Tides of Tomorrow Review

A flooded world of shared consequences.

The people who worked on Road 96 also developed Tides of Tomorrow. Digixart is a studio known for trying out story-driven, choice-heavy experiences that blur the line between player action and storytelling. This new project builds on that idea and takes it even further by asking a big question: what if the choices you made didn't just affect your story, but also the stories of other people around the world?

The world of Ellend is submerged, and the game depicts a terrible future in which nature is breaking down. People have been forced to live on floating villages that are surrounded by polluted waters full of plastic trash. 

The player wakes up in this fragile world as a Tide Walker, a figure pulled from the water with no memory, who is deeply linked to the past and the voices of those who came before. From the start, the game sets itself up as more than just a story-based journey.

 It also wants to be a shared experience that can be played over and over again. It's clear that the developers wanted to take the "choose your own adventure" concept and make it more social and unpredictable, so that each trip is part of a bigger web of choices made by people all over the world.

At the heart of Tides of Tomorrow is the fight to stay alive in a world that is ending. Ellend is drowning, and not just in water. It's also drowning in trash from hundreds of years ago. Plastic pollution has turned into a dangerous disease called plastia. 

In this disease, microplastics slowly eat away at a person's body until they turn into a lifeless, plasticized shell.

The main character, a Tide Walker, wakes up in this broken world and has no idea who they are. They quickly meet Na, who seems like a mix of a scientist and a shaman, and who tells them how bad things are for people. 

Plastia can only be temporarily stopped by a drug called Ozen, which works like an inhaler and is hard to find. Sadly, the quantity is decreasing, and people are becoming more desperate. From here on out, the trip begins—not just to stay alive, but also to find the truth, get help, and maybe even find a cure. 

The story is told through interactions with three main groups: the cruel marauders, who control most of the trade and medicine; the reclaimers, who are survivors who are struggling but are kind; and the mystics, who are a mysterious group that reveres the past and sees the Tide Walkers in almost spiritual terms.

The story is interesting because there is no clear moral alignment. Even though the marauders are cruel, they control Ozen, which is the only way to escape Plastia. Reclaimers are nice, but they don't always have any power. The mystics are mysterious and hard to predict. The player has to choose between life, morality, and consequences every time they do something. At its core, Tides of Tomorrow is an adventure game with a story. 

The game's light gameplay features are meant to support the story rather than take over it. The story is told from the first-person point of view, and progress is based on decisions made in dialogue and interactions with the environment.  "Story Link," an asynchronous multiplayer feature that links players in a roundabout way, is one of the most important systems.

You pick a different person to follow at the start of each game.

It could be a friend, a streamer, a coder, or someone you don't know. You can see what their past choices mean by listening to the "echoes" they leave behind. There are different kinds of these sounds. They can show up as changes in the world, like fixing or destroying broken ladders, leaving doors open or locking them, and stealing or keeping resources safe.

Sometimes they appear as traces of the story, revealing the decisions made at key plot points. You may even find emotes or other subtle clues that lead to hidden things or different routes. This method makes a structure for stories with many levels. You're responding not only to the world, but also to how another player sees it. 

The cycle will then start all over again when someone else inherits your deeds. Players can also leave items like scrap or Ozen canisters for other players to find, which adds to the game's subtle cooperative loop. But players don't have to work together; they can also be selfish, making the world harder for those who come after them.

The game also keeps track of players' hidden behavior patterns, such as whether they are helpful or harmful, which subtly changes results and storylines. Even though Tides of Tomorrow has a deep story, the game's controls are kept intentionally easy. 

It doesn't have a deep combat system or many tricky puzzles. Instead, interactions occur through dialogue choices, stealth sections, and simple interaction methods. The stealth parts are easy to understand. To dodge guards, players must stay out of their lines of sight or carefully plan their movements.

 If you get caught, detection is forgiving—you'll usually just be sent back to the checkpoint rather than facing harsh punishment. This means that stealth is less of a hurdle and more of a chance to dictate the pace. The game gets new escape rooms and light-action scenarios from time to time, but they're not meant to be hard.

There isn't much fighting, and most of the time it's done automatically or through basic choices rather than technical talent.

To go from one zone to another, you have to take a tiny boat. It sounds like it could be used for study on the open sea, but it's actually more organized. The ocean isn't a fully open planet; it's more like a space between hubs. Travel is usually speedier or automated, and naval fights and rescues are optional.

Simple shooting mechanics and lots of targeting help make some of these side activities easier to finish. Races and timed routines are simple and focus more on timing and steering than fine control. In Tides of Tomorrow, you advance by collecting scrap, the game's currency, and controlling Ozen, which prevents plastia. These can be used to buy upgrades, unlock additional discussion possibilities, or change interaction outcomes.

But the game doesn't place much emphasis on growing up or improving. Instead, player impact is shown through the story's outcomes and the resources available to the player. Someone who is kind might leave behind goods that help the next player stay alive, while someone who is selfish might take all the resources.

The Story Link system and different endings allow you to play again and again. Each playthrough takes about 10 to 15 hours, and players connected to the same game can make big changes to how things go. But there isn't a way to skip chapters or fast forward, so if you want to play it again, you have to start from the beginning.

This design choice makes the experience more immersive, but it may make some players less likely to play again in the long term, especially those who are more interested in changing the gameplay than the story. Visually, Tides of Tomorrow shows a beautiful but confusing world. Ellend is shown to be both beautiful and broken down.

It is a flooded world with floating junk settlements, structures that look like coral, and bright but polluted water.

There are many contrasts in the art direction. Along with dark environmental stories, bright colors and strange buildings are used. Floating platforms look like the remains of long-gone societies, and oceans of trash show what happens when people don't take care of their environment.

The character models and main story scenes are well drawn, and the performance capture for the main characters is very good. However, some NPCs are less refined. Unbalanced side characters can destroy the atmosphere with their voice acting or delivery. Despite these flaws, the game's unique look suits its fragile survival and environmental degradation theme.

A good blend of melancholy and uplifting sounds fits the world. The soundtrack quickly alternates between calm investigation and tense decision-making, providing emotional weight. Environmental sounds matter. The sound of waves, creaking structures, and distant mechanical hums makes you feel like you're in the ocean.

The voice acting for the main characters is mostly good, especially during important parts of the story. However, some of the minor dialogue performances aren't consistent. Aside from helping gameplay, sound cues are also useful, especially in stealth sections where guards can be partially detected by sound.

Tides of Tomorrow isn't really a game; it's more of an experiment with live stories. Its identity is rooted in shared stories, and players are asked to consider more than just their own survival. They are also asked to consider the impact they have on others.

The story is what makes the experience great, even though the game's controls are meant to be simple—sometimes too simple. The Story Link mechanic is the most creative part. It connects strangers and changes their paths without their knowledge. This objective has costs. Because the game isn't difficult, has shallow mechanics, and is straightforward, some players may expect more from their time with it. 

It's also fun to play again and again because it's interesting, not because it changes mechanically. Still, Tides of Tomorrow offers something truly unique for players who like to try out different storylines, make moral choices, and share story systems. It might not live up to the hype surrounding its predecessor, Road96, but it proudly makes its own name as an introspective, unique, and emotionally charged experience.