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'''''Harold Halibut''''' is a 2024 [[video game]] developed by German independent developer Slow Bros for [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], the [[Xbox Series]] and [[PlayStation 5]]. The game is a narrative-based [[adventure video game]] in which players control Harold, a janitor on the FEDORA I, a spacecraft submerged in an alien planet, and complete odd tasks for the ship's inhabitants. During development, the game received several features, nominations and accolades for video game, film and culture festivals. Upon release, ''Harold Halibut'' received mixed to average reviews, with critics praising the ambition and detail of the game's visual presentation and the themes in its narrative, although critiquing the game's narrative focus as lacking puzzles and interactivity and having a slow pace.
'''''Harold Halibut''''' (stylised as '''''Harold HALIBUT''''') is a 2024 [[video game]] developed by German independent developer Slow Bros for [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], the [[Xbox Series]] and [[PlayStation 5]]. The game is a narrative-based [[adventure video game]] in which players control Harold, a janitor on the FEDORA I, a spacecraft submerged in an alien planet, and complete odd tasks for the ship's inhabitants. During development, the game received several features, nominations and accolades for video game, film and culture festivals. Upon release, ''Harold Halibut'' received mixed to average reviews, with critics praising the ambition and detail of the game's visual presentation and the themes in its narrative, although critiquing the game's narrative focus as lacking puzzles and interactivity and having a slow pace.


==Gameplay==
==Gameplay==

Revision as of 21:39, 4 May 2024

Harold Halibut
Developer(s)Slow Bros.
Publisher(s)Slow Bros.
Director(s)Onat Hekimoğlu
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release16 April 2024
Genre(s)Walking simulator
Mode(s)Single-player

Harold Halibut (stylised as Harold HALIBUT) is a 2024 video game developed by German independent developer Slow Bros for Windows, the Xbox Series and PlayStation 5. The game is a narrative-based adventure video game in which players control Harold, a janitor on the FEDORA I, a spacecraft submerged in an alien planet, and complete odd tasks for the ship's inhabitants. During development, the game received several features, nominations and accolades for video game, film and culture festivals. Upon release, Harold Halibut received mixed to average reviews, with critics praising the ambition and detail of the game's visual presentation and the themes in its narrative, although critiquing the game's narrative focus as lacking puzzles and interactivity and having a slow pace.

Gameplay

The game's adventure gameplay is story-driven and mostly involves players navigating and interacting with the inhabitants of the FEDORA.[1] Players receive tasks from characters, some necessary to complete the game and others optional, which are logged as a to-do list in a menu.[2] Some interactions require the player to use point-and-click mechanics to interact with items, such as operate machinery.[1]

Plot

The space ship FEDORA I, controlled by the All Water corporation, was sent from Earth 250 years prior to find a planet for humankind to colonise. Following a solar flare, the ship has been stranded at the bottom of an alien ocean on an uninhabitable planet for fifty years. The player is Harold, a shy and withdrawn maintenance worker on the staff of the ship, who assists the scientist Jeanna Mareaux and performs odd jobs for the other inhabitants. When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to relaunch the craft unaffected by the solar flare and return to home is discovered, Harold is placed in a unique position to make a difference in the future of the ship and its populace. During the game, Harold discovers a fish-like humanoid stuck in the ship's filtration system he names 'Fishy', providing him with a window into the perspective of the alien life on the planet.

Development and release

Harold Halibut was created by Slow Bros., a Cologne studio led by independent developer Onat Hekimoğlu, a filmmaker and graduate of the Cologne Game Lab.[3] The concept for Harold Halibut began in 2012, emerging from a conversation about the development team's interest in narrative-led video games and stop-motion animation.[4]

Reception

According to review aggregator Metacritic, Harold Halibut received "mixed or average" reviews from critics. Reviewers praised the visual presentation of the game, also noting its scope and ambition.[14] Describing the graphics as a "monument to craft", Edge acclaimed the game's "remarkable technical wizardry" and "authentically traditional" design, comparing it to Aardman stop-motion animation.[6] Rollin Bishop of GamesRadar+ praised the "charming" models for their "tangible" design and meticulous attention detail, although finding the models to have "awkward" and unintended movements in their animation.[8] Describing the game's visuals as an "undeniable technical achievement", Daniel Bueno of Siliconera commended the game's "unique" visuals for their "crisp look".[14]

Critics expressed generally positive views about the game's narrative and characterisation. Rollin Bishop of GamesRadar+ found the story to be "surprisingly poignant" in addition to expectedly "unusual and funny" aspects of the game.[8] Alice Bell of Rock Paper Shotgun found the characters charmingly odd and the game replete with "strange little interactions", viewing the story as a "heartwarming" and "quietly triumphant" story about making Harold and the people around him see his worth as a person.[2] Meg Pelliccio of TheGamer highlighted the game's "fulfilling" narrative and emotional breadth, citing the many "moments of sadness, bittersweet closure, mystery, or simply a scene so surreal or stylish it stays with you".[15] Describing the game as "thoughtful", Lucas White of Shacknews found the game's themes around Harold's personal growth as "compelling", and praised the "hopeful" tone of the game, whilst considering the sinister undertones of the game "fizzle into dead ends at times".[1] Despite "flashes of brilliance" and "affection for its characters", Joshua Wolens of PC Gamer considered the dialog to "drag on" and compromise the hints of "daring" and "genuinely funny" subject matter.[12] Edge believed the game featured a "satisfying conclusion", although expressing that it could have had "sharper" dialogue and humor.[6] Katharine Castle of Rock Paper Shotgun also critiqued Harold as a "vacant and disinterested human being" and the game's initial approach of characters to him as cruel and undermining the player's time.[16]

