HomeNewsCompletely Fictional Story About A City Inside A Whale
More mellow than Melville
Image credit:In404
Image credit:In404
Completely Fictional Story About a City Inside a Whale - Announcement TrailerWatch on YouTube
Completely Fictional Story About a City Inside a Whale - Announcement Trailer
It turns out the inside of a whale is rather peaceful. In the course of 15 minutes, I have not encountered any Biblical prophets or half-digested chunks of giant squid (or half-digested giant squid prophets). The game’s map is a shadowy, oceanic shantytown that, according to the Steam page, will eventually span two or three hours of placid roving and tinkering. Movement is very fiddly, in a playful way: you have to keep clicking a big brass key to wind up your ship, and you must turn the steering wheel with the mouse: there are no keyboard controls.
As that last bit may suggest, and in case the title leaves you in any doubt, the game doesn’t half love taking the piss out of itself. Visual gags are everywhere - Loony Tunes signs, spoof tutorial NPCs, treasure chests with “don’t open” next to them. Your mileage will vary, but for me, it’s a bit of a bombardment, and a slight waste of a quirky, eldritch setting that has been crafted with a lot of care. A Short Hike - which made our list of thebest open world gamesthanks to rather than in spite of its scale - can be similarly whimsical but it knows when to rein things in.
Still, I’m intrigued to sample the full version of (deep breath)Completely Fictional Story About A City Inside A Whale, which launches in 2024. I must admit, I have a weakness for games set inside giant animals, like the Riftworm level inGears of War2. There’s something about the microcosm/macrocosm interplay there that I always find thrilling. Do you have any, um, intestinal favourites to share?
