on how to proceed. It really works equally to Darkish Souls‘ phantoms (ghosts) mechanic, which quickly permits gamers to see translucent silhouettes of others. After my first use of Tides of Tomorrow‘s Tides of Time mechanic, I witnessed a imaginative and prescient of Nahe telling AJC that she had been in search of them her entire life.

Following Nahe as much as the deck of her boat, she started to fill me in on the specter of Plastemia and the way plastic had contaminated my mind, inflicting common Plastemia assaults the place my Tidewalker momentarily appeared to battle respiration. After having a type of assaults in the midst of my dialog together with her, I used Tides of Time to see a imaginative and prescient of her providing AJC a bottle of Ozen, which she stated would assist cut back their signs in the meanwhile. Sadly, the bottle she gave to AJC was her solely bottle, which means she had none left for me. Quickly after, I had one other assault and handed out, after which I woke up on her boat at Scrap Harbour. From there, she inspired me to comply with in AJC’s footsteps, as they might lead me to security, and Tides of Tomorrow‘s post-apocalyptic story was formally underway.

Tides of Tomorrow’s Star Mechanic Drives Its Asynchronous Multiplayer

As beforehand intimated, the primary draw of Tides of Tomorrow is its Tides of Time mechanic. As it’s a choose-your-own-adventure sport, gamers are ceaselessly introduced with dialogue choices that affect how they’re handled by characters and the way the narrative unfolds. Nonetheless, sometimes, new choices will be added when gamers use Tides of Time to witness a Main Imaginative and prescient. In these circumstances, gamers is likely to be having a dialog with an NPC the place “Undiscovered Imaginative and prescient” is listed as a dialogue alternative. Briefly breaking away from the dialog and utilizing Tides of Time can then unlock this feature, as they witness a key occasion from the earlier participant’s journey.

Main Visions do not solely contribute to dialogue choices, although, as they’ll help gamers in overcoming obstacles as effectively. For instance, one of many first occasions a Main Imaginative and prescient assisted me in Tides of Tomorrow was after I wanted to get from one platform to a different by crossing the water that divided them. Within the imaginative and prescient, I noticed AJC utilizing a movable platform to cross the water, and despite the fact that it was a easy sufficient answer already, it nonetheless supplied a novel means of stopping me from getting caught in an issue. Plus, utilizing Tides of Time is fully non-obligatory, so gamers who need to protect the sport’s problem or be fully unaffected by the earlier player’s choices can keep away from utilizing it.

As a result of Tides of Time is an non-obligatory function, I discovered utilizing Main Visions to be, for probably the most half, extra of a bonus to the expertise than a crucial a part of it. Even after studying what AJC had chosen to do in a key story second, I’d nonetheless typically select different dialogue choices, just because selecting the choice influenced by the earlier participant nearly felt like dishonest. Perhaps that is the purpose, however because the game already severely lacks challenge in its gameplay, taking the thriller out of its outcomes lowered that problem much more.

Tides of Time can be used to witness Minor Visions, though I discovered these largely unhelpful and kind of only a option to hold Tides of Tomorrow‘s asynchronous multiplayer on the forefront. Minor Visions are nearly similar to Darkish Souls phantoms, in that they usually present little greater than the earlier character shifting in a sure route or performing an emote. Through the preview, Minor Visions additionally sometimes broke my immersion, as I’d see AJC’s echo shifting round on my display (typically proper in my face) throughout pivotal cinematic and dialogue sequences. Bugs are anticipated in a preview, however I could not resolve whether or not this was a bug or the sport’s core techniques simply working towards it.

The ingenuity of Tides of Time does shine in sure moments of Tides of Tomorrow‘s gameplay, even when these moments are few and much between. For instance, throughout Act 1, I used to be tasked with fist-fighting one other NPC, and the sport gave me a possibility to make use of Tides of Time in an effort to see which means the NPC would dodge. Then, simply as one would when enjoying Simon, I memorized his strikes and reacted accordingly. That was in all probability the peak of gameplay for me in my Tides of Tomorrow preview, as I acquired to see Tides of Time affect greater than dialogue and easy puzzle options.

It is also attention-grabbing that your playthrough in Tides of Tomorrow just isn’t solely straight influenced by the earlier participant’s but in addition does the identical for any gamers that comply with you. Any major choices you make can change your traits, which finally give different gamers an concept of who they’re selecting to comply with. A participant who’s Professional-Mankind, as an example, may have left behind a world that has a constructive disposition towards Tidewalkers and can be more healthy and extra affluent. A Troublemaker, however, may have carried out the alternative.

The one hangup I’ve with this method is that gamers cannot totally recognize how their actions have an effect on different gamers with out understanding these different gamers and sharing their seed with them (which permits gamers to comply with each other straight with out selecting a participant at random). In a means, this causes Tides of Tomorrow to nearly work towards itself as a result of, except gamers are being adopted by somebody that issues to them—like a good friend or a content material creator they get pleasure from—they’re much less prone to care about how their actions have an effect on others. In consequence, there’s an elevated chance that gamers will act selfishly, like taking Ozen and scrap from a shared chest quite than leaving some behind for future Tidewalkers. If a participant’s traits really affected gameplay quite than merely giving different gamers an concept of who they’re following, then it could matter regardless, however that is not the case.

