Tides of Tomorrow from THQ Nordic and DigixArt brings us a new procedurally generated narrative-driven plasticpunk postapocalyptic adventure on PlayStation 5. Learn more in our Tides of Tomorrow review!
Please enter your date of birth to access this video:
Tides of Tomorrow from THQ Nordic and DigixArt brings us a new procedurally generated narrative-driven plasticpunk postapocalyptic adventure on PlayStation 5. In Tides of Tomorrow, the world’s land has been submerged, and there’s a microplastic disease known as Plastemia that is hurting humanity at large, as well as all other living creatures. You’ll be placed in the role of a member of the Tidewalkers, a group that is working on finding a solution to the whole scenario. With the help of everyone involved, there might be a way of finding a way to save as many people as possible before it’s too late. It presents an interesting journey in which the choices you make, as well as the choices made by other gamers around the world, can have a direct impact on how the rest of your story – and that of others – unravels.
Once you choose what your character will look like, and if you’ll be playing as a male or female character and will have a male or female voice, you’ll be ready to dive into a new world. I previously had a chance to review the studio’s Road 96 on Nintendo Switch back in 2021, as well as prequel Road 96: Mile 0 on PlayStation 5 in 2023. Having enjoyed both games, I was definitely up for seeing what DigixArt was ready to bring to the table with a new release that aims to improve and expand on the formula. While Road 96 and its prequel took place in 1996, Tides of Tomorrow jumps way, way into the future, for a familiar yet different type of experience.
With this being a game that offers plenty of choices to be made along the way, it is to be expected that said choices will have an impact on how the story branches out and what new elements and interactions pop up here and there as you carry onward. On top of that, the game offers the Online Story-Link system. What this does is give you a glimpse into the choices made by players who have talked the talk and walked the walk before you. A special icon will pop up on the screen to let you know that there’s a Story-Link choice.
After booting up the game, you’ll be presented with the option of choosing someone to follow. You’ll be presented with their user name, the platform they’re playing on, their traits, last connection made to the game, and their overall progress. You can choose from all platforms on which Tides of Tomorrow is available, or add some filters to customize your overall search. Once you’re happy with your choice, you’ll begin your own journey by following in their footsteps. They might have left behind an item for you to make good use of during your run, or they might have locked themselves from finding specific story interactions due to the choices they’ve made.
The game is played from a first-person perspective, so you’ll be taking control of your Tidewalker by using the left analog stick as you use the right analog stick to move the camera around you as needed. Run by pressing and holding down the R2 button. Crouch by pressing the Circle button. Jump by pressing the X button. You can interact by pressing the Triangle or Square buttons that are shown to you at any given time. Some choices are minor ones, while others are major choices that will lead you down a different story path, locking you from other interactions.
Zoom in by pressing the L1 button, so that you can get a better look at your surroundings. Use Ozen by pressing left on the D-Pad, so that you can heal for a bit and recover from the effects of the Plastemia. Emote by pressing the R1 button. When on a boat, you can move forward by pressing the R2 button and backward by using the L2 button. Shoot the boat’s cannon by pressing the Square button. If you’re on a submarine, then it will go up or down with the R2 and L2 buttons, respectively, and you’ll be using the L1 and R1 buttons to collect items.
Once you’ve made some progress in Tides of Tomorrow, your choices will be available as a seed for others to choose, thus keeping the Story-Link loop going. Each game will generate a specific 8-digit Story-Link seed that you will be able to share with your friends or the community at large, so that other gamers can see what paths you’ve followed and what choices you’ve made. Speaking of which, you have access to the Tides of Time, a special mode that you can activate by pressing the L2 button. This will allow you to see the choices others have made before you, and even NPCs will remember the actions of the one you are following. The echoes can prove to be very valuable during your journey. Those with whom you are friends on PlayStation will automatically pop up as followable Story-Links, and you’ll also show up as an option on their side once you’ve progressed in the story.
Your interactions with members of the different factions will also lead you down different story paths that will be different from the ones that other players take. There’s the Reclaimers faction, a group that is pretty much focusing on scavenging enough resources to survive one more day. You will also run into members of the Mystics, a group that worships the past. There’s the Marauders faction, which is in control of all trade and medicine, a very valuable resource in the world of Tides of Tomorrow.
Trophy-wise, this release features a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy waiting for you. The list is split into 24 Bronze trophies, 11 Silver trophies, and 4 Gold trophies for you to work on. What will you need to do to add that shiny Platinum trophy to your collection? Some of the objectives to complete include changing which player you’re following, examining more than 100 written documents, locating all hidden ducks in the game, leaving 10 emotes, sharing Ozen in a donation box, collecting 1,000 scraps, reaching the max rank for each of the five different traits, and scanning 30 asynchronous visions, to name some examples.
Tides of Tomorrow brings us a new procedurally generated narrative-driven plasticpunk postapocalyptic adventure on PlayStation 5. In Tides of Tomorrow, the world’s land has been submerged, and there’s a microplastic disease known as Plastemia that is hurting humanity at large, as well as all other living creatures. You’ll be placed in the role of a member of the Tidewalkers, a group that is working on finding a solution to the whole scenario. With the help of everyone involved, there might be a way of finding a way to save as many people as possible before it’s too late. It presents an interesting journey in which the choices you make, as well as the choices made by other gamers around the world, can have a direct impact on how the rest of your story – and that of others – unravels. It’s a single-player game in which you’re technically never really alone.
The choices you make and your actions toward NPCs will have an impact on how your character develops, determining your playing style through five different traits: Pro-Manking, Pro-Nature, Survalist, Cooperative, or Troublemaker. Those who are Pro-Manking tend to act benevolently toward human NPCs. Pro-Nature players will go out of their way to help nature as well as the Mereids – those would be the sea creatures in this world. Survivalists focus on surviving on their own and won’t worry too much about others. Cooperative players will help other Tidewalkers by leaving behind items that can prove to be very handy. As for Troublemakers, they sorta want to see the world metaphorically burn. The traits that you favor will lead you to one of the different endings that the game has to offer, thus considerably increasing replay value. Tides of Tomorrow is out today on PlayStation 5 with a $29.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This Tides of Tomorrow review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by THQ Nordic.
