In Shallow Waters
Would you watch a 35-minute slideshow of nature scenes? Would a story—conveyed only in unnarrated subtitles—make it more interesting? What if this story is about one teenager’s struggles with depression? Would you enjoy it then? Knowing that the story is intended to be straightforward, would you pay to see this entire show? If you said “yes” to everything, Drowning will fulfill your wildest dreams. Otherwise, you’re fine to ignore this game entirely.
The rest of this review is for those who want to read criticism for a game that was never really meant to be your “typical” game. With Drowning, developer Polygonal Wolf shares an account of mental illness, no more, no less. It engages gamers too little to be a traditional video game, and its personal yet simple narrative holds it back from delivering a deeper message on depression and the human condition. Unless you’re specifically looking for Drowning, you have little reason to buy Drowning.
What is it?
Drowning involves you dying as water fills your lungs and suffocates you. Drowning, conversely, follows a nameless protagonist as he struggles with European depression, which is like American depression but with misspelled “wourds” and fewer bald eagles. Over four years, our character’s symptoms gradually worsen, and his quality of life soon follows. Suicidal thoughts infect his inner dialogue, and the world around him becomes more isolated and sinister.
Your role in this journey is to walk along the beaten path before you. You will pass through a mountainous forest, along a beach, across a bridge, and other vistas which become less serene as the protagonist’s depression worsens. As you stroll, text is typed across the path, essentially creating thought bubbles representing our character’s inner monologue. You will walk at a lethargic pace, which possibly references the lethargy one feels when depressed. You can move slightly faster if you hold B, which makes looking around and walking an awkward ordeal, and this likely has nothing to do with depression.
Moving forward is all you will do as our narrator shares how his depression impacts his mood and academic life. Occasionally, you can wander off the path and grab a random collectible, but these collectibles only unlock achievements on other systems. There are four endings as well which require you to take hidden branching paths, and these amount to a few extra clips of dialogue. Otherwise, you will walk, as is the nature of the walking simulator.
What’s good?
- Polygonal Wolf’s story provides a personal account of depression which can either inform the audience about mental illness or offer validation to those who experience depression. Without complicated metaphors or dramatic events, the narrative feels more realistic compared to other accounts of mental illness which try too hard to make you cry.
What’s bad?
- Presentation and control issues limit immersion. The text is spaced haphazardly along the path, so you may have stretches without text or chunks where you have to stop and wait for the text to finish typing. Scenery constantly pops in as you walk, and levels end abruptly, flicking to a black screen without fading. Typos appear occasionally, and sometimes the environment makes the text difficult to read. The camera can be a bit sensitive, and holding onto the “move slightly faster” button becomes a chore.
- Drowning describes depression as an unhealthy friend but struggles to stick to this metaphor or make sense of it. Throughout most of the game, our narrator refers to depression as “you,” an entity which convinces the narrator that he is a burden who should isolate himself from others. However, in the penultimate act, the two have a conversation, with “depression” claiming that it was trying to show the narrator that “there is nothing wrong with being different from everyone else.” It wasn’t “depression’s” fault; it was the narrator’s own thoughts all along! For some reason, the narrator drinks this Kool-Aid immediately, and we’re left to wonder if “depression” was really depression at all or was actually hope or a guardian angel or schizophrenia.
- The environment and music clash with the content. I understand Polygonal Wolf was going for a laidback experience—complete with tinkling piano and trees everywhere—but the casual stroll does not reflect the character’s inner turmoil. You do visit a foggy bridge and an ominous house which fit the tone more closely, yet even these can’t shake the general feel of being on a relaxed guided tour.
- Spoilers here, folks: The endings try to resolve everything and make grand statements when neither seem deserved. One ending finds our narrator completing suicide, having an epiphany in some afterlife nature trail, and then deciding to come back to life. Another ending stops the game midway with our character going to therapy, as if doing so suddenly resolves everything. The most confusing one involves the narrator deciding to remain dead, spending eternity in limbo with other faceless characters who died by suicide. I believe this ending is trying to pay respect to those who have completed suicide, but it comes so far out of left field that it is more fantastical than thought-provoking.
- With its short runtime, Drowning can’t accomplish much. We follow four years in our character’s life, but we learn so little about him. We are given a few specifics, but this is not enough to give our narrator a full personality. As such, we can’t connect with him as deeply. The aforementioned endings act like acceptance speeches, rushing to a finish without saying anything. Drowning could drag with another hour of content, but it would also allow Polygonal Wolf to convey a fuller message.
What’s the verdict?
Like Fractured Minds, Drowning isn’t so much a video game about mental health as it is a story of mental health that happens to be programmed like a video game. I imagine those who work in the mental health field could use it to start a conversation on depression, and its message may be deeply validating for some players. I also bet the majority of Switch gamers will see Drowning more for its limitations than its merits. Mental health may still be relatively untouched in the video game world, yet this game has only scraped the surface. Unless you’re short on change, the Switch library offers deeper opportunities to explore mental illness while having fun.
Arbitrary Statistics:
- Score: 2.5
- Time Played: Less than 1 hour
- Number of Players: 1
- Games Like It on Switch: Fractured Minds, Gone Home