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Essays 08 February 2022, 16:21

author: Marek Jura

Obscure Sci-Fi Games You May Not Have Heard Of (And That's a Shame)

Cyberpunk 2077, Mass Effect, Fallen Order – these are games that almost anyone knows at least by reputation. But even if you're not a fan of the genre, some of the more obscure SF productions may steal your heart (and a few evenings).

Table of Contents

FAR: Lone Sails

  1. Genre: adventure game
  2. Release year: 2018
  3. The best thing about it: the steampunk vehicle

FAR: Lone Sails is not only one of the best indie sci-fi games of 2018, but also one of the most interesting experimental indie games of the last decade. The gameplay seems extremely simple – our only task is to refuel an unnamed vehicle in which the main character traverses the deserted world. And moving forward. With time, you should also take care of the necessary repairs and remove any obstacles along the way. But don't worry, there's nothing difficult about it. Just enough that we don't feel too confident in the world of FAR: Lone Sails.

All maintenance and treatment mean that after an hour or two of gameplay, you can feel the bond with the heroine, but also with the vehicle itself. Weird? Maybe so. But the moment when we start to wonder whether the machine only serves the girl to move around, or whether it has become something more, is one to remember.

The lack of a narrative layer means that most of the questions we ask ourselves during the game will never be answered. Admittedly, the creators throw in a few clues, but they're so unobtrusive that at least a few interpretations can be easily defended. And that's good. Sometimes it's nice to have a game that you don't just complete, but actually live through.

The creators of Underrail show post-apocalyptic landscapes differently. The RPG style of Fallout may not impress with graphics, but it offers an interesting plot and, above all, a demanding combat system. The balance of the mechanics sometimes fails, but the satisfaction of winning brutal battles is worth reloading the save several times.

  1. FAR: Lone Sails in our encyclopedia

Marek Jura

Marek Jura

In 2016, he graduated in philology at UAM. Since then, he has been reviewing prose, poetry, movies, series, and video games for GRYOnline.pl. He took his first steps in the journalism industry as a newsman in a local tabloid. He ran his own company - he designed, created, tested, and sold board games. He published several short stories and is also preparing his debut volume of poetry. Trains martial arts. A feminist, vegan, fan of pineapple on pizza, cat lover, dislikes Bethesda and Amazon, likes Lovecraft, Agents of SHIELD, P:T, Beksiński, Hollow Knight, performance, abstract art, game mods and dumplings.

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