Review for Nantucket. Game for Steam, the video game was released on 18/01/2018
We don't know exactly why but we have always found the world of nineteenth-century whaling (despite the enormous damage it did to the planet!) Heroic and fascinating. These men, so fragile and courageous, challenged the mightiest creatures of the ocean, aboard only fragile spears, often too fragile. The truth, however you want to see it, is much less romantic and extremely more brutal, but certainly no less fascinating.
Nantucket, the last effort of Picaresque Studio, fully makes this world.
Nantucket is a very successful amalgamation of RPG and turn-based strategy, with a robust addition of management that, from the very first bars, sets itself a goal that is not at all simple and much less obvious: to follow up that immortal masterpiece that is Moby Dick, of Herman Melville.
Trying to tell a story through a type of game that is so little "narrative" is a good bet but, and we can say it right away, with Nantucket they succeeded!
In the game we will impersonate Ishmael (although it will still be possible to edit the name at will), narrating voice in Moby Dick and the only survivor of the Pequod disaster who, still deeply shaken by what happened, decides to pick up Ahab's cursed legacy and definitively close the game against the monstrous White Whale.
If you face the hunt for Moby Dick maintaining your human side and demeanor, or whether you too will turn into a vengeful and insane entity, depends only and solely on how you will grow the character, spending the points you earn by succeeding in the various activities that the game offers us.
At the start we will have only a small ship available, the Melville, poorly performing but more than enough to let us explore the mechanics of the game. In the various ports, which we will gradually discover, we will be able to fine-tune our ship, buy new ones, refuel (very important, we'll see why later), hire new crew members and get jobs.
As with our character, the main components of the crew will also grow as they gain experience. We will then be able to see the shy boy we hired during our first crossing become, little by little, a lethal harpooneer, able to close the fight with a monstrous sperm whale in very few words. It often happens to become attached to this or that crew member and to be terribly sick when we have to slip him into the ocean inside a crate: why Nantucket it is a game that does not discount. As if the injuries sustained in hunting or against pirates weren't enough, we risk seeing our men die even from lack of food or water. Hence the need to carefully plan each trip, trying to take into account all possible hitches.
As I said before, in the whaling ports we will visit, we will also have access to newspapers which, in addition to a large compendium of historical notions on the time, will also allow us to accept various kinds of positions. These assignments will earn us money and prestige, and some will bring us, one step at a time, closer to our main goal. Find and kill Moby Dick.
The clashes, whether with whales, pirates or other hostile humans, are managed with a simple and immediate combat system, based on the skills of the characters involved and on the roll of the dice, in a boardgame style. Hence, also the need to better organize the launch (or launches) that we will put in the water. Why Nantucket it is above all this: planning. Believe us, you will be very upset if you have to kill the entire crew of thirst because you have pulled up supplies and been the victims of a calm that has blocked you for weeks!
The main story is masterfully told, involving the player in a total way and intertwining perfectly with the many secondary activities (but which are not too secondary) available.
We really loved Nantucket, because it is an intelligent, intuitive (and for this type of game it is no small game) detailed and extremely addictive. It also makes the atmosphere of Moby Dick's world to perfection, expanding its themes: to be discovered. Nantucket is available on Steam on January 18th.
► Nantucket is a Management-RPG-type game developed and published by Picaresque Studio for Steam, the video game was released on 18/01/2018
