Official Review Harold Halibut Review

It's difficult to put a label on Harold Halibut. Billed as a 'handmade narrative game', it feels like so much more than that. The controller is in your hands, and you certainly have to do a lot of legwork and some simple puzzle-solving, but even though you physically control Harold, you're not really in control. For as much as you're the player, you're also just the viewer. You're swept along with the tide, simply a member of the audience witnessing the events unfold as the lines between game, film, and art blur into one. Perhaps that's the whole idea of Harold Halibut. It doesn't fit into a box because it's meant to be something more. Perhaps it's meant to be whatever we make of it.

As Harold, you are part of a small crew living on the Fedora 1 spaceship, which has been stranded at the bottom of an alien sea for some time. Longer than any of the remaining crew have been alive, in fact, so all they have known is this life and the commands of the government body All Water. For a simple life aboard a ship, Harold faces many dilemmas. Who are the vigilante Lightkeepers? What is All Water really up to? Can the Fedora 1 fly again? And on top of all the issues the crew faces, Harold is questioning his own role and happiness in life - a question that rings louder in his ears when he befriends an alien.

Harold appears very solitary at first, living a mundane life of cleaning out filters and paying fines every time All Water changes its mind on the tube system. As Harold spends time with others, helping them with their own dilemmas and getting to know them, in turn, he starts to understand himself more. His world expands and he begins to change. While the themes of self-discovery and friendship are at the forefront, they are more present to tease the inhabitants of the Fedora 1 out of their sheltered lives: challenging authority, breaking free from the monotonous day-to-day and discovering something new and creative. The more you play, the more you realise it's not just Harold contemplating his role in life, it's every character you meet.



But for all the intrigue and devious plans at play, nothing ever truly feels malicious. Even the most dastardly plans afoot end up being far tamer than you imagine. However, the narrative doesn't feel any weaker for it. It's a calmer mystery where you have a sense that everything will work out fine even if you're not sure of the details of how, just like a retro mystery adventure TV series or The Famous Five. It's a wholesome adventure mystery, rather than one full of danger and jumpscares that modern-day edginess often ties to the genre.

Despite there being no real bite, and no real sense of danger, the narrative still feels fulfilling. By the end of the game, there were things that had been set in motion, where we had been given all the clues to figure things out, but that I just hadn't worked out for myself so still came as a surprise. And as much as the mystery appeals, you'll find yourself equally eager to uncover more about everyday life and those who live on the ship.

There are optional conversations and events you can take part in, should you wish to get to know your fellow shipmates more, that you could entirely miss out on if you simply chase the main objectives. There's a play to watch, you can reconcile the brothers, and you can deliver the remaining lost post to learn more about the history and relationships of everyone aboard - all of which aid this sense that it is not quite a game and not quite a movie, but some sort of interactive digital theatre playing out before your eyes.




The further you follow Harold along in his adventures, the more things start to unravel in marvellous ways. The very first surreal moment you encounter is Harold breaking into a musical number while cleaning the filters, and things only get more abstract from there. At one point, you're cleaning out one room into another, and the camera pivots to a 90-degree angle that shows Harold's arm dangling into the room from above, so he's more "dropping" things in rather than throwing them sideways through the door. However, as you chuck item after item, eventually you find yourself throwing Harold himself.

These moments happen so infrequently that it doesn't overpower the narrative, and even play into the narrative near the end. Even when they seem to come out of nowhere without rhyme or reason, they add an artistic flair that feels fitting for the game. Much of Harold Halibut feels artfully crafted, and it leans into postmodernism with such relish that it's hard not to draw parallels between this and Wes Anderson's film style. The game follows many of Anderson's techniques, such as symmetrical shots facing the lens, slow-motion sequences, and using quirky instrumental music to highlight or juxtapose the events unfolding before you.

Some references and tributes are passing lighthearted nods, such as two Flumylum alien children paying homage to Dragon Ball Z's fusion dance, or Harold Halibut poking fun at game stereotypes with a fake fetch quest. Fetch quests are such a staple that when you're told to retrieve something, you understandably go to get it from the last person who had it, only for them to mock you for not simply taking it out of the more high-tech system you have aboard the ship.

This combination of style, not just in the sense of the stop motion graphics but in the artistic direction, as well as the attention paid to crafting the narrative and fleshing out unique and eccentric characters, leaves you with many memorable moments in Harold Halibut you'll cherish. Moments of sadness, bittersweet closure, mystery, or simply a scene so surreal or stylish it stays with you. A favourite of mine is near the end of the game, and while I won't ruin the plot for you, Harold is facing an urgent situation yet the scene in which we see him heading towards the issue is eerily calm, soundtracked by some Bowie-esque German music.

I adored many of these moments, but there were also a few scenes I felt were a little too slow, especially when Harold can't even run. It's not often, but it can drag the pace a little, especially when you're eager to unravel the mysteries that Harold is facing. The only other thing that marred my time aboard the Fedora 1 were a few bugs and glitches. A character's face might be accidentally blue, or Harold would get stuck on scenery or something would stick that would prevent the game from showing whatever cutscene you should have prompted. A quick reload always did the trick and it autosaves enough that you never had to backtrack far, but it did happen semi-frequently.

One thing's for certain: you've never played a game like Harold Halibut before. You may have played cinematic narrative adventure titles before, but none offer up such a striking stop-motion style and thought-provoking narrative, especially when paired with a winning combination of mystery, heartfelt character relationships, and quirky artistic flair. You will question your own path in life and whether you're truly happy, then leave you wondering how to find your own bluglglgl.

Harold Halibut

Played on PC.


Harold Halibut is a narrative adventure with a handmade, stop-motion style that sees you play the titular lab assistant searching for the meaning of 'home'.

Platform(s): PC , PS5 , PS4 , Switch , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
Developer(s): Slow Bros.
Genre(s): Adventure

Pros

• Utterly charming stop-animation style graphics.
• Whimsical characters and settings that make you want to get to know them more.
• Thought-provoking storyline.

Cons

• A few small bugs such as visual issues or characters getting stuck that a quick reload will fix.
• A few sections can feel particularly slow.