Saltsea Chronicles embodies the messiness of living in community

Naturalists have assembled cabinet of curiosities throughout history. These explorers amassed an amalgamation of biological artifacts — like shells, preserved bugs, and stuffed birds — along with other items or sketches from their travels, and placed them in wooden cabinets.

Video games have long been dominated by the desire to gather, even at the expense of the native inhabitants. Heroes like Link from The Legend of Zelda or trainers in Pokémon help themselves to the spoils of the land in pursuit of a singular goal. Saltsea ChroniclesThe makers of MutazioneIt takes a radical new approach. Instead of plundering lands and people, the player directs a collective of people who carefully approach each island’s unique culture. This crew doesn’t hoard any resources, but instead fills out an almanac of stickers to memorialize the journey. It’s a small touch, but it’s a defining example of the type of intentionality brought to Saltsea Chronicles. This is an ambitious, thoughtful narrative even though the game moves a bit too quickly between the characters and their unique experiences.

Saltsea ChroniclesThe video opens with five people huddled around a fireplace. I click through dialog options where I’m given the choice to hear a story about the “past” or the “future.” I click the latter, and I’m regaled with an illustrated legend that speaks of a world where “hoarders” took too much and gave too little. The hoarders created glittering skyscrapers which made the oceans jealous. They rose as a consequence. Now, all that’s left is a smattering of islands in a body of water called Saltsea. A group of friends is excited to embark on a sea voyage, but a setback occurs when their captain Maja disappears during the night. It’s up to the group to search the sea and find their friend.

Image: Die Gute Fabrik

Saltsea ChroniclesIt mimics the structure and style of TV. Developer Die Gute Fabrik used a writers’ room to create the game, and some of its most dramatic moments echo the soap opera-esque storytelling of the studio’s debut game, Mutazione. Every episode follows the same structure. You will hang around the boat and observe an crew meeting, during which the characters make decisions about where they want to go.

Each episode allows me to choose up to two characters that will be exploring a particular island to learn its history. The duo will return with the information they have gathered after I play as two of the crewmates. Then, I choose dialogue options and read another crew discussion. This allows me to make decisions such as where to go next, or whether to accept or reject a crew member. Each island was beautifully rendered using risograph techniques, similar to those used in storybooks.

The writers use personal stories, and conflict between characters to examine important political and social issues. Tukk, the protagonist of The Grace, an island filled with counselors that help grieving people, explores restorative justice concepts through his character. As it turned out, this individual murdered three individuals. Molpe was enraged when she saw Tukk. Later, she confronts Afen the local leader about his decision to shield this individual. Afen doesn’t deny the pain this person caused and says, “But harm comes from harm. If you don’t stop to heal it when you see it… It will only continue, passed on. One violence to another.”

Image: Die Gute Fabrik

Developers also discuss tourism, exploitation and the island’s lush volcano. We meet Bobbi, a local tour guide who bristles at our arrival and complains of the visitors, referred to as “incomers,” who are creating noise on the island with an excavation project. Scientists from around the world have flooded Youlouca in order to conduct an archaeological dig of ancient technology. Yet, nobody cares about learning more about the culture of the island. Neshko is a crewmate who will make multiple visits to the island to learn the history of the place and to honor the cultural heritage.

While I found the overall social themes to be intriguing, as a reviewer it felt at times that island-hopping and changing characters left certain social criticisms or ideas feeling uncooked after just one playthrough. The different characters have their own needs and wants that allow them to explore a variety of themes and stories. If you inhabit different characters — which the game will force you to do — then you see the world filtered from each of their perspectives. The game has some delightfully provocative moments where you have to play as someone who hurt the community, and listen to others’ grievances. However, it also led to situations where each character’s specific interest might not line up with the game’s numerous themes, so you get a situation where you’re presented with a moral question but no real reflection on it.

Image: Die Gute Fabrik

Before starting SaltseaNo answer will be wrong, as the game promises. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t have to make tough decisions as its characters. Luckily, I never felt like I was penalized for a “bad” decision. In an interesting design decision, however, I didn’t always know for whom I was selecting dialog. The game highlights which character is speaking, but when I was presented with options, it wasn’t always clear which character I was inhabiting as I made my decision. Sometimes I made a character act dumb because I mistook which character I controlled or the dialogue options that I selected. This could cause frustration for some, but also serve as a good reminder of how difficult it can be to choose the right words.

At certain points, I couldn’t help but feel like this game was trying to do a little too much. It’s a challenge to include themes such as climate change, generations trauma, loss, and community in one game. Players were also given a wide range of perspectives to consider. Life today, with its many woes, is also a bit too much. I admire a team who sails unflinchingly into the wind of these weighty issues.

Saltsea Chronicles The release date of the film was Oct. 12. Mac, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC. A pre-release code was used to review the game on PC. Vox Media partners with affiliates. Vox Media can earn affiliate commissions, but this does not affect editorial content. This is where you can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.