Developer: Three Bees
Platform: PC (Reviewed), Mac
Genre: Adventure, Casual
Publisher: Three Bees
Perfect Tides: Station to Station, the coming-of-age point-and-click narrative adventure sequel to developer Three Bees’ award-winning Perfect Tides. This game was reviewed on Windows but is also available for Mac, with a future release for the Nintendo Switch.
Perfect Tides: Station to Station follows aspiring writer Mara Whitefish as she begins one of the most defining and turbulent periods of her life: college. The game opens in the spring of 2003, with Mara wrapping up her freshman year at the State University of Creative Studies, a big-city school she attends on a writing scholarship. Mara is trying to carve out an identity that feels different from her childhood, family and the island home she had left behind.
This is a sequel to the original Perfect Tides, which followed a year in Mara’s life as a teenager. While I never had the chance to play the first game, Station to Station does an excellent job standing on its own. The shift in Mara’s priorities is immediately clear: this is a story about post-adolescence, independence and the strange feeling that you have finally become an adult. Several aspects of this narrative make you think about how you spent your adolescence and whether the moments and choices you had made previously were the right ones for you. The game spans a full year, divided into four seasonal chapters which take roughly 12 hours to complete. Throughout that time, this game delivers the most heartfelt narrative that captures the exploration of time, youth, and finally becoming yourself.
The pivotal moment of the story is when Mara and her friend Daniel meet with Andrew Sterns, a writer they admire. He invites them to a reading for upcoming writers, which seems like quite the gift. From here on, Mara needs to balance her coursework, her job at the university library, her long-distance relationship, and her aspirations to become a writer.
Perfect Tides: Station to Station is a point-and-click adventure game, but its mechanics are thoughtful and intuitive. Interactive objects are clearly indicated with your cursor becoming red, though you can also examine non-interactive environmental details. When you meet characters, you can interact with Mara’s phone, where she keeps organised tabs for conversation topics and people she has discovered. There is an inventory system which is mainly used for certain puzzles that you encounter. What I thoroughly enjoyed about this game was its writing mechanic. There is a menu in-game which tracks Mara’s assignments, topics and people. As Mara experiences the city, talks to people and reads books, she unlocks new subjects to write about, each with a knowledge level that increases over time the more you interact. This game invites the player to interact, explore, and become informed to enhance Mara’s writing that truly puts oneself in her shoes. The overall interaction in this game has such small details that make every action you take so much more personal and a part of Mara’s routine. The functionality and the world-building in this game are quite outstanding.
Visually, Perfect Tides: Station to Station has a beautiful pixel art style. The environments are expressive and full of personality, and the animation work is especially effective at conveying emotions through subtle perspective shifts. Even facial expressions are expressed in such detail that they match the mood and tone of the dialogue. Little details in the animations go a long way, like for instance when Mara uses her computer, the interface makes it seem like you are navigating the desktop yourself. The depth in the animation was excellent: Mara being able to walk back and up the depth of the setting makes the game feel more immersive. The different locations and environments Mara explores are filled with numerous details that truly capture the beauty of this game. I do wish the game had an option to play in full screen, and sometimes the font, which I understand fits the aesthetic, had moments where certain words were genuinely difficult to read.
The visuals had significantly complemented the sound design. The music shifts between different tones that match each scene, which can go from anything like calm music to bass-heavy rock tunes for moments that are more intense, versus the subtle and soothing moments. I quite enjoyed the sound effects that matched the use of items from the 2000s. This game does a great job of capturing the 2000s era through visuals, sound and storytelling.
As Mara is becoming an aspiring writer, the gameplay reflects that. Most in-game days centre around a specific writing assignment, and you have certain requirements that need to be fulfilled to prepare for it. For instance, rather than going head-on into the writing assignment, you will need to talk to people, read books or attend events to gain information on your chosen topic. Books have a huge role in this game when it comes to building your knowledge. Mara is able to carry five books at a time while being able to read one a day. Rather than having to read through endless pages, you get given a summary of the book, which helps Mara come up with ideas. When it comes to writing, you need to pick the right combination of topics; otherwise, it will result in a bad grade. It’s quite like the dread of writing up an assignment for university in real life, and just like that, it’s best not to procrastinate; however, you do not need to do the actual writing, but it’s narrated by Mara, which is much less stressful. Based on the submissions, you will receive a colour-coded grade and feedback which you can understand for future improvement.
Perfect Tides: Station to Station is a thoughtful, emotionally rich adventure game that puts the thoughts into young adulthood. This game wants you to understand who Mara is becoming and gives the player their own sense of reflection. If you enjoy narrative-driven games, coming-of-age stories or anything that explores the beauty and discomfort of growing up, then this game is definitely worth your time. It is a game that lingers with you emotionally and gives you a sense of hope, so be sure to check out Perfect Tides: Station to Station.
Overall: 8.5/10
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