• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Harold Halibut |OT| Is that a Trouser Trout in your inventory or are you just happy to see me?

Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member

WELCOME TO THE FEDORA I​

CHvhBW3.gif
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)​
​
IykmQIm.png



ABOUT​
​

dutdfca.gif
c6nm5cL.gif
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.

YBZjhm3.gif
D3d8XBa.gif
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​

ymSgEFy.png

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.

SCREENSHOTS​

b97ommn.jpeg
LJG4yTN.jpeg
NYvO6yL.png
3gMicWf.jpeg
VQQQ0Lc.jpeg
85a5HeE.jpeg
GDTihzq.jpeg
Fgj42w5.jpg
SMvAemg.jpeg

TRAILERS​

​


SOCIALS​


azsnbnr.png



Special thanks to M mortal for all the help on this OT! <3​
 
Last edited:
calistan

calistan

Member
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.
 
intbal

intbal

Member
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.
Click to expand...

When do the mutants attack?
T9ZHjtW.jpg
 
Magic Carpet

Magic Carpet

Gold Member
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

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
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.

calistan said:
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.
Click to expand...
If you're using a controller, hold x to run.
 
Last edited:
Punished Miku

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
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.
 
D

Darsxx82

Member
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

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Darsxx82 said:
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.
Click to expand...
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

Roberts

Member
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.
 
Stafford

Stafford

Member
Roberts said:
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.
Click to expand...

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

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
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

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
Maiden Voyage said:
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?
Click to expand...
Dang, youre fast
 
Last edited:
Punished Miku

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
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

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Punished Miku said:
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!
Click to expand...
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.

Putonahappyface said:
Will this get a physical release?
Click to expand...

hybrid_birth said:
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.
Click to expand...
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

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
Maiden Voyage said:
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.
Click to expand...
Gotta be chapter 1 still lol. I'm not bailing on it. I guess I just play really slow and look at everything.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Locked
Coming to Xbox Game Pass: LEGO 2K Drive, EA Sports PGA Tour, Harold Halibut, and More
News Platform
40
3K
Nydius replied
Coming to Xbox Game Pass: LEGO 2K Drive, EA Sports PGA Tour, Harold Halibut, and More
News
23
2K
cash_longfellow replied
Starfield Shattered Space |OT| Is that the Great Serpent or are you just happy to see me?
2 3 4 5 6
264
12K
March Climber replied
10 New Games coming to Xbox Game Pass Announced | Xbox Showcase Extended 2023
4
2K
SEGA_2012 replied
Harold Halibut - A Handmade Adventure Game (Kickstarter | PC, PS4, Xbox One)
8
4K
Sir_Crocodile replied
Top Bottom