Last Updated on Apr 21, 2026 @ 16:40:26 PM.
I have recently been granted the opportunity to try out DigixArt’s new game, Tides of Tomorrow, which has also been published by THQ Nordic. It takes place sometime in the future as the player takes on the role of a Tidewalker as they explore a polluted and flooded world, meet new people, and save what is left of the world if possible.
What made this title even more unique was that it boasted some rather fun and bizarre gameplay mechanics that I will talk about during my review, which I experimented with a lot during my playtime. At the same time, I also experienced the game’s story as best as I could, as there are many branching paths that I sadly couldn’t explore, which I will explain why later on.
The World Might be Falling Apart, But That Won’t Stop it Being Detailed and Mesmerizing
Before I begin talking about the game’s story and gameplay mechanics, I feel like it would be amiss of me not to delve into the world of Tides of Tomorrow first, as this is something that has massively taken my attention throughout my playthrough.
As stated in the intro, Tides of Tomorrow takes place far off into the future in a sort of post-apocalyptic time after pollution and a flood left the world covered in ocean and plastic. Now this is definitely a rather dark situation to set your story in, but it has a very important story to tell, as it brings to light a common issue that is happening right before our eyes in the real world.
However, even though this is a very upsetting scene to see as you travel through the game and see mountains and mountains of plastic littered throughout the ocean, there are some rays of hope that really caught my attention, and that is the various locations you can explore within the game.
Throughout Tides of Tomorrow, there are quite a few different locations you can explore, with some of them containing spoilers, so I will not mention them here, but there are some, like the early game locations, that really drew me in and made me want to explore each location to its fullest.
Within Tides of Tomorrow, one of the main settings for a location you can explore in the game is floating islands created from pollutants to create a platform of safety within the great ocean. Now, when you read this, you may not think that would be a good sight to see, but because of the bright colors, incredible detail, and just overall design of each location, they are really fascinating to see.
Due to these locations being made out of scrap and floating objects, it is really interesting to see how the developers were able to create these different locations while also keeping them rather fresh in terms of design, with each building having its own style, color, and even material. Keeping them together, it was really great to see the level of detail that went into each location, especially when it came to exploring, as these locations were just empty but were full of life in terms of NPCs, houses you could enter, secrets to uncover, and so much more.
Along with the man-made islands, there are also natural islands that you can venture to within Tides of Tomorrow, and these islands, specifically, are the ones that impressed me the most upon seeing them, as their beauty was unparalleled. This is something that was clearly a design choice by the developer, as these locations are designed to make the player feel as though not all is lost and the world has some form of life left, and upon seeing these islands, this is exactly what I felt.
What made these islands fun for me was how they were designed, as they weren’t covered in human constructs to make them habitable, but instead it was as if the inhabitants turned the islands into their home, showing a clear contrast between the two factions that you can meet on the man-made islands and the natural islands.
The biggest part of all the locations for me was the visual storytelling that was present in all the different locations. Not only were you brought through the story through conversations and your actions, but being able to explore these different islands and see what was being hidden by closed doors and fences, you were able to see the world for what it is: not a world of survivors, but a world of death awaiting everyone.
Tides of Tomorrow’s Unique Tidewalker Mechanics Blew Me Away and Kept Me Focused On The Future
A big part of Tides of Tomorrow is the gameplay mechanic that only Tidewalkers in the game’s lore possess, and that is the ability to see previous Tidewalkers as they venture through their lives and make decisions that ultimately will affect your journey as well.
This mechanic for me was an incredibly fun mechanic to play with, as I am a big fan of cause and effect in which the player before me would make a decision that could affect how my run would play out, and seeing this take place throughout the entirety of the game was so much fun for me, as it wasn’t just my actions that shaped the story, but I also had to think about what the player before me would do.
Whether it be hoarding my resources to try and keep myself alive for one more day, passing my resources on to help the next Tidewalker, fighting an enemy, or running away, all these decisions felt even more impactful while playing Tides of Tomorrow as I realized these decisions wouldn’t just affect my story, but they would also have a knock-on effect on the player behind me.
Because of this, I often found myself worrying about the choices I would make even more than I normally would in a game with moral choices, because I wanted to play as a good person within the game, but with the limited resources and the rare chance of the player before me not always passing on their good fortune, I was often cornered into a negative situation that made me choose the bad option.
Although this was allowing me to expand my horizons and choose options I never would have picked, even though there were a lot of sarcastic options I would have loved to pick, I did sometimes feel very locked out of a lot of story options that I would have loved to see play out, but that is the overall mechanic of the game; the story is not just determined by me but the person before me as well, and this is the same for those coming after me as well.