Tides of Tomorrow Places Extra Emphasis on Story, Much less on Gameplay

Tides of Tomorrow is, when all of it boils all the way down to it, a story that gamers cannot solely form for themselves however for many who come after them as effectively. In consequence, its gameplay is immensely simplistic, with heavy restrictions on exploration, restricted fight encounters, and little or no area between story beats. With Tides of Tomorrow seemingly going for a narrative to be advised quite than a sport to be performed, that formulation works, however anybody in search of deep, partaking gameplay will doubtless be upset.

Upon arriving at Scrap Harbour, as an example, the sport presents the placement as this immersive world crammed with alternatives. On the one hand, there are NPCs all over the place that regarded like they had been genuinely residing on this world—like dancers going wild in a membership, a barkeeper tending to prospects, and residents ready in line for Ozen. This remoted zone (and the world of Tides of Tomorrow usually) is coated in lovely, vibrant colours, and the scattered neon lights actually intensify Scrap Harbour’s rebellious persona. Nonetheless, upon wandering the world, I started to find simply how shallow it really is.

Only a few of the NPCs I encountered throughout my preview of the sport could possibly be interacted with, they usually hardly ever reacted to my presence. From what I performed, there’s little or no motive to discover off the crushed path, other than occasional lore bits discovered on tablets and negligible quantities of scrap, Tides of Tomorrow‘s foreign money. Even when touring between zones by boat, the sport nearly teases you with full management over your boat, however quite than letting you freely discover the ocean, these sequences act as glorified loading screens similar to Starfield‘s that finish as soon as you have traveled a sure distance. You are then teleported to the placement you selected to go to, even if you happen to did not attain it earlier than the loading ended.

There are occasional non-obligatory Ocean Occasions you may full in Tides of Tomorrow for bonus scrap, Ozen, and lore, and their fast-paced nature makes their gameplay a bit extra thrilling. One is likely to be gathering a ship’s loot earlier than it sinks or outrunning a storm via a minefield. Sadly, these occasions really feel like they finish nearly as rapidly as they start, and also you’re pulled again into normalcy with no alternative however to advance the story.

There are additionally stealth sections in Tides of Tomorrow that had been very janky through the preview and, as soon as once more, exceedingly easy. In these sequences, enemies patrol areas with brilliant pink cones of sunshine in entrance of them that point out their detection radius. The one downside is that not solely are they extremely straightforward to keep away from, however the time it takes them to detect you makes sneaking previous them even simpler. To prime all of it off, Tides of Tomorrow‘s stealth sections are extraordinarily quick, with a lot of them lasting not than a minute as a result of their simplicity and the space between their begin and finish.

Tides of Tomorrow leaning more on its story than gameplay additionally comes with the most important draw back of its poor voice appearing. A few of its most outstanding characters supply first rate performances, however I discovered the overwhelming majority of the sport’s NPCs to be unbelievable through the preview. Typically, if a sport has strong gameplay, it is a lot simpler to disregard tough or inconsistent voice work, however in a sport the place almost each interplay, alternative, and second of development is delivered via dialogue, these shortcomings grow to be far tougher to miss.

Tides of Tomorrow Palms-On Preview: Closing Ideas

Regardless of some setbacks for the time being, Tides of Tomorrow nonetheless looks like a strong sport made for gamers who care much more about narrative experimentation than mechanical depth. Should you get pleasure from story-driven experiences the place alternative, perspective, and consequence matter greater than fight techniques or open exploration, there’s lots right here to be inquisitive about. The concept of following completely different gamers and seeing how their selections form your personal journey does give the sport some inherent replay worth, even when that curiosity comes extra from eager to see alternate outcomes than from having fun with the act of replaying its gameplay. How compelling that finally ends up being long run will doubtless rely upon how invested gamers grow to be within the tales left behind by others.

With Tides of Tomorrow set to launch on February 24, 2026, DigixArt nonetheless has somewhat over a month to easy out among the tough edges current on this preview. Sure points, like shallow exploration and overly easy stealth, really feel baked into the sport’s design and will not change a lot earlier than launch. Others, like presentation hiccups and pacing issues, may enhance with extra polish. Regardless, Tides of Tomorrow stands out for its ambition alone, and whether or not it finally lands will come all the way down to how a lot gamers are prepared to satisfy it by itself narrative-focused phrases quite than anticipating it to behave like a extra conventional sport.

Launched

February 24, 2026

ESRB

Teen / Violence, Blood, Language

Developer(s)

DigixArt

Multiplayer

On-line Multiplayer

Tides of Tomorrow launches on PC, PS5, and Xbox Sequence X|S on February 24, 2026. Sport Rant was supplied with a PC sport code for the needs of this preview.