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[Maiden Voyage]

WELCOME TO THE FEDORA I​

Developer: Slow Bros​

Publisher: Slow Bros.​

Release Date: 16 April 2024​

Platforms: Steam (Mac and Linux support TBD) | Xbox (Gamepass on launch) | Playstation 4 & 5​

Genre: Adventure, Story rich, Cinematic​

Price: $34.99 USD | €34,99 | £29.50 (15% launch discount)​

Metacritic: https://www.metacritic.com/game/harold-halibut/​

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ABOUT​

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Harold Halibut is a handmade narrative game about friendship and life on a city-sized spaceship submerged in an alien ocean.
It’s been 250 years since your home - an ark-like spaceship - fled an Earth on the verge of cold war to find a habitable planet to preserve the human race.
You are Harold, a young lab assistant for the ship’s lead scientist, Jeanne Mareaux. While most of the ship’s inhabitants have reconciled themselves to a life lived aboard the sunken ship, Mareaux still works tirelessly to find a way for the ship to leave the planet and find a new, dryer home.

But the weird, wonderful and diverse people of the FEDORA I keep Harold busy too… Until one fateful encounter plunges Harold into a world no one could have imagined - and one that may hold the key to Mareaux’s re-launch plans.
Join Harold as he explores a vibrant retro-future world in his quest to find the true meaning of ‘home’.

History​

Features​

• Unique Stop-Motion Aesthetics: Every element in Harold Halibut is a tactile and meticulously hand-crafted using traditional sculpting and model-making techniques.
• Full Voice Acting: All of the Fedoras' wonderful inhabitants come to life with full English voiceover, elevating the game's narrative to cinematic proportions.
• An expansive Character Ensemble: Meet a variety of unique characters and get to know their personalities, quirks and stories through meaningful conversations.
• A riveting cinematic storyline: Journey through a captivating narrative, underscored by a carefully orchestrated script that blends drama, humor, and suspense.

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SCREENSHOTS​

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TRAILERS​

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SOCIALS​

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube​

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Special thanks to mortal for all the help on this OT! <3​

 

[Maiden Voyage]

 

[adamsapple]

The art style for this one looks so uniquely great.

 

[Visual Rhino]

Will definitely give this a try, looks awesome.

 

[Punished Miku]

I'll be starting this one this week, maybe this weekend.

 

[AJUMP23]

I just finished FF7 Rebirth, so I may look for something Fishy.

Good job on the OT.

 

[GymWolf]

You already had me at haliBUT.

 

[R3TRODYCE]

Guess I’ll dust off my pc Gamepass sub to give this a try.

 

[Darsxx82]

This Game Is ART visually.
In a time where innovating or trying new things is being lost, this game has already won me over since it was announced.

I hope the story goes along with The art and I can also have a good time in that regard.

 

[drotahorror]

Hope the game is good. The graphics are amazing, hope my PC can handle it.

 

[mortal]

One of the more unique presentations I've seen in a game, but also feels reminiscent of old school PC adventure games.

 

[Punished Miku]

Harold Halibut Review - IGN

www.ign.com

Stop-motion sci-fi x Bioshock's Rapture x Wes Anderson. I can definitely dig that lol. Sounds like it's low on interactivity, more of a point and click / visual novel style game. Art style is great.

 

[adamsapple]

One of the more unique presentations I've seen in a game, but also feels reminiscent of old school PC adventure games.

A modern day Grim Fandnago, if you will?

 

[AJUMP23]

ACG review

 

[Negotiator101]

Gamepass just keeps getting new interesting content day 1, will play it tomorrow.

 

[near]

This game has an incredible art direction. I remember reading every aspect of this was handcrafted years ago, glad to see they finally got it out the door.

 

[touchfuzzy]

Sounds like there's barely much of a game to go along with the nice / inventive art direction.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Sounds like there's barely much of a game to go along with the nice / inventive art direction.

Sounds like what I need to break away from these open world games.

 

[Toots]

Jeanne Mareaux

Reference to Jeanne Moreau ?

 

[22:22:22]

Great OP Maiden Voyage and mortal

Loved the trailer.

 

[22:22:22]

 

[mortal]

Great OP Maiden Voyage and mortal

Loved the trailer.

