Harold Halibut

Harold Halibut is at it's heart a wholesome, character-focused narrative with interactive elements. The claymation artstyle is unique and wonderful to view this sci-fi world.
Whilst I didn't particularly like most of the characters in the setup chapter 1, as they began to know Harold better and the context of the world developed I became more and more attached to each person and their quirks. In the final chapter and epilogue this was all brought to a satisfying conclusion which tied up all the arcs nicely.
The voice acting for all the side characters was excellent. I particularly enjoyed the announcer, Mareaux and Weeoo. Harold's voice sounded rather weird, almost unreal at first, but in later chapters becomes more animated as the character begins to feel more free.
There's not much in the way of gameplay - you walk from place to place and interact with people. But the story and characters more than make up for it. The music compliments the game massively - my favourite moment was Bella Ciao playing during The Heist.

All in all play this game to leave you happy and warm inside at the end of a sweet story.

Not important to the gameplay but I thought I'd mention: the Achievements on this game are a nightmare - there are many missable achievements and with there being only one save, and chapter select overwriting the previous saves stats, if you miss one of the Notebook pages you basically have to replay the game again. And there's for some reason an achievement to play the game for more than 15 hours when even at a leisurely pace there's only 13 hours of content, meaning anyone getting that achievement has to afk at some point.

i loved every second of this game. highly recommended

I have a deep love for anything that sparks feelings in me, not because I'm apathetic but because I have such a high emotional range, I love when games or movies can test that range and push me through all different things.

This game got right into my heart, Harold is such a mild and unassuming main character, introspective and kind and such a joy to see him interact in such a fantastical world.

* Ignore comments about the gameplay, it is marketed as a walking sim, those people are idiots.

I think the best part about this game is how original I found the story to be, I've played so many games that I kept expecting certain tropes or story branches to happen and they didn't, this was one game I genuinely didn't know where it was going.

The music in this is weird, haunting, fun, beautiful and just perfect all the way through.

All characters are voice acted and although there was a couple I wasn't a fan of, Harold is just exactly as he should be.

It has this amazing retro style to it, and movie like scenes when something big is going on and I loved these, it was like watching an 80's movie.

The characters are all so weird and loveable, they actually remind me of where I work, this game has such a dark look that it makes how wholesome it is all the more unexpected.

Harold Halibut is made with stop motion animation and took 14 years to make and I am so glad they did. It is so rare to play something like this, it is beautiful in every possible sense.

I suppose this isn't really a conventional review, I have nothing bad to say about it and just want to say how much I loved it.

You have never played a game like this before, and you probably wont after it. So enjoy the Tidemo of it.

Lovely game, I played with my kid the whole thing, he has 4 and loved it, I won't forget this game and these moments.

This game is very slow. I actually found myself nodding off at times. It feels more like a long, art house stop-motion movie than a traditional game., definitely gave off some Wes Anderson vibes. It might’ve been a bit too long for my taste, but I don’t regret playing it. I really enjoyed the quirky, colorful environment, the unique characters, and the slow-burn story. Overall, I’m giving it a positive review, but fair warning, it’s definitely not for everyone.

9.5 out of 10
This game had one of the most emotionally intelligent stories I have ever experienced. This game has a fantastic soundtrack, art style, world design/building, characters, overarching narrative and a deep connection to real life. This game keeps you engaged through great pacing, great dialogue and a consistently interesting art design. If you like narratives with mystery and nuanced emotional beats, this game is for you. I think the gameplay itself is slow for those who are not expecting a movie-like experience. GG

Nice adventure with an interesting setting, adorable art style and memorable characters with top voice actors.
Only downside so far is it running on Unity, so performance on Steam Deck is really bad also in this case.

TL:DR

A niche adventure game for the patient, curious, and passive player.

