Far Lone Sails - Review

Sometimes there is simply not enough time to play all the games I want to and games from last year don't get played until the following one.  Far Lone Sails has been on my list of games to play from last year and I just got around to playing it. It was the art style that drew me and I knew I just had to play it.


I am one of those strange people who love Bounty Bars, recently I found out they released a cookie version.  They are perfect, soft, full of chocolate and coconut, and right now are up there as my number one junk food.  Playing Far Lone Sails could this be my new tasty thing?

Story

The game opens on the character Lone kneeling in front of her fathers grave, then she gets up and the journey begins.  Lone will use her and her father's locomotive to traverse a world that has been ravaged by some natural disaster.  While there is a story it is very subtle and most questions you may have won't be answered until the last third of the game.

Overall the story is engaging and has great way of pulling at your heart-strings.

Visuals

The visuals used in Far Lone Sails are amazing.  The world feels unforgiving and a shell of its former self, but even with that there is some beauty left.  There is the occasional sighting of animals, an orange sky as night approaches, or the green light of your locomotive.  There is something amazing about seeing capsized ships and old buildings of a forgotten world.  

Overall the game is a visual masterpiece that had me hooked the whole time, this alone was enough for me to make it worthwhile playing Far Lone Sails.

Music 

The sounds used in Far Lone Sails include jazz, country, and something else almost whimsical.  The music is composed by Swiss composer Joel Schoch, and this is his first video game soundtrack.

The soundtrack runs at just under an hour and features some great tracks, some of my favorites being; 'Coloured Engine', 'More to See', 'Inconvenient Circumstances', 'Sun Down', 'Drive It', 'Half', 'Lone Sail' and 'Warmth in the Cold'.

Overall the soundtrack is really great and helped keep me and Lone entertained.

Gameplay

Lone takes control of the locomotive (featured above) and has to keep it chugging along.  The locomotive needs power to fuel the core, it needs to be powered on and often you will need to release the steam valve. There is an emergency stop button so you can jump out and collect supplies, everything can be used for fuel.  Initially, you don't start with sails but get them installed later, they really help increase your travel speed.  There will be a few more upgrades later including a welding torch and water hose.  

Considering you are exploring an almost dead world there is something peaceful about it all.  Even when there are small light puzzles I never felt overtaxed in any way.  I think I felt that way due to the locomotive being the only thing that really felt alive, apart from Lone herself of course.

Overall the gameplay is simple, but so much fun and helped me really immerse myself in the world. 

Final Thoughts

So, after just over three hours how did I feel?  Blown away.  The story, while very minimal was great and the ending really got to me.  The visuals are stunning and the music works perfectly.  The gameplay works and I don't really remember having any issues.  This one gets 5 out of 5