Harold Halibut

It's hard not to be impressed with Slow Bros.' lovingly hand-crafted adventure right from the first few minutes with it. The models, environments, and more have been painstakingly created in a stop-motion style that immediately sets Harold Halibut apart from anything I have played before. It has been over a decade in the making for developer and publisher Slow Bros. and it shows.

Before getting ahead of myself and gushing some more about the visuals, if you're not aware, Harold Halibut is a new narrative adventure game. Set in the future, on a ship that crash-landed on a watery planet, you take on the role of the titular Harold Halibut, an everyman by all accounts, who is struggling to find his place on a ship where it seems like everyone has a purpose that they excel at.

As mentioned, the first thing that'll likely draw you to Harold Halibut is its looks. Each of the models has been hand-made and then scanned into the game, creating a visual style that comes across as strange at first, but the more it grows on you the more comforting and charming it becomes. It reflects the setting of the ship (AKA The Fedora) quite brilliantly, as at first you can't really understand how anyone could enjoy living on this cold, metallic vessel trapped deep in the dark depths of an alien planet, but the more you get to know the people on the Fedora you get to the point where you wouldn't mind a vacation to the Fedora.

In its visual styling worldbuilding, and storytelling, Harold Halibut takes inspiration from a lot of different media. You can spot similarities from Lovecraft to Ghibli movies to Aardman, and yet at no point did it feel like these were parasites at risk of overtaking Harold Halibut. Instead, Slow Bros. does a tremendous job at making the story and world feel truly unique at all times. The alien designs are particularly interesting, as they manage to feel utterly strange while also being packed with personality and very likeable.

Harold Halibut's story tackles a lot of big themes. It is primarily about friendship, but it also deals with loneliness, senses of home, found family, loss, and more. It never gets too bogged down despite this, with there being a constant lighter feel thanks to the comedy and charm woven into the writing. Most would look at a setting like a trapped underwater ship and immediately think of the horror potential, but Slow Bros.' adventure is so vibrant, with so much heart that even in the few dark moments you know there is light coming soon enough.

The story does face some slow downs during its middle points, as even if you grow attached to the characters and get stuck in with the various side quests on the map, it can feel like little is happening. At the beginning, you throw yourself into all the mysteries brought up by the Fedora and the people on it. Who are the Lightkeepers? What secrets is the nefarious All Water Corporation hiding? How does Harold look so withered when he's only in his twenties? By the end, you'll have the answers you need, as Harold Halibut gears itself up for a raucous and heart-warming finale, but between a very strong start and finish, it can feel like we're just treading water.

Outside of the main story as well, you don't have much to do. In one sense, this bold faith Slow Bros. has in the narrative should be praised, but on the other, it can prevent the player feeling like they have a say in what happens. There are minigames in the ship's arcade, and a few sections will have you do something other than walk and talk, but otherwise the story is all you've got. Harold Halibut is a game you experience, rather than a narrative adventure you decide. It's a game that relies a lot on its atmosphere, which makes it all the more important that Slow Bros. does such a good job at pulling you in and gets you invested in the lives of these stop motion people right away.

While the visual style sets Harold Halibut apart, I think it creates its best sense of atmosphere through its music. The soundtrack can be eerie, empty, and lovely all at once. It makes use of the strangeness of Harold Halibut's world to great effect, and swells perfectly at the game's best moments. It helps cover the montages that you'll see in the game, which without their charming music could have served as a reminder that you don't have much agency in this story.

Harold Halibut is a lovely treat of a game. Short, sweet, packed with individuality and amazing characters made even more loveable by impressive voice performances, it is a game forged from pure passion. It is a unique experience that is sure to charm any fan of narrative-driven adventure games, proving Slow Bros. to be able to swim with the biggest fish in the genre.