New narrative led sci-fi RPG makes dialogue the star of the show

We all love making dialogue choices in games. Whether it’s choosing who to help in Fallout New Vegas, what variation of swear words to say in Baldur’s Gate 3, or the colorful surprise thoughts of Disco Elysium, being offered multiple ways to talk yourself out of a situation instead of using violence is always fun. This is exactly what sci-fi narrative RPG Sky of Tides is going for, and you can try it ahead of a full launch right now.

During our time at WASD 2024, developer Lofty Sky Entertainment described Sky of Tides as a sort of “anti-RPG.” After all, it’s incredibly easy to pour all your points into a handful of stats in an RPG and blitz through the game with one specific build. Sky of Tides takes more of a story game approach though, as you’ll want to spread out those stats to unlock dialogue options that reflect the different in-game cultures.

With all the nations across the world of Numen isolated on nine separate sky islands after a mysterious calamity left the planet in pieces, you’ll take on the role of Rin and be tasked with not only finding your father but also helping heal the fractured world itself. Rin’s father also just so happened to go missing right after they found out about a conspiracy to see the people of Numen starve. Not a coincidence, I’m sure.

You’ll start by exploring the planetoids of Numen and learning what you can; then, you can take that information to NPCs to learn more about them, the world, and Rin’s place in it. These interactions will help you shape who Rin is as a person too, as the experience points you get are directly tied to the choices you make.

If you really enjoyed the deep systems and player-driven choice of Disco Elysium, Sky of Tides has that in spades, just with significantly less nihilism. There’s even a somewhat similar system in play, as “dialogue choices you make reflect in your character stats, which go towards unlocking further dialogue options and unique customization items,” according to Lofty Sky Entertainment.

With a demo out now, you can start shaping who Rin is as a person, the fate of the nine planetoids around her, and where the story will end up ahead of launch later this year. If you’re itching to play another game like Disco Elysium, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Citizen Sleeper, where your choices matter and dialogue is the star of the show, Sky of Tides is definitely for you.

The Sky of Tides release date is still to be announced and is planned for 2024, but you can wishlist the game on Steam and even check out the free demo in the meantime.

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Additional reporting by Nat Smith at WASD for PCGamesN.