Jett: The Far Shore
Atmospheric adventure has uneven gameplay, puzzle solving.
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Jett: The Far Shore
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this game.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Jett: The Far Shore is a downloadable sci-fi adventure game available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows PC (via the Epic Store). The story is about exploring a water-covered planet, studying its wildlife, and tracking down the source of a mysterious signal known as the "hymnwave" that brought you to this strange world to begin with. This single-player game has very little combat (in fact, you're discouraged from bothering the alien life), plus there's no inappropriate content to be found in the game.
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What’s It About?
JETT: THE FAR SHORE is a story about Mei, a young scout and mystic who agrees to say goodbye to her family and travel for 1,000 years, while cryogenically frozen, to a distant planet in the hopes it could be the future home for her doomed world. Mei and her co-pilot Isao follow a mysterious "hymnwave" calling to this mostly water-covered world, so unraveling the source of this spiritual calling is part of your goal, too. Much of the game is played inside your jett vehicle, while navigating across this planet and studying its wildlife, but a portion of the action is played on-foot, too. There isn't a lot of combat, because the gameplay focuses more on piloting your craft, investigating your surroundings, evading deadly pursuers, talking back with your home base (played out in a first-person view), and picking up and tossing items with your grappling arm.
Is It Any Good?
This slower-paced game impresses more in its premise and production elements than the actual gameplay, which feels uneven and without engaging puzzles or action. As far as atmospheric experiences go -- including an emotional connection to the story, characters, and environments -- Jett: The Far Shore does an extraordinary job with its stylized art direction, mystical soundtrack (which fuses classical music with chants), and fictional language. While much of the game is soothing, there are some moments of tension, especially around the third act or so, when you're tasked with finding some indigenous flora and fauna through your scanner, evading hostile enemies who don't want you there, and deciphering radio chatter from your co-pilot (which you must read as there's no English audio). The problem is juggling it all simultaneously, but you do get the hang of it pretty quickly.
The action slows down when you're on foot and when you visit Ground Control to chat with other scouts like you. This slower pace risks losing some gamers from staying engaged, but again, Jett: The Far Shore is really more of a virtual getaway -- a playable parable, if you will -- with gameplay that focuses more on exploration and discovery than conflict. What interactions you do have tend to get a little repetitive after a while, too. Without giving too much away, there's a build-up towards a conclusion, but it's not as climactic as it could be. Overall, Jett: The Far Shore is a unique indie ride, but it's too bad the developers didn't provide deeper and more engaging action or puzzle-solving. The sci-fi premise is great, and so are the graphics and music, but it feels like it could have been much more.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in video games. Is the impact of the violence in Jett: The Far Shore affected by its attempts to exclude that content? How unique is a videogame that shies away from violence instead of encouraging it? Since the game is about peace, exploration, respect, and survival, should more people pay attention to it, or is it not as much "fun" as fighting against enemies?
Are there enough games that star strong young women as the lead protagonist, without any sexual exploitation? Why do you think these aren't made as frequently as games that objectify women?
Game Details
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Superbrothers
- Release date: October 5, 2021
- Genre: Adventure
- Topics: Adventures, Science and Nature, Space and Aliens, Wild Animals
- ESRB rating: E for Mild Fantasy Violence.
- Last updated: October 12, 2021
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