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Gray Skies, Dark Waters

Gray Skies, Dark Waters Game Cover
73%Game Brain Score
story, music
atmosphere, gameplay
93% User Score Based on 29 reviews

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Gray Skies, Dark Waters Game Cover

About

Gray Skies, Dark Waters is a single player action game with fantasy, drama and mystery themes. It was developed by Green Willow Games, LLC and was released on June 9, 2017. It received very positive reviews from players.

"Gray Skies, Dark Waters" is a first-person adventure game set in a moody, atmospheric world. Players uncover a mystery while exploring a seemingly abandoned town and sailing the surrounding waters. The game features puzzle-solving, sailing mechanics, and a focus on narrative and exploration.

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93%
Audience ScoreBased on 29 reviews
story18 positive mentions
atmosphere3 negative mentions

  • The game features a beautifully hand-drawn art style and a captivating story that explores themes of loss and family dynamics.
  • The dialogue choices significantly impact the narrative, providing multiple endings and encouraging replayability.
  • The atmospheric music complements the game's tone, enhancing the emotional experience for players.
  • The 3D character models are poorly executed and do not blend well with the stunning 2D backgrounds, leading to a jarring visual experience.
  • Voice acting quality is inconsistent, with noticeable fluctuations in sound levels and clarity, detracting from immersion.
  • The pacing can feel slow, with some players finding the narrative predictable and the gameplay lacking in traditional puzzles or challenges.
  • story
    64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is a central highlight, exploring themes of mental illness, loss, and personal growth through a blend of realism and fantastical elements. While some players found the plot predictable and the gameplay slow, many appreciated the emotional depth and character-driven narrative, which is shaped by player choices and offers multiple endings. Overall, it is recommended for those who enjoy story-rich experiences, despite some criticisms regarding graphics and pacing.

    • “This is a well-fleshed out story game that presents a thoughtful, multi-dimensional picture of loss through the eyes of a family.”
    • “The game’s plot isn’t some big bombastic adventure; it’s a character piece all about coping with loss and trying to move on with life.”
    • “Such a beautiful story and game.”
    • “Very slow gameplay and stereotypical, vanilla (aka boring) narrative despite choices and storyline.”
    • “The story is so short that there is no room for growth or change; they stay at the same place and never change.”
    • “I think that's because the game is mostly filler for the first 75%, a series of fetch quests that give out information in tiny, tiny chunks.”
  • music
    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with a dark-folk influence that complements the environmental art and storytelling. Players appreciate the cohesive blend of beautiful melodies and vocals, particularly highlighting a standout ending song that leaves a lasting impression. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a significant strength, contributing to an immersive and emotionally resonant experience.

    • “The game’s environmental art and soundtrack are quite good, really setting the game’s melancholy tone.”
    • “The music is likewise very good, adding a dark-folk tinge to the environment.”
    • “Additionally, the beautiful music and artwork really drew me in and had me playing for hours without realizing it.”
    • “It does a good job with anything relating to story, the hand-drawn backgrounds, and soundtrack, but not so well with having different quality of sound for their voice work and having their character models look like they are from and belong in that world.”
    • “The music is also on the right track, and though not completely polished, it sets the mood well enough.”
  • graphics
    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's graphics feature a charming, watercolor-inspired art style that complements its engaging story, creating a cohesive and immersive experience. While the hand-drawn backgrounds are praised for their beauty, some players find the character designs and animations to be less appealing, describing them as odd and stiff. Overall, the visuals may not be state-of-the-art, but they effectively support the game's narrative and emotional depth, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of indie games.

    • “The music, art style, and story are very cohesive, and build a very lovely world.”
    • “The art style is striking enough to feel unique, and the developers have spent enough time on each scene to make them all feel fantastic.”
    • “Additionally, the beautiful music and artwork really drew me in and had me playing for hours without realizing it.”
    • “I think it's unfortunately the graphics that let the game down.”
    • “I was initially put off by the visuals, but if you stick with it the plot and characters shine through.”
    • “Buy it if you want a short, interactive mystery, and you're willing to overlook graphics for character, emotion, and story.”
  • emotional
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is praised for its deep and emotionally resonant story, featuring a well-developed main character and strong themes that evoke a range of feelings, from anger to empathy. Players appreciate the slow-paced journey that allows for meaningful exploration of emotional relationships and personal struggles, enhanced by beautiful art and voice acting. Overall, the narrative's originality and emotional depth are highlighted as standout features that leave a lasting impact.