Overall, for me, this mechanic was a lot of fun to play around with, as it shows the butterfly effect in all its glory and encourages players to work together for the greater good, but depending on the player you choose to follow, you may follow them down a path you may not like. Sadly, this is the nature of the game.
Speaking of this unique and fun mechanic, if you would like to follow my story progress throughout Tides of Tomorrow, feel free to use my code so that you can follow in my footsteps and see the numerous actions I took throughout the game.
Tides of Tomorrow’s Story Hit Like a Tsunami With Plenty of Emotional Impact
As always when I talk about a game’s story, I will refrain from going into too much detail that could be considered spoiler territory, but I will in fact talk about the overall gameplay story and how it made me feel as I was playing through it along with the way the various choices and actions I could partake in allowed me to feel both control and lack thereof.
When it comes to a world full of polluting plastic and a great flood that has wiped out billions of humans, you wouldn’t think the world could get any worse, right? Well, sadly, you would be wrong as the surviving humans are not doing too well as they are plagued with a disease called Plastemia that is slowly killing them the more they are exposed to plastic.
This disease brings worry for the player as they are also infected straight away with this disease, adding a time limit to your story, as well as having to resource manage to ensure you can get the life-saving resource Ozen to maintain your life long enough to explore the game’s story.
Because of these dark times, the player is forced to make a lot of difficult decisions through their journey, which can be made both easier and harder thanks to the player they follow on their journey. For example, as you walk through the many locations, there are plenty of NPCs that either need your help or want to offer their help to you, and depending on the player before you, this can take place in many ways.
For me, this felt like it took away control from me as I wasn’t always able to help or sway these NPCs throughout my story, as there were situations in which, because of the previous player buying Ozen to save themselves from death, I was unable to purchase Ozen to save the NPC who needed it, leading to negative consequences.
This isn’t just present with the NPCs you meet on the streets, but also with the main side characters you meet along your journey that ultimately affect what happens within your adventure. Whether it be the person before me causing the guards to go on high alert making it harder for me to enter an area ultimately causing a side character to get in trouble, or the previous player stealing something they shouldn’t have causing NPCs to hate me due to affiliation, all of these situations would ultimately affect the overall story in the end and could lead me to lose control very fast.
That being said, although there were a lot of challenges placed before my by the player who I was following, there were also some saving graces as there were times the player had calmed down a problem, saved someones life, and so much more that made it easier for me to make friends with the different characters allowing my story to finalise with a rather positive ending.
In terms of the overall story, I often found myself enthralled by the story unfolding within Tides of Tomorrow and very much engrossed in the various conversations that were taking place, and even being affected by the overall decisions that were made by me.
Although I did find the story to be a lot of fun with numerous mysteries that I uncovered throughout the journey while also meeting every NPC and doing all the side content I could, there were times that I felt slightly cheated as options weren’t available to me, whether it be because of choices made by the previous player, or simply by a miscommunication in dialogue, but bar these unfortunate situations I vastly enjoyed the game’s story through and through.
Tides of Tomorrow
Summary
During my time with Tides of Tomorrow, I had a lot of fun exploring the game’s colorful and unique world, as each location had plenty to explore and uncover while also being very different from each other in more ways than one.
In terms of the game’s story, I enjoyed it quite a lot as the overall tone of the game was very dark in a lot of ways, but also hit quite hard as it commented on topics like pollution, with other topics sitting with me long after the credits rolled.
The best part for me was the gameplay mechanics, as following another player and sharing the response to their actions was a lot of fun, but it did lead me to suffer too many consequences to the point I was locked out of too many options within my playthrough.
HOURS PLAYED: 9
PLAYED ON: PS5
- Unique and fun gameplay mechanics that keep things interesting.
- A haunting experience that stays with you for a long time after its over.
- Beautiful locations that are full of life and character even for a dead world.
- The story is very linear with a lot of restrictions due to the previous players actions.
For more Thumb Wars Gaming coverage, check out our review of Mouse: P.I. For Hire, or check out our article that talks about the other stories that are teased within The Last of Us franchise.
Liam is a Senior Editor, Writer, and Critic for Thumb Wars and has been working with the team since day one. Liam is a big fan of all things gaming, as you will catch him playing all of the new releases from every genre you can imagine. Whether you find Liam gaming just for fun or spending his free time streaming, you will always find a smile on his face when it comes to all things gaming.
