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Highwater

A unique, story-driven take on the post-apocalypse with an emphasis on its story, characters, and exploration.
Highwater Game Cover
59%Game Brain Score
story, graphics
gameplay, grinding
56% User Score Based on 48 reviews
Critic Score 68%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

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Highwater Game Cover

About

Highwater is a single player open world action adventure game. It was developed by Inc. and was released on March 14, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

Highwater is a story-driven 3D adventure game with isometric turn-based combat set in a flooded post-apocalyptic urban environment. Navigate the world by boat, discover islands, and find new allies to help battle foes in turn-based combat.

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
Highwater screenshot
Highwater screenshot
Highwater screenshot
Highwater screenshot
Highwater screenshot
Highwater screenshot
Highwater screenshot
Highwater screenshot
Highwater screenshot
Highwater screenshot
Highwater screenshot
+23
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56%
Audience ScoreBased on 48 reviews
story11 positive mentions
grinding3 negative mentions
  • The game features a unique artistic direction with beautiful graphics and a captivating atmosphere, enhanced by a great soundtrack.
  • The turn-based combat system incorporates puzzle elements, making battles engaging and requiring strategic thinking.
  • The narrative offers a quirky and humorous take on a post-apocalyptic world, with interesting character interactions and lore.
  • Exploration is heavily linear and lacks depth, with limited opportunities to deviate from the main path and discover interesting content.
  • The turn-based combat can feel slow and tedious, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the gameplay experience.
  • The story and character development are underwhelming, leaving players feeling disconnected from the characters and their motivations.
  • story
    35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating its quirky humor and world-building, while others criticize its lack of depth and coherence. Set in a post-environmental disaster world, the straightforward plot follows a group of refugees seeking escape to Mars, but many feel the writing is subpar and the character development is lacking. Overall, while the narrative has its moments, it often fails to engage players emotionally or provide a satisfying payoff.

    • “A very casual, turn-based game with a witty storyline.”
    • “This was a fun and quirky story that did a good job of fleshing out the world you have come to know via the previous games.”
    • “Beyond the core story, this game is a meta machine and leans heavily into a comical and sarcastic look at society and politics while also managing to be very spot on in the way it views these things and how it presents those views.”
    • “The story is kind of all over the place with a pretty whatever ending, not worth the time spent or payoff.”
    • “But the developers must have felt a certain amount of pressure lengthening the game with the core plot this simple because the writing here is subpar, to be honest.”
    • “I think I’m going to just fall on the side of negative for this one, as the story elements and exploration weren’t quite fleshed out enough for me, or managed to grab me emotionally.”
  • gameplay
    20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing its clunky mechanics and linear progression, leading to a lack of enjoyment. While some appreciate the semi-open world and the potential for exploration, others find the execution lacking, particularly due to jarring transitions between gameplay and cutscenes. Overall, the gameplay is seen as underwhelming, with scores ranging from 2/10 to 6/10.

    • “Overall gameplay and the round-based combat is pretty nice too.”
    • “I just started playing it and I found it interesting; I love the story and gameplay, also the soundtracks.”
    • “[The semi-open world allows for more gameplay, allowing you to fully explore the world of Highwater. There are a lot of collectibles to find and collect over the course of the game, even if it's only newspapers and books. The tutorial was well created, allowing the mechanics to be easily picked up on.]”
    • “Gameplay is lacking.”
    • “Seems good, but the clunky mechanics and gameplay make it a solid 2/10.”
    • “Especially in the first half of the game, the gameplay felt very linear, just cruising along from point A to point B dictated by a crude radar and a map which I couldn’t understand and never used.”
  • graphics
    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful art style and stunning visuals, particularly the low-resolution aesthetic that complements the storytelling. However, some users note a lack of polish, including UI issues and bugs, suggesting that while the overall design is appealing, it could benefit from further refinement. Overall, the graphics are considered good, but there is room for improvement.

    • “The stylized graphics look great, the sound design is fantastic and the characters are wonderful.”
    • “The game's visuals are incredibly stunning, especially the low-resolution art style.”
    • “The graphic art style is great though.”
    • “The visuals are okay but need a bit of polish.”
    • “To me, it was the overall lack of polish in terms of UI, bugs, and graphics.”
    • “With the graphics, perhaps it’s because of its mobile roots since this was a Netflix exclusive for a while.”
  • music
    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is generally praised for its beautiful and atmospheric qualities, effectively complementing the visuals and narrative. While the soundtrack features a mix of indie and folk music, some players find it bland or not to their taste, and the integration of the radio host adds a layer of world-building, though it lacks the depth of previous entries. Overall, the music contributes to a chill experience, but some players feel it doesn't fully compensate for the game's shortcomings in gameplay.