    • “It’s hard, and it really surprised me how much I emotionally connected with the main character and how angry I was at Robert.”
    • “The story actually was quite good, deeper, and touching on more serious and important things than I expected.”
    • “This is a slow-paced, emotional journey through the day of a young woman with some heavy feelings and possibilities to come to grips with.”
  • atmosphere
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its evocative and story-driven environment, characterized by gray skies and dark waters that evoke an elegiac beauty. It successfully creates a bleak yet hopeful indie vibe, reminiscent of titles like "Life is Strange" and "Kentucky Route Zero," focusing on dialogue and atmosphere rather than traditional gameplay mechanics. Overall, players appreciate the top-notch style and immersive storytelling that define the game's atmosphere.

    • “Overall, with its writing and atmosphere, gray skies and dark water have an elegiac beauty to them.”
    • “This game tries to create an atmosphere similar to games like Life is Strange or Kentucky Route Zero, a bleak but indie-hopeful kind of vibe.”
    • “It is very story-driven, with not much pointing and clicking and no classic puzzles, just atmosphere, story, and decisions.”
  • gameplay
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is characterized by a focus on dialogue choices and exploration, with minimal fetch quests, creating a strong atmosphere. However, some players find the pacing slow and the narrative somewhat clichéd, suggesting that while the game can deliver a fulfilling experience through its story, it may not appeal to those seeking dynamic gameplay or action. Overall, it emphasizes the importance of narrative over traditional gameplay mechanics, typical of many indie games.

    • “I like the mechanics that drive this game forward with very few fetch quests, instead concentrating heavily on dialogue and atmosphere.”
    • “This game just proves once again that you do not really need state-of-the-art gameplay or realistic graphics to make a great game. As long as you have the right story to go along with it, it can really deliver a fulfilling experience, which is what indie games are all about.”
    • “Very slow gameplay and a stereotypical, vanilla (aka boring) narrative despite choices and storyline.”
    • “The gameplay is mainly dialogue choices and exploration.”
    • “Nothing but the character in the game moves; everything else is just still in a painting, so I'd suggest watching gameplay for a couple of minutes before picking it up.”
  • humor
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is noted for its ability to seamlessly blend with more serious themes, creating a poignant contrast that reflects the complexities of human emotions, particularly in the context of grief. This interplay challenges players to navigate the balance between joy and sorrow, enhancing the overall narrative experience.

    • “The dialogue shifts between humor and gravity quite freely.”
    • “The conflict between the environment and the humor really parallels my experience with grief - everyone tries to act like things are normal, but when levity enters into that equation, it throws everything off and makes us question how we're supposed to balance our joy and our sorrow.”
  • replayability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers solid replayability due to its multiple endings and the ability to choose different dialogue paths, allowing players to shape the story according to their interactions. However, despite its engaging choices, the overall experience remains relatively short and the core content does not significantly change with each playthrough.

    • “With different endings depending on how you interact, it has solid replay value, and you get to decide how you'd like the story to go.”
    • “While somewhat short at around 2 hours, it has replay value in exploring other dialogue paths and trying out different story routes, even though the core experience and scenery remain consistent.”
    • “While a somewhat short ~2 hours, it has some replay value in trying other dialogue paths, but the core experience and scenery, as well as overall content, don't change.”
  • optimization
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The optimization of the game has received mixed feedback, with some users noting inconsistencies in voice acting quality, although certain performances, like Robert's, were well-received.

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Gray Skies, Dark Waters is a action game with fantasy, drama and mystery themes.

Gray Skies, Dark Waters is available on PC, Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

Gray Skies, Dark Waters was released on June 9, 2017.

Gray Skies, Dark Waters was developed by Green Willow Games, LLC.

Gray Skies, Dark Waters has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its atmosphere.

Gray Skies, Dark Waters is a single player game.

Similar games include Open Roads, Tacoma, Tormentum: Dark Sorrow, Tell Me Why, Call of the Sea and others.