Back to the Playstation 5 reveal event again, and I'm starting to realise that there's a literal cornucopia of games that I plain just don't remember from that stream. Take, for example, those games and titles that were so far afield of what one would expect to be pushed and advertised at an official console-celebratory event like this, that I filed them away to the 'nah, that one couldn't have been real' part of my brain. That's probably were 'Jett: The Far Shore' sits, as something that scrapes the space around my recollection yet fails to make an impression from the dual merits of being both too weird and too normal for me to distinguish. Granted, this impression is built entirely upon that gut, first impression, period we get with these game reveals, but that's where I'm at.
'Jett: The Far Shore' seems to covet a very odd style to it that flitters between the rustic and the technologically advanced; thus leading to some people's feedback that this game was 'controlling the Native American space program.' And to be fair, it is strange witnessing this very simple looking village of huts, complete with horses and folk wearing cloths, only to then move onto the nearby 'Jett' spaceship to take off on an adventure. But what it does highlight is the breadth of the adventure that 'The Far Shore' intends to deliver, from the grounded to the stars, and adventure is the name of the game for this one as the 'Far shore' in the title refers to an entire distant Ocean world. Player's will be sent to an unexplored, and apparently 'mythical' ocean planet in order to seek a future home for their people, and the sights they encounter along the way will form the backbone of this cinematic experience.
'Cinematic' in that the developers bill 'Jett: The Far Shore' as a "captivating action adventure" with "laid back exploration- White-knuckle action- and a helping of existential dread". Quite the tall promise to make their audience, but I dig a bold sales pitch. Oddly, despite the inherently free-form nature that one might expect from a game about exploring a vast unknown world, this will actually be a structured narrative affair. Indeed, on the official website they boast about encompassing 5 acts of events within the story. (Of course, with gaming taking significant liberties with what the definition of 'act' even is anymore, I suppose that doesn't really say too much.) This has sparked some interest out of me from the sheer dichotomy of principles between a 'cinematic' experience and an 'open world' adventure. What sort of game is this game selling itself as? Is this 'Death Stranding 2'?
As a storyteller myself I must admit that this alone does intrigue me more than the trailer itself, as I'm curious at the sort of tale one can tell in a seemingly desolate expanse, especially when the end-goal is meant to be pathing for an exodus. I'm almost more interested in the possible composition of such a narrative then I am in the questions of the narrative itself, but then I suppose that's natural given how little this reveal trailer actually showed in it's 2:20 runtime. (Honestly, it was an art-form all in of itself to fill such a time with so little.) By making such an admission that does mean that I'm confessing to not exactly falling for this trailer's promise, but there is a charm that I do vaguely resonate with. Whilst this hasn't bowled me over like some other titles, I'm interested enough to put this on my 'watch list' on the Epic Store. (So take that for what it's worth.)
What is perhaps one of the most captivating feature of this title so far, and certainly something that the team seem quite proud of, its the musical score. Even on their official site the devs boast about what they have was developed alongside the composer known as 'scntfc'. (A man with the kind of credits to back up his work as 'Oxenfree' and 'Afterparty') Now to colourise what I mean when I talk about the importance of soundtrack, try to acknowledge the fact that the very first thing you learn about this title from it's trailer; it's setting, is preceded by this melodious dramatic choir painting the significance of this impending journey. Throughout this entire trailer, in fact, we hear absolutely no voices, very little in the way of sound effects, and mostly just this 'Interstellar'-reminiscent background score that conjures the spirit of unknown exploration. Having seen games of this style before, I'd guess that the entire game will end up being devoid of actual recognisable human speech and instead be more of a lonesome experience, (Similar, in a way, to 'No Man's Sky') which would make the strength of the score imperative.
That being said, and contrary to the implication of the trailer, this won't be a game completely fuelled by lonesome exploration into the unknown; there will be NPCs. (As much as I personally would have loved to have seen a story-based title completely carried by a single non-speaking player character.) Apparently the journey of the character to act as a scout for their people will be split up by short moments of crossing paths with others at a location known as 'Ground Control'. This is a concept I see as somewhat similar to the Tower from Destiny or the Space Stations from 'No Man's Sky'. These are points wherein the player will interact with other folk and learn of their struggles and stories, something which the developers appear to highlight as a core pillar of design, without jeopardising the solitary seclusion that I feel the core game is aiming for. I'd imagine that these are the spots where the majority of the narrative will be laid out, so in that case I merely hope that the storytelling is a lot more cohesive and less esoteric than 'No Man's Sky's vomitous dance of repetitive concepts. (I do enjoy that game but the pretence they imbue to such an inherently generic setting does get under my skin sometimes.)
I am most intrigued by, as shameful as it is to say, the promise of a post-story endgame, which both intrigues and confuses me to equal measure. By all accounts 'Jett' is designed to be a single-player cinematic adventure about exploration and adventure, and yet on their own website they detail "A robust mysterious endgame where the open-world immersive sim elements flourish." There is so much to break down there, like firstly; how this game is labelled an 'open-world immersive sim'. Now, to be honest, the 'immersive sim' part does track given what we've been explained of the game so far, although I struggle to see this in the same light as 'Deus Ex', 'Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines' and 'Dishonoured', the core elements of the genre are all there. But the idea of an 'Open world' immersive sim does bother me for some reason. I mean, sure, theoretically that makes sense but in practise I can't help but wonder how such two genre-types might clash. Then there is the idea of an 'Endgame' which capitalises on that. What does that even mean? Doesn't the very concept of an 'Endgame' hinge on the desire to 'min-max' in order to keep people hooked? Surely that's the sort of meta-gaming that would tarnish the 'immersive' elements of any game, simply in pure principle if nothing else. So once again I'm confused, but undeniably intrigued.
And ultimately that is my impression of the entirety of 'Jett: The Far Shore' for now. I'd be lying if I said this was one of the highlights of the show, in fact I already told you truthfully how I'd already forgotten it; but looking into it for this blog has really allowed the title to nestle into my brain. I can certain see this as the sort of game that people get struck by in it's mysteriousness, even if I don't exactly drink the kool-aid myself. Perhaps given a bit more exposure about what this game is I'll be able to latch onto the concept a bit more, but right now all I see is a visually-middling title with some curious ideas behind the scenes and a lot of promises on their website. I think this will be one that I definitely come back to later in order to unscramble my thoughts but until then, let me frown my brow and shrug my shoulders a bit. I just don't know what to make of 'Jett'...
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