I can't take credit, this is all Maiden Voyage 's effort. I just provided some info/tips

 

[22:22:22]

I can't take credit, this is all Maiden Voyage 's effort. I just provided some info/tips

I see.

I wasn't sure of your role. Nevertheless great teamwork and OP.

Game's vibe is truly something..

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Downloading now. I'm excited to play through this one. Hopefully the story lives up to the killer art direction.

 

[Stafford]

Started playing it and it looks fantastic, I love it. Animation is great too, as is the music and story seems to be quite interesting too. Very unique!

 

[El Muerto]

This game is absolutely incredible. I'm not running into any issues either. Animation and the environments are top notch, Voice acting is great. Characters have personality. It's basically a point and click game without all the pointin' and clickin'.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

The Zim and Alon convos are my favorite so far.

The art is just so good.

 

[calistan]

Does the main character ever learn to run? There was a scene where he tried to follow some people jogging, and I thought that might be the big reveal for the'run' button, but no, it was just a joke.

I find myself getting a knot of tension in the pit of my stomach whenever I complete some task and am told to report back to somebody in a different building.

 

[tommib]

Thanks for the OT. I didn’t know about this. Just added to my wishlist. It looks too good to be true.

 

[intbal]

Harold Halibut is a handmade narrative game about friendship and life on a city-sized spaceship submerged in an alien ocean.
It’s been 250 years since your home - an ark-like spaceship - fled an Earth on the verge of cold war to find a habitable planet to preserve the human race.

When do the mutants attack?

Spoiler: reference

 

[Magic Carpet]

They fixed the PC full screen issue from the steam demo I played. I'm still getting a lot of rough frame rates .
RTX 4070 everything set to high with DLSS quality gets me 60 FPS but I get stuttering frames everywhere.
It's playable however.

The fish are trying to tell me something.

I'm going to like this.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Just finished chapter 2. The story is solid so far. Lots of little bits of humor with the characters. Some pacing issues but otherwise enjoyable as an interactive story. At 7.4 hours, which is way more than I normally put in on a day 1 session. I've been playing slowly, though. I think I've done a good chunk of the side quests so far, judging from the achievements.

Does the main character ever learn to run? There was a scene where he tried to follow some people jogging, and I thought that might be the big reveal for the'run' button, but no, it was just a joke.

I find myself getting a knot of tension in the pit of my stomach whenever I complete some task and am told to report back to somebody in a different building.

If you're using a controller, hold x to run.

 

[Punished Miku]

Just started it up. I like how they set the stages much smaller than your TV with everything pitch black behind it. I recommend playing in the dark. Sort of looks like you have a little toy set in front of you.

 

[Punished Miku]

This game is definitely impossible to recommend to people. Its super niche and going for this interesting vibe. Its like I am just fully immersed in Harold's apathy, and they have really nailed that emotion. Its like staying up until 330am watching horrible informercials and public television science programming, but you can somehow find entertainment and beauty in it. Mix that with extremely dry, barely perceptible British humor and truly fantastic art style and visuals.

I'm into it. Super early on still.

Just a heads up though, very little interactivity so far. More like animated TV you'd stumble upon late into the night that is too bizarre for normal hours but still sticks with you.

 

[RPS37]

How bad is it that I knew this would be on Game Pass the second I saw it?

 

[calistan]

If you're using a controller, hold x to run.

Thank you! Not sure how I missed that, I was pressing every button and clicking the stick but he just kept shuffling around.

Hope he discovers his killer instinct soon. He has that No Country For Old Men haircut.

 

[tommib]

How bad is it that I knew this would be on Game Pass the second I saw it?

Taking into account that some of the best games I’ve played this generation are/were on gamepass (Signalis, Scorn, High on Life, Pentiment, Hi-fi Rush, Bramble, Lies of P, Cocoon, Tunic, Immortality), I don’t think there’s anything bad about it.

 

[Darsxx82]

The game is being for me (mid-chapter 2) what I expected, both for good and for "bad".

In terms of visual art and graphics it is wonderful. Performance is also very good in 60fps mode. In fact, I don't see a visual difference with the quality at 30fps, what's more, in this mode there are areas with stuttering.

The story hooked me and the performances are very good.