Critics noted the game lacked conventional gameplay features for an adventure game, such as puzzles, due to the narrative focus of the game.[2] Describing the game as a "light experience", Daniel Bueno of Siliconera considered Harold Halibut to lack a "hands-on" approach, lacking more puzzles or interaction, but believed these to be unnecessary for a narrative game.[14] Lucas White of Shacknews noted that the game did not feature conventional puzzles, branching paths or multiple endings.[1]

Several reviewers critiqued the slow pacing of the game. Alice Bell of Rock Paper Shotgun stated the game as "inexplicably" long and understood why players could consider it boring due to its "very slow" pace.[2] Similarly, Katharine Castle of Rock Paper Shotgun noted the slow walking and running speed contributed to this pace.[16] Edge stated that the "drudgery" of playing the character tested their tolerance for fetch quests, citing the lack of interactivity, long dialogue, and limited player agency in the story.[6] Joshua Wolens of PC Gamer critiqued the game's "strictly narrative" focus as "ponderous" and "fatiguing", citing the "long, barren stretches" of gameplay between interesting sequences.[12] Rollin Bishop of GamesRadar+ similarly considered the game to feature too much walking.[8] Describing the game as an "unexciting slog" and "repetitive", Willa Rowe of Kotaku stated that the game "never fully breaks out of its mundanity", citing the focus on "boring chores" and the lack of a sense of urgency.[17]

Accolades

Harold Halibut received nominations accolades in several game and film festivals, including nominations for the 'Most Wanted' and 'Best Marketing' at the 2017 Deutscher Entwicklerpreis,[18][19] one of the winners of the German Government's 2019 Cultural and Creative Industries Kultur- und Kreativpiloten Deutschland award,[20][21][22] the winner of the 'video game' category in the 2022 San Francisco Frozen Film Festival,[23] and nominations for the 'Critic's Choice' and 'Most Anticipated Game' categories for the 2023 Indie Cup Germany.[24][25] The game also was selected for inclusion in several other festivals, including the 2021 Tribeca Festival as part of the Tribeca Games Spotlight,[26][27] the 2021 Slamdance Film Festival,[28], and the 2023 KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival.[29]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e White, Lucas (15 April 2024). "Harold Halibut review: Where is home?". ShackNews. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Bell, Alice (30 April 2024). "Harold Halibut review: a sweet, restrained story about finding your way home". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  3. ^ Gordon, Lewis (16 April 2024). "As if Wes Anderson ran amok at Aardman: Harold Halibut, the visually stunning puppet adventure game". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Harold Halibut". Edge. No. 359. July 2021. pp. 50–51.
  5. ^ "Harold Halibut". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d "Harold Halibut". Edge. No. 397. June 2024. p. 108.
  7. ^ Tapsell, Chris (15 April 2024). "Harold Halibut review - sub-aquatic sci-fi adventure is a little too prog-rock". Eurogamer. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d Bishop, Rollin (15 April 2024). "Harold Halibut review: "A charming and ambitious handmade sci-fi adventure"". GamesRadar. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  9. ^ Indovina, Kurt (17 April 2024). "Harold Halibut Review - Lost In Its Own Deep Sea". GameSpot. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  10. ^ Ogilvie, Tristan (15 April 2024). "Harold Halibut Review". IGN. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  11. ^ Lago, Yago (19 April 2024). "Análisis de Harold Halibut, un delicioso stop motion que apabulla con su artesanía, dedicado a una pobre aventura". MeriStation (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  12. ^ a b c Wolens, Joshua (15 April 2024). "Harold Halibut Review". PC Gamer. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  13. ^ Tagliaferri, Simone (15 April 2024). "Harold Halibut, la recensione di una toccante esperienza sviluppata in dieci anni". Multiplayer.it (in Italian). Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d Bueno, Daniel (15 April 2024). "Review: Harold Halibut Is a Modern Fable About Connection". Siliconera. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  15. ^ Pelliccio, Meg (15 April 2024). "Harold Halibut Review - I Wanna Be Where The Flumylum Are". TheGamer. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  16. ^ a b Castle, Katharine (21 March 2024). "Harold Halibut is very hard to enjoy when everyone's so openly passive aggressive toward you". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  17. ^ Rowe, Willa (15 April 2024). "Harold Halibut: The Kotaku Review". Kotaku. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Harold Halibut – A Handmade Adventure Game". Deutscher Entwicklerpreis. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  19. ^ "German Developer Award 2017 Winner: "The Surge" is best German game". Games Wirtschaft (in German). 7 December 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  20. ^ "Slow Bros. - Harold Halibut". Kultur-Kreativ Pilotennen Deutschland (in German). 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  21. ^ "Cultural and creative pilot for Slow Bros. with "Harold Halibut"". Film Und Medien Stiftung NRW. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  22. ^ ""Kultur- und Kreativpiloten Award 2019" to Two KISD Graduates". Köln International School of Design. 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  23. ^ "SFFFF20222 Award-Winners". Frozen Film Festival. 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  24. ^ "Indie Cup Germany'23 winners are finally here – meet the best upcoming German indie games". Games Press. 16 August 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  25. ^ "Harold Halibut". Indie Cup. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  26. ^ "Harold Halibut". Tribeca Film. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  27. ^ Morton, Lauren (11 June 2021). "Eight narrative games revealed new trailers at the Tribeca Film Festival". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  28. ^ "Slamdance Announces Full 2022 Lineup". Slamdance. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  29. ^ "Games Amsterdam". Kaboom Animation Festival. 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2024.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harold_Halibut&oldid=1222258323"