    • “Lovely music, good art style, good combat with environment.”
    • “A very chill game with beautiful music and a heavenly atmosphere, despite the grim setting itself.”
    • “Just like the earlier games, it harmonizes with the visuals effectively as it tells the story through the host and the songs – which will be the only voices you will hear in the game, except for a few in-game performances.”
    • “The radio DJ can provide a bit of world building at times, but mostly it's just kind of bland indie music that wasn't really to my taste.”
    • “There's no sense of urgency, and the game encourages this vibe by putting slow-paced boat rides and indie folk music.”
    • “While the music and character representation were refreshing, it wasn’t enough to make the dull gameplay enjoyable.”
  • humor
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating the comedic take on serious situations, while others find certain elements, like the portrayal of incompetent enemies and the inclusion of a bandit viking gang, to be off-putting and detracting from the overall experience. Overall, the humor can be seen as both a highlight and a potential distraction, depending on individual taste.

    • “Kind of a 'funny' take on a very dramatic situation.”
    • “Story was cool, the humor was spot on.”
    • “Good humor.”
  • optimization
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization is generally praised, with excellent performance at 1440p resolution and quick loading times. However, some users feel that the developers, Demagog Studio, could improve further based on their previous work. Overall, it is recommended for fans of the genre, provided they manage their expectations regarding the game's scope.

    • “The performance, 1440p resolution, and loading times are excellent.”
    • “I could have played the Netflix version for free, but I’m glad I got it on PC for the performance. Give the game a try if you like the lore of Demagog games and are a fan of strategy RPGs while keeping expectations in check in terms of scope.”
    • “Just like the earlier games, it harmonizes with the visuals effectively as it tells the story through the host and the songs – which will be the only voices you will hear in the game, except for a few in-game performances.”
    • “And while I applaud Demagog Studio's efforts, I know they can do better, especially given their past performances.”
    • “I could have played the Netflix version for free, but I’m glad I got it on PC for the performance, etc. Give the game a try if you like the lore of Demagog games and are a fan of strategy RPGs while keeping expectations in check in terms of scope.”
  • grinding
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, which detracts from the otherwise engaging story and combat-puzzles.

    • “A real pity because the story does seem to go somewhere, but the combat puzzles are just tedious.”
    • “The grinding feels endless and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
    • “I found myself repeating the same tasks over and over, which made the experience feel monotonous.”
  • atmosphere
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is described as chill and heavenly, enhanced by beautiful music, despite its grim setting. Reviewers praise the developers' ability to create a distinct and immersive atmosphere, complemented by engaging storytelling through character dialogues, even if they are not player-influenced.

    • “A very chill game with beautiful music and a heavenly atmosphere, despite the grim setting itself.”
    • “These developers have a real gift for delivering atmosphere, which isn't too surprising considering they were able to pull it off in a 2D golf game (Golf Club Wasteland is a total classic in my book).”
    • “It has a very distinct and nice atmosphere to it, and I also like the storytelling through dialogues between the characters, even if there is no way to influence what they say.”
  • stability
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users report encountering several noticeable glitches related to stability, including misattributed dialogues and word balloons appearing outside the screen boundaries. These issues suggest that while the game is generally functional, it suffers from some inconsistencies that can detract from the overall experience.

    • “I also experienced a few glitches, such as dialogues being attributed to the wrong characters and two word balloons spawning outside of the screen boundaries.”
    • “The game frequently crashes, making it nearly impossible to progress without losing significant progress.”
    • “I encountered numerous bugs that disrupted gameplay, including freezing and unexpected errors that forced me to restart.”
  • emotional
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of the game is mixed; while some players appreciate the touching narrative of the surviving children, others feel that the story elements and exploration lack depth, failing to evoke a strong emotional response.

    • “Additionally, story points include touching on how the children who were left behind were able to survive (and if you've played the cub, you know they thrived).”
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68%Critics’ scoreBased on 4 critic reviews
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Frequently Asked Questions

Highwater is a open world action adventure game.

Highwater is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, iPhone and others.

Highwater was released on March 14, 2024.

Highwater was developed by Inc..

Highwater has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

Highwater is a single player game.

Similar games include Edge of Eternity, VALKYRIE ELYSIUM, Eastward, Sunday Gold, Super Neptunia RPG and others.