The Indie Informer

I still have a long way to go in this reality-questioning adventure. Harmony: The Fall of Reverie‘s art is consistently breathtaking, something I noted in my first encounter with the game during LudoNarriCon. They story and dialogue are also well-written. I want to help the unsure protagonist, Polly. Give confidence to the self-conscious Nora. And get to the bottom of one corporations ugly schemes with the soul-weary Jade.

Even the more-than-human personas in the supernatural realm of Reverie earn my empathy. It would have been easy to make these characters — who represent a single idea, like Bliss or Chaos — one-noted. But they all have facets and shades to them giving them depth. Meeting all the characters and exploring a world increasingly ruled over by wealthy business all about the bottom line has been a highlight.

I’m less certain how I feel about the choice-making mechanics. Manifested as a branching narrative the main character can actually see, I make decisions based on where the paths appear to lead, or what rewards they seem to offer. The information on this mystical star-chart is purposely obscured to give me some guidance without ruining every twist of the plot. And it seems like a cool idea on paper.

In practice, so far, jumping back and forth between an ongoing scene and the static map makes the action feel choppy. And I’m not totally sold on the idea of trying to look into the future to try to make decisions now. However, the plot is pulling enough that I want to see it to the end before I make up my mind on how this system works.

Harmony: Fall of Reverie is out on Switch and PC today, with its PlayStation and Xbox releases hitting later in the month. It’s visuals and story may be worth the cost of admission for many adventure game fans, though I’m still undecided on some of its storytelling techniques.