The Good Stuff

++ The biggest draw for this game is of course the claymation style. Whimsical, crafty, and extravagant, it is so fun to scour through the world of the Fedora I finding every detail they carved into the environment and its colorful cast of characters.
++ I found this game to strongly reward the curious. I would sometimes explore the world randomly instead of progressing the story and was always amazed at how much depth to conversations there was at any point in the game. It was late in the game before interactions inevitably turned into "Hi Mareaux... Hi Harold... Hi Chris...", and no more. The side conversations you could have added plenty to the world, before and after arriving to the planet. This aspect is what I consider makes the game very niche, as I'd reckon the average user will not want to wait around and explore every nook and cranny.
+ The music interludes are spectacular and fit the mood beautifully. The first time "The Choir" plays (a song in the trailer), I jumped for joy as that was a hook for me to play the game, and it arrived at such a cool moment in the game. A great mixture of 80's nu wave, ethereal, atmospheric, acoustic, and gargantuan symphonic tunes to guide the experience of playing this.
+ Slow Bros does a solid job mimicking political non-answers in this game, as many characters will have their political apology spotlight shone on them, only to direct the blame towards literally anything else. It's clever, silly, and felt a bit too realistic with its accuracy!
+ Worked great on both Steam Deck and Windows, no major performance issues during my playthrough.
+ It was very easy to put down and pick the game back up with plentiful save points.
+ Frank the Flounder.

The Ok Stuff

= Lots of dialogue errors in the subtitles. Never anything egregious or confusing, and not really misspelling, but usage of the wrong word in almost every case (i.e. "something" instead of "anything", or "bye" instead of "goodbye").
= Other reviews have mentioned this, but it's hard to tell who this game should be recommended for age-wise. I could see young kids playing this, though confused by the meaning of many conversations, but also could see adults such as myself playing this yet getting bored by the simplistic nature of the game. The puzzles hand hold you pretty hard, then Cyrus will drop a 30 second deep science lecture right afterwards that questions my intelligence level. It's easy and perplexing for a kid, yet beautiful and surface level to an adult. I suppose the simple answer is anyone.
= Pacing for the story... I found the storyline of Harold contemplating the concept of home to be lackluster and sudden. Though implied in some instances, it is made explicit and central to the game's plot very late into the game. It did not feel like it was underlying the whole game and surfaces very suddenly during the last couple chapters, therefore a little disconnected. When it is introduced, the conversations are fascinating and engaging, both from Harold and Weeoo's perspectives, as well as many other minor characters.

The Bad Stuff

- The final two chapters 5 and 6 are essentially void of actual gameplay, and that gameplay really takes a backseat. Though the story carries you through it and it can be seen as a climactic part of the story arc, you are essentially paying witness to the story's falling action and less so interacting with it for a couple hours.
- It is predetermined where Harold will stand for each interaction with a character and it is inconsistent sometimes. If you're right in front of the character: easy. If you slightly too far forward, Harold will awkwardly circle around for a few seconds before settling into a conversation animation. In one case while in the Energy District, Harold got stuck running up against a wall because I was a little too far away and at a weird angle, therefore almost got softlocked but thankfully did not. A couple times at the end of the game, even when close to the NPC for conversation, Harold would proceed to take a bizarre route away from the character to then re-approach them for conversation. Sometimes you start a conversation instantly, but most times you are waiting 5-10 seconds for Harold to just move into the predetermined spot.

The Noteworthy Stuff

* Full English audio only, though multiple languages supported in the interface and subtitles.

Conclusion

Harold Halibut is a conveyor belt through an art museum: you can't really pick up the pace, but there is so much to observe and appreciate. A narrative claymation adventure featuring gameplay, in a way reminiscent of "channel changer games" on the special edition version of your favorite movie growing up... if your childhood was beyond the past decade that is. I would compare this most similarly to Eastward, which leans heavily into the world design and character depth as opposed to gameplay mechanics. Both that and Harold Halibut fall victim to the inherent expectation that since it's a video game, it is therefore very interactive and full of gameplay, and it makes total sense that many people have been disappointed in their experience with this title. There are your games with lighter involvement and feel more passive (i.e. GRIS, Firewatch, INSIDE, In Other Waters), but they are constant and have variation in what elements you partake with. It's a title I will likely not recommend often to friends, but a STRONG recommendation to those who've the patience to stop and gander around some before feeling the urge to progress further. My first playthrough was 14 hours, and it did not feel long to me, with others finishing the game anywhere between 10-20 hours dependent on their curiosity and urgency. By far, one of the most unique gaming experiences I've ever had... bluglglgl.

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STEAM REVIEWS GROUP

Beautiful game that I played on my steamdeck plugged into the TV with my wife watching. It played more like an animated show, rather than a game but after a long day of work I didn't mind that. It was fun, quirky and entertaining. The humour, and the delivery of the story itself was captivating and heartwarming from start to finish. We both loved the characters, and the little drawings that popped up in your notebook after each encounter. I can see this not being for everyone, but for those that like narrative heavy, walking sims this is a game to try.

