Harold
Halibut
moves
at
its
own
pace.
A
point-and-click
adventure
built
with
real-world
materials
and
then
animated
with
stop-motion,
Harold
Halibut
tells
a
story
that’s
at
times
slow
and
ponderous
and,
at
others,
cozy
and
heartwarming.
It’s
sort
of
like
what
would
happen
if
Wes
Anderson
teamed
up
with
Aardman
Animations
to
make
a
sci-fi
game.
Which
is
to
say
that
it’s
charming
and
built
with
an
incredible
amount
of
care
and
detail.
As
a
game,
it’s
standard
stuff
—
but
as
a
place
to
experience,
there’s
nothing
quite
like
it.
The
developers
at
German
studio
Slow
Bros.
say
that
every
element
in
Harold
Halibut
was
“meticulously
hand-crafted
using
traditional
sculpting
and
model-making
techniques.”
And
much
of
the
joy
of
the
game
comes
from
luxuriating
in
those
details.
The
game
takes
place
in
the
ocean
of
an
alien
planet.
With
the
Earth
becoming
uninhabitable,
a
ship
called
the
Fedora
sets
off
to
find
a
new
world
to
populate,
and
250
years
later,
the
vessel
has
become
a
sort
of
city
in
the
depths
of
the
oceanic
world
it
ultimately
crashed
on.
You
play
as
Harold,
a
bumbling
handyman.
Harold
Halibut
plays
out
like
a
simplified
adventure
game
—
think
Monkey
Island
or
Myst
—
where
you’re
mostly
running
around
performing
a
series
of
chores,
like
delivering
items
or
scrubbing
graffiti
off
a
wall.
You
stay
on
track
with
a
pleasantly
chunky
PDA
that
has
a
to-do
list,
a
messaging
app,
and
a
built-in
notebook
where
Harold
sketches
his
thoughts.
The
story
eventually
introduces
a
pair
of
competing
mysteries
in
the
form
of
what
actually
happened
on
Earth
over
the
last
two
centuries
and
the
discovery
of
life
on
the
unnamed
alien
planet.
The
twists
and
turns
of
the
narrative
are
gentle
and
mostly
provide
an
excuse
to
hang
out
in
some
fascinating
places.
Support
local
businesses
—
no
matter
how
weird.Image:
Slow
Bros.
Going
to
replace
my
iPhone
with
this
PDA
immediately.Image:
Slow
Bros.
Now
this
is
a
vibe.Image:
Slow
Bros.
Much
of
the
game
takes
place
in
the
Fedora,
which
has
a
quirky,
lived-in
feel
to
it.
You
can
walk
through
a
commercial
district
complete
with
a
pub
where
a
robot
arm
serves
drinks
and
a
sporting
goods
shop
that
has
a
skiing
simulator
(despite
the
fact
that
no
one
on
board
really
knows
what
snow
is).
There
are
quaint
apartments
with
comfy
chairs,
stuffed
bookshelves,
and
tea
rooms.
A
literal
tube
system
transports
residents
from
place
to
place.
Later
on,
you’ll
head
to
an
alien
settlement
that
truly
feels
alien,
with
perhaps
the
strangest
library
I’ve
ever
seen.
My
favorite
feature
is
a
zoom
button
that
lets
you
stop
and
take
it
all
in.
There’s
one
particular
reading
nook
that
I
must’ve
passed
a
dozen
times,
but
I
would
always
pause
for
a
closer
inspection
just
because
it
was
so
chill.
While
I
enjoyed
the
texture
of
the
world,
at
times,
it
did
feel
like
the
game
was
forcing
me
to
soak
it
all
in
because
everything
was
so
dang
slow.
Even
when
you
use
the
sprint
button,
Harold
never
seems
to
be
in
a
rush,
and
you
regularly
have
to
sit
and
wait
for
animations
—
like
a
door
closing
or
elevator
arriving
—
to
complete
before
you
can
continue.
Harold
even
talks
slowly.
At
first,
I
found
it
frustrating,
but
I
eventually
found
myself
becoming
accustomed
to
the
particular
rhythm.
There
are
moments
when
it
can
add
to
the
charm,
helping
you
spot
a
particular
detail,
like
a
slithering
tentacle
on
a
porthole
window
you
might’ve
otherwise
missed.
Of
course,
your
mileage
may
vary.
Even
when
I
slowed
myself
down
to
appreciate
the
game,
there
were
still
some
frustrating
moments;
at
one
point,
I
was
lost
in
a
small
alien
settlement,
and
it
took
forever
for
Harold
to
slog
his
way
back.
Also,
everyone
on
the
Fedora
talks
a
lot.
Some
optional
story
paths
involve
simply
sitting
back
and
listening
to
long
diatribes,
many
of
which
don’t
go
anywhere
interesting.
While
Harold
Halibut
offers
up
a
warm
and
cozy
vision
of
the
future
to
explore,
you
have
to
put
up
with
some
plodding
moments
to
really
enjoy
it.
If
you’re
just
here
for
a
thrilling
story
or
brainteasing
puzzles,
you’ll
be
disappointed.
Instead,
playing
Harold
Halibut
is
a
bit
like
peering
into
an
exquisitely
crafted
dollhouse,
one
that
offers
up
a
refreshingly
retrofuturistic
vision
that
you
just
want
to
reach
out
and
play
with.
Harold
Halibut
is
available
now
on
PC,
PS5,
and
Xbox
Series
X
/
S
(including
Game
Pass).
Original author: Andrew Webster
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