Need to Know
What is it? A poetic sci-fi adventure about humans escaping extinction.
Release date October 5 2021
Expect to pay £24 / $30
Developer Superbrothers and Pine Scented
Publisher Superbrothers and Pine Scented
Reviewed on AMD Ryzen 5 3600, Radeon RX 5700 XT, 8GB RAM
Multiplayer? No.
Link Official website (opens in new tab)
It’s a sci-fi story we’ve all heard before. Humans have yet again messed up the planet and in desperation to save civilization must now look for a new home amongst the stars. The trope has been done to death, but when indie studio Superbrothers announced that Jett: The Far Shore (opens in new tab) was going to be their own take on the trope, I couldn’t have been more thrilled. It’s been almost ten years since the studio released Sword and Sworcery (opens in new tab)—the quietly contemplative adventure about a warrior exploring a strange, mystical realm—and to see the team, together with Pine Scented, take on a grand sci-fi adventure where science meets spirituality is something to get excited about.
For the most part, Jett: The Far Shore is successful in doing exactly that, its lofty, sweeping story of humans and faith pulling you into its strange world. The humans in Jett are not only looking for a new home but have been contacted by ‘the hymnwave’, a divine invitation from a being situated on an alien planet in outer space. Desperate to escape their dying planet that’s choking from the black plumes of industrialization a group of space scouts is formed to inspect the planet and see whether this strange world—”the far shore”—could become a new home for their people.
(Image credit: Superbrothers / Pine Scented)
It’s a brilliant hook, and a question that follows you from the moment you step foot on the planet, but it’s one of many that fall to the wayside. Mei being a mystic and acolyte of God is made out to be a big deal, but it’s never really addressed why, and her mystic duties feel like nothing more than being a good luck charm. Many of the missions, with a few exceptions, are simply busywork—collecting resources, finding lost parts, running away from enemies—and not about uncovering the mysteries of the planet. Games that are more poetic in nature are under no obligation to address or explain their stories—but with such brilliant opening chapters, rich with lore and curiosity, I didn’t get all the answers I’d hoped for when I finished the game.
Jett: The Far Shore has an epic hook: A civilisation trying to outpace oblivion, so desperate to escape extinction that they’ll follow the lull of an ominous intergalactic force at the promise of sanctuary. The finicky controls leave something to be desired, but overall Jett: The Far Shore is a spellbinding adventure.