Humbadoo!

This is one of type of game that you don't really see a whole lot with claymation style in gaming now in days (This is the only claymation game i know for now). But after beating the game i feel joy and sad at the same time. Because how the game ended up. kind of help me dealing with my life right now. And the soundtrack is good too. (!!Spoilers Ahead!!) It help me with some parts of the game. Like talking to people around the ship like i know them for years. Meeting something new in life like Harold did. Than next thing you know the ship you been with is leaving soon. And you like the new friends you meet. So you want people of the ship to stay and the new friends you make to stay too. but life keeps going forward and something happens. So you have to pick that best for you. And the way Harold pick which side to stay with. Kind of help me what to do hare too.

reclused dyslexic man learns about communist fishes and uses their knowledge to take down ginger nick offermans bourgeois ski business with the power of friendship.absolute cinema 10/10

The way this game was created was a commendable creative endeavor, but in the end, the results are just not very pleasing to the eyes. There's a few moments in the game where you are clearly supposed to be impressed by the visuals and, ah, yeah it just looks ugly. Story is linear, every time I did some exploring, it invariably felt like I was just wasting my time. Story did not draw me in well enough to be compelled to finish.

Walking simulator but actually pretty cool

What a beautiful experience to walk throught the story with Harold, deeply emotional and philosophical conversations will definitely stick with me. Thank you and wish you good tides!

Great game

this is my first time reviewing a game this is by far the best and relaxing game i ever played if your debating on getting this game you wont be disappointed loved the story with a great ending,

I love the 'claymation' and the story. There are some really deep themes. But.... it is...slow. I'll tick away at it, but between the loading screens taking forever, and the fact that the main game play is just walking back and forth, it is hard for me to stay engaged. Glad I got it on sale. I'll be glad I played it. But for me it's a 7/10.

If my grandpa was still alive, id like him to be like buddy<3

For me it's too boring. Looks nice, but it's just walking from A to B, and after almost 10 hours in the game, nothing exciting happened.

I feel very strongly that I should move out of the city I currently live in. It is a very pleasant city, and I have a job and friends here. And moving somewhere new sometimes feels as complicated as building a rocket: I need to find work and a place to live and move all of my junk. But in spite of all of this, I have to move, because I don't feel that I am home yet. But it begs the question, where is home?

If you've played the game already:
I wouldn't have made the same decision if I were in Harold's shoes. And for this reason, I envy him.

I was quite excited to play this game, I had heard a lot of things about the art style. I played 3 hours of this game, I gave it a decent go. This is one of the worst games I have ever played. The story line is slow and boring, the game mechanics are incredible simple and slow. The claymation art style might be beautiful, but it’s drowned out by how lacking the rest of the game is. ⭐️/5

Wow that game, seriously wow. Just finished it and was so blown away. Nothing like I have played before and when I first started I was a bit meh about it but it slowly got under my skin. I got to know and love the characters and even cried when ... well you'll have to play it to find out. Beautifully made and an incredible story and just wow, as previously stated. Take some time out to immerse yourself in this adventure. You will not be disappointed.

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I'll be upfront; this isn't a game, it's more of a playable animated series.

But it's a really damn good animated series, worth the purchase imo. The voice direction, setting, story and unfathomably beautiful visuals were more than worth the price of admission. Really glad I picked this up.

I don't really play "walking simulators" but the story and the art style had me hooked. If this could have been a choose your own adventure game I probably would have played it two or three times. The game does have a few slow spots, but making it to the end was worth it.

the game has a very slow burn and everyone is really rude to harold, but towards the end the game takes an amazing turn that shows how these unique characters can develop into a genuine and kind person.

if you enjoyed movies like coraline as a kid for its creative charm and artistic style, this game will give you the same feeling.

I won't base this review off of price at all, because I imagine it could have taken a lot of care to get the look and feel of this game.

Others might call it slow, but I would say it was just very relaxed and charming. The visuals have character to them, the voice acting is good, and I found myself wondering what the other characters were up to while doing the main quests. The world felt alive. Often the game is more about finding out what's going on as you're on your way to do something else.
People are always up to something but not in a way that's overwhelming. As the story moves on it also covers some topics you don't tend to expect, with some philosophy in it as well.