Now the "bad". In quotes because it will depend on each person. It is a game focused on narrative, slow-paced and with little interaction. It is not as restricted as the typical game-movie (The Quarry, UntilDawn...), but it is slightly more interactive.

Therefore, it is clear that it will not be to everyone's taste but I recommend it only for the wonderful visual art and graphics and the story and interpretations.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

The game is being for me (mid-chapter 2) what I expected, both for good and for "bad".

In terms of visual art and graphics it is wonderful. Performance is also very good in 60fps mode. In fact, I don't see a visual difference with the quality at 30fps, what's more, in this mode there are areas with stuttering.

The story hooked me and the performances are very good.

Now the "bad". In quotes because it will depend on each person. It is a game focused on narrative, slow-paced and with little interaction. It is not as restricted as the typical game-movie (The Quarry, UntilDawn...), but it is slightly more interactive.

Therefore, it is clear that it will not be to everyone's taste but I recommend it only for the wonderful visual art and graphics and the story and interpretations.

Yeah spot on from my view as well. As long as the story continues to be interesting I'm happy. I honestly expected the OT to be just me talking to myself so I'm glad you guys are along for the ride.

 

[Roberts]

A great first impression. Maybe because he directed somewhat tonally (deadpan existential satire) comparable movie The Double, I couldn’t help but think that this is what a Richard Ayoade videogame would look like if he made one.

In case you didn’t see it, HDR is turned off by default and you can turn it on in graphics settings.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Space Toast Coast to Coast.

 

[Stafford]

A great first impression. Maybe because he directed somewhat tonally (deadpan existential satire) comparable movie The Double, I couldn’t help but think that this is what a Richard Ayoade videogame would look like if he made one.

In case you didn’t see it, HDR is turned off by default and you can turn it on in graphics settings.

What I find interesting is how in the settings there is a option to have it detect the paper white setting. I've never seen this before. With other games you have to set the paper white manually. If this setting works as intended, great.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Just rolled credits around the 12 hour mark. I found the overall experience to be quite enjoyable. Gameplay was largely non-existent but I was here for the story and art anyway.

I missed some notebook entries, which seems crazy to me because I felt like I ran around frequently, touching base with each character after story beats occurred. I wonder what all I missed?

 

[Punished Miku]

Just rolled credits around the 12 hour mark. I found the overall experience to be quite enjoyable. Gameplay was largely non-existent but I was here for the story and art anyway.

I missed some notebook entries, which seems crazy to me because I felt like I ran around frequently, touching base with each character after story beats occurred. I wonder what all I missed?

Dang, youre fast

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Dang, youre fast

Sped through to make time for No Rest for the Wicked

 

[Putonahappyface]

Will this get a physical release?

 

[hybrid_birth]

Will this get a physical release?

Will people get physical on release? Probably.

Seriously though I hope it gets physical. Otherwise I'll play it on gamepass when I get a series s.

In it just for the stop motion graphics. Some of my favorite movies used stop motion.

 

[Punished Miku]

Played another 45 minutes last night. I do like elements of the game, but last night the overwhelming feeling was boredom. I think I'm actually still not even to the point that the main story starts so I'm hoping it picks up a little bit. We'll see!

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Played another 45 minutes last night. I do like elements of the game, but last night the overwhelming feeling was boredom. I think I'm actually still not even to the point that the main story starts so I'm hoping it picks up a little bit. We'll see!

What chapter are you on? 1, 2, and 4 especially go on too long imo but again I was trying to absolutely everything. It may be advisable to just run the critical path. There are some neat, optional moments in the second half if you take up Buddy’s side quest.

Will this get a physical release?

Will people get physical on release? Probably.

Seriously though I hope it gets physical. Otherwise I'll play it on gamepass when I get a series s.

In it just for the stop motion graphics. Some of my favorite movies used stop motion.

I honestly doubt this will ever get physical release. It’s way too niche. All time peak on Steam is 259 at the moment. The mixed reviews and gamepass launch aren’t doing the chance for physical game any favors either.

 

[Punished Miku]

What chapter are you on? 1, 2, and 4 especially go on too long imo but again I was trying to absolutely everything. It may be advisable to just run the critical path. There are some neat, optional moments in the second half if you take up Buddy’s side quest.

Gotta be chapter 1 still lol. I'm not bailing on it. I guess I just play really slow and look at everything.