Harold Halibut

There are aspects of this game that are amazing and there are aspects that loop back around to so bad it's good. This joins Troll 2 and The Stuff as another passion project motivated by a weirdly specific grievance. My dude, central air is great! Who hates air conditioning this much that they make an aircon guy a maniacal villain?

Je suis désolé de ne pas avoir apprécié l'expérience. C'est un jeu, certes unique en son genre, sur lequel il y aurait beaucoup de choses plus ou moins intéressantes à dire, selon moi. Malgré tout, je n'ai pas du tout apprécié le voyage. Je l'ai fini par principe, pour pouvoir me "targuer" d'avoir une vision globale de l'oeuvre. --- Ce qui m'a attiré vers ce titre, c'est sa DA (Direction Artistique), qui sans conteste mérite quelque éloge. L'esthétique pourtant ne fait pas tout. Là où je suis un amateur de récit et de narration bien léchée, j'ai été particulièrement déçu voire agacé. Déçu car l'histoire n'est pas du tout à la hauteur de ce qu'un jeu comme celui-ci peut être; agacé car tout est long... et ridiculement insupportable... Tous les personnages ou presque sont débiles. Bon nombre (si ce n'est la totalité) des interactions vous vaudront des quiproquos, des malentendus inextricables, et des questions ou des réponses sans intérêts, sans rapports et sans la moindre satisfaction. Juste l'impression de perdre son temps avec des gens qui n'inspirent à aucun moment la sympathie. A force, c'est long. Terriblement long... Est-ce que le jeu se veut drôle au travers de ces personnages tout aussi loufoques (et le mot est trop gentil) les uns que les autres ? Si c'est le cas, je trouve que c'est un énorme raté. Je crois que le jeu se veut drôle : j'en veux pour preuve une séquence où Harold est aux toilettes, et, à la fin d'une conversation tout autant insupportable que ce que j'ai pu décrire précédemment, il tarde un peu trop à sortir à cause de sa vessie qui se révèle être un puit sans fonds... Bref, un humour particulier qui ne m'émeut pas dans le bon sens. Bon, à partir du moment où je n'ai pas réussi à m'attacher à qui que ce soit, je crois que c'est plié : j'ai plus subi le jeu qu'autre chose. Certaines séquences de dialogues et de semi-gameplay (on contrôle un sous-marin qui se dirige tout seul) sont incroyablement longues pour rien. La plupart des situations n'ont aucun sens et donc aucun aucun intérêt, aucune émotion, aucun enjeu majeur, aucune tension... Ca n'a pas du tout marché pour moi. --- Comme je le disais "il y aurait beaucoup de choses plus ou moins intéressantes à dire" mais je n'ai pas le courage de le faire ici. Sachez juste que ce jeu n'est pas dénué d'intérêt non plus, mais qu'il faut au moins être un peu motivé pour le découvrir. Pas mal déçu par un jeu auquel j'aurais voulu croire...

I wish there was a middle option, but I didn't not enjoy my experience. This game is beautifully crafted. You can see just how much love went into the character and set design. The writing of the main story beats as well as the major characterizations is phenomenal. The soundtrack is super trippy but also very grounding at the same time with an overarching ominous vibe that really contradicts the importance Harold feels in a thought provoking way. But unfortunately, that's where the stellar parts of this game end. There isn't really much of a game here, and the sidequesting inexplicably stops about halfway thru, leaving completionists constantly worried that something is always being missed. It feels like there were so many things that were either scrapped last minute or not fully expanded upon. This isn't to say that the narrative isn't tied together nicely. I wouldn't say there are many if not any major plotholes. It just feels like there's a little more Harold left to give: maybe a few more lines in a couple places to make the world feel a little less stiff or maybe spreading out or adding more side quests. That said, this game will make you laugh, it will make you sigh, but it will also make you cry. I think the feelings I felt during this journey aren't nothing, and its a major reason why overall I think the game is positive. Its a good thing to say that I wish there was more to this game, but I recognize that's a lot to expect out of a developer's first title. I hope in the future that Slow Bros. finds a way to make their wonderful worlds feel more like a videogame and less like a narrative being controlled my an external force. I stress tested this game as much as I could, and while a lot of the physics felt like I could find a boundary break or rip a door off its hinges, I was unfortunately unable to destroy this beautifully crafted masterpiece. I see great potential in the future of everyone that had a hand in the making of Harold Halibut. As for the consumer, I would wait to purchase this game for the next time it's on sale unless you genuinely care about showing as much monetary love as you can to a talented development team, but please don't just go watch a summary video or something. Support this team however you are able.

20年前欧洲文艺片导演用黏土动画顺利实现跨行业再就业，甚至不用琢磨艺术表现力，虽然黏土动画早就不吃香了，但是在游戏领域还能独领风骚。 也不用思考人设和剧本，文艺片鼎盛时期的垃圾桶里摸黑抓几个剧本出来揉一揉就能用了，多样化和谜语人，以及政治隐喻全都有了。

I don't even know where to begin. But I think it's best to start with the bad. It's incredibly boring to "play." There's not even a proper game here. When I saw it, I didn't look at any reviews or gameplay, hoping it would be a quest or something like that. But in the end, there's nothing here except just wandering around the rooms a few times and reading. When you buy a GAME, you expect at least some gameplay, but there isn't any. We're even sometimes allowed to move the character, but why bother? Turning him somewhere or taking your hands off the controls doesn't change anything. It's truly very difficult to evaluate. There's no exploration, no interaction, nothing to do for 10+ hours. On the positive side, yes, it's an incredibly beautiful game with a simple story about a lonely and dreamy guy, which is captivating and interesting to watch, but alas, in between each action, absolutely nothing happens. And I can't recommend this game to anyone, except for people who have NEVER played games.

Had a crap day. This game made me feel an odd hope for humanity. Thanks <3 More useful to the general public, maybe: This game gives you an achievement for playing it slowly. This game is Art, or at least that's the impression I'm getting. The story is perfectly coherent and it's all very enjoyable without an art degree or deep interpretation. But I also get the feeling I could find some deeper meaning with some replays or pondering discussion in a [strike] book [/strike] game club. The physical 3D models are real cool and give the place and everything a very unique vibe. There's all sorts of different art styles and mechanics in places I wouldn't expect them to be, but whatever Vision the devs had, it works well together. Lots of nods to philosophy, issues of society, and the likes. But all tied down to individuals. I'm not sure I'd say the characters feel "realistic"... well, not realistic humans, but real characters, maybe? They're certainly distinct. Good writing too, sometimes deeper, sometimes more light hearted and funny, lots of lovely little details. Mostly linear story. Controls and tasks can feel a bit tedious at times, but I think that might be the point? After a while I didn't mind it much. Generally no technical issues, except cutscenes sometimes having some glitchy graphics, and a few places where Harold gets stuck on geometry sometimes (spamming A does the trick). Good game, recommend.

Una novela visual que va de menos a mas, se va cocinando a fuego lento, te va sabiendo enamorar poco a poco con sus atmosferas, personajes y en cuadres. para mi fue algo que me hizo valorar el tomarme un momento y apreciar la situación. el viaje holistico del personaje principal junto con la gran forma de introducirnos una cultura aligenigena cautivo mi corazón. una gran pieza artistica que supo tocar mi ser y concluir con un cierre hermoso. gracias! recomendado! 100%

The game is slow, but honestly, the story is really amazing. The NPCs really feel like they could be real people, and overall, if you like chill story games with fetch quests that don't feel boring or endless, you'll like this.