The only strange thing I found, that is inexplicable to me, is that the scientists would sometimes just get really snippy and aggro at you for no reason at all. There's a whole section of the game where it just seems like people become abusive towards Harold. It was really jarring compared to the vibe of the rest of the game.

That being said, if you want something relaxed with a comfy vibe check it out. It's not anything I will rave about, but I enjoyed it.

"Running away is easy, It's the living that's hard"

Absolutely Beautiful experience

Cozy little adventure! Full with lovable characters, accompanied by gorgeous art style and amazing music. Highly recommended!

If you can tolerate the pacing of this game, there is really something special. I seem to have beaten this game much slower than most, as I did pretty much EVERY side activity... but I do NOT regret it.

The amount of lessons and emotions experienced in this short, BEAUTIFUL game is impressive.
I laughed, I cried, I questioned, I learned.

Tidemo.

alright look, i have a complicated relationship with this game but i think it won me over in the end. it starts of strong but then starts this pattern of being bland, grabbing me, and being bland again. this weird dance of interest and disinterest, which i'm not opposed to (i love slice of life and more mundane stories), but this was testing me a bit for the first half/chapters 1-3.

howeverrr, i dropped it for almost a year, had a loss in the family, came back to it and immediately was hit with the Buddy... development as well as Zora's letter from his father and that hit different. Then it started getting into a few fairly philosophical or existential ideas and quandaries (ones i often struggle with), started hitting me with some really great sequences, and it really just came together in the end.

yeah, everybody being exasperated with Harold for some reason was tiring, the voice acting could be grating in a few ways, the pacing was kind of all over the place, there was awkward stuff all around. But at the same time, it has a really nice story, fantastic visuals through and through (save for some animation jankiness) some genuinely sweet moments and compelling writing, and i think it's a testament to the charm that i still came back so much later and finished it feeling satisfied.

this is like the definition of a 7/10 game for me, but i mean that in the best way i can.

Personally, I don’t understand art. Therefore, reviewing Harold Halibut by single sentence of: “You cannot explain the art, you need to experience itself” is a pretty confusing statement.

The visual aesthetic was the main hook that kept playing till the end. The “claylike” characters and their movements reminds me old Wallace & Gromit claymotion movies. Just thinking back then just the amount of time it must have taken to complete the movie, luckily, we still have people around us that will proceed with their projects even taken time with it.

If you ever have a time, to experience something

– main character is simpleminded, but still mysterious enigma
– old but still gold visual style
– familiar premise but still thought-provoking storyline

Then Harold Halibut is the perfect choice for a weekend playthrough.

Final score: 9/10

Huge thanks to the developer Slow Bros. of the amount of time they put to game project and final product it eventually came to be as an beautiful presentation of stop-motion game.

Small moments of brilliance, with too much strangeness in-between. Was hoping for something a bit more grounded, everyone felt too eccentric to me. Even just walking around felt janky, as if the game could implode at any moment. Gorgeous style, but technical side is a bit of a mess. Also, way too much depth of field with no option to turn it off. Why have powerful specs needed to then blur everything completely?

I think the loading screen flounder was the best part of the game, wish we had a .gif of it, could watch it for hours.

Loved every single minute of this piece of art. Ever since completing this game, I have a longing to go back into that world. Few games have had a lasting effect on me. This being one, Alan Wake 2 and Outer Wilds have all made me feel an uneasy yet beautiful feeling after completing them. Congratulations to Slow Bros. On their masterful debut.

Don't be fooled. This is NOT a videogame. There are no choices to be made, there is no gameplay besides walking left and right. Everything is pre-determined and you are basically train on a track who cannot do anything else than "go to the next station".

But the story is beautiful.

Get this on a sale.

Good game. Worth the money.

Beautiful game with a cute art style. Manages to capture a theatre production vibe in a video game, which I thought was both unique and refreshing. Took 10.5 hours to play through over a few evenings and thoroughly enjoyed it. Can be a bit slow at times, but I think that pacing is part of the charm and fits well. Definitely worth sticking in your library and giving it some time. Playing with controller felt much better than mouse+keyboard.

I'm liking it so far. The unique art style is very interesting and a love the personality of the characters. My only gripe is that the resolution seems a bit fuzzy? I'm not sure if its me, but some textures seem to become low resolution or get heavily pixelated. Perhaps that's just the depth of field though. Also, I'm not playing with the most powerful of set ups. Anyway, still a very good game.

It has potential and im sure there are people who really like it. For me it was too slow to get into and the conversations are long and boring and the main character seems really dumb.

it has a little something for everyone

Id definitely recommend this game, it has a really quirky atmosphere, some cool characters, a decent story and its just a cute little game i enjoyed playing through. You get sort of attached to the characters even though a lot of its kinda silly, theres some serious parts too, love, destiny, life and death, adventure. I dont know its a mishmash of things and the musics pretty great, actings really good. There is some bugs and jankiness but nothing that cant be fixed by restarting the game a few times.

It also has a lot of monotonous in it, the walking back and forth to reach the different areas gets kind of boring because youre walking so much. thats my only real issue with the game if you couldve skipped that in some way it wouldve been better, but i dont know how they couldve done it and made it better. Because if you just fast traveled to the areas i feel like that might have been missing something too. Just wish there was a way to get maybe a happy medium sort of compromise with that. But like i say i cant think of a better way they couldve done it either.

At the end of the day i really enjoyed this game. Itll take you around 14 to 15 hours to beat. Not sure how long the average adventure game like this is. But that seemed about right.

Really enjoyed the ending. Very endearing story and characters.

Best game with best storylines ever. I wonder if they can make halibut 2. Probably the prof found new planet to settle with and decide to discover something new such as teleportation straight to flumylym.

Harold Halibut is a perfect Covid game. No really, it is! I recently got Covid and didn't have the mental energy to play a game that required complex thought, but also wanted an element of story. For me, Harold Halibut was that perfect combination. So this game is what I would call a good "being sick" game.

As for my recommendation, I picked this game up back when it came out due to its unique visual aspect. It definitely didn't disappoint there. While the animations can feel pretty weird sometimes, knowing immense effort that went into creating the scenes of the entire game made those clunky moments easy to look past. It's a different way of making a game, and the style of art is awesome here. So this game does NOT disappoint there.

Storywise, I liked it a lot. It's different than most games though. I feel like most of the first half of the game felt like Harold going through the motions of his role on the station, and him trying to find himself in the world. But honestly, I think a game needed to do that. It was nice not having a huge single narrative to really follow (there was, and it grew stronger later on), but most of the time, you were Harold, working on the station, interacting with the people, making friends. Just... living a life in the deep sea questioning life, and the friends you meet along the way give excellent life advice, (even for IRL tbh. It's certainly made me think. This game DOES that.)

I feel like pacing can feel off sometimes. It's also nerve wracking when you think you might miss interactions (cause I want to see everything!), so I feel like they could have done better things here. I would check places almost every chance I got so I didn't miss stuff, (and I still missed stuff). I feel they could have provided more messages or warned the player that if they go back here they wouldn't be able to go back for the entire night. I do also think the game was a tad longer than it really needed to be. I think it could have been a few hours shorter with the same/similar experience, but I still love and recommend it.

Overall, if you are a person that doesn't mind mindlessly moving along a station and interacting with people to learn their stories, and try to put yourself in Harold's shoes, then I recommend picking this up. If you are someone that wants to make meaningful choices and see changes due to that, then this won't be for you.

This game is absolutely beautiful! I've never experienced anything quite like this game, where you truly feel like a puppet master in a puppet theater. The decorations, puppets, and everything else in this game are beautifully handcrafted. The story is captivating. I definitely recommend this game.

Harold Halibut is a comfy, incredibly heartfelt game with some of the most wholesome, well-written characters I've experienced in a video game. The visuals, score, dialogue, and story are incredibly unique and charming.

It's visuals are fantastic. Loved the whole Buddy subplot. Lots of walking, does not recommend to those who hates fetch quests.

Fantastic artwork, great soundtrack. Don't worry about searching all the doors unless you have a lot of patience, just enjoy the story on the main quests. it is a weird and wonderful game. it made me think. which was nice.

Fantastic game, visually stunning and perfectly somber and abstract. Def a must play for anyone who likes story driven games

Good narrative experience. Not much else to do. Most characters are oddly rude to the protagonist. Worth it when